Following four decades of hits, memories and touring, Fish will say goodbye to the music industry with a big farewell Road To The Isles European tour. “Nominating a tour as a ‘farewell tour’ has a certain amount of gravitas,” Fish told us. The setlists will be drawn from “around 25 -30 songs to give us enough material to bring in and out of the set when we want.”
Mainland Europe dates have been announced for late 2024, with a full UK Tour set to be announced later next month. For these live shows, Fish has brought together a mouthwatering talent of musicians who he has worked with through his long career.
“I’m so glad that I have managed to bring together a ‘best of’ line up of musicians from across my live career to come out on the bus with me on my final sortie out on the road,” Fish said. “They’re not just highly talented musicians but old friends and co-writers of some of the finest songs I’ve released in the 35 years as a solo artist. It feels more like a Hollywood movie of veterans getting back together for one final mission rather than a rock ‘n’ roll tour. The personalities and characters involved will ensure it’s going to be fun both on and off stage.”
Keyboard player Mickey Simmonds was the principal co-writer on Fish’s first solo albums, Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors and Internal Exile. Both of these will have a major re-release in 2024.
Robin Boult was in the touring band from that period and was a regular across many live lineups. Robin has been a regular co-writer and studio session musician with Fish since 1991.
Steve Vantsis has been Fish’s main music collaborator for a number of years and will be playing bass on the tour, with long term drummer Gavin Griffiths returning to the circus to create a renowned and formidable rhythm section. The band is completed by acclaimed backing vocalist Elisabeth Troy Antwi.
“I really didn’t want to go out on my farewell tour with a group of strangers or hired guns and only getting to know new people who I’d be saying goodbye to after only a few weeks,” Fish said. “The tour is not going to be one of those endless farewell tours that spin around for months and months. I always wanted it relatively concise yet long enough to go out and enjoy being on stage and on the road before it got to be tiring and exhausting.
“It has to be a fun affair, and this band ticks all the boxes on every level. Everyone in the line-up has, at some point or another, been in the studio or on the road with me, performing songs from across the solo catalogue and beyond.
“I don’t want to be sticking to the same setlist every night, and there are so many potential songs for the set we all felt that having a moveable feast was the way forward.
“We are rehearsing around 25 -30 songs to give us enough material to bring in and out of the set when we want, which keeps it interesting and fun for us as well as the fans who won’t know what songs will be played on the night they come to.
“The setlist will be covering 12 solo albums, and of course, there will be material from my time with Marillion. There are a few epics from that time that I’d be remiss if I ignored, and to be honest, I’m actually looking forward to revisiting a couple of those tracks.
“The band members have all played them at one time or another and are all more than capable of delivering fantastic renditions across the board. It’s going to be actually quite exciting revisiting a lot of the material with this historical line-up.”
Wed Oct 2nd 2024      Centre Culturel Opderschmelz, DUDELANGE, LUX
Fri Oct 4th 2024         Muziekgieterij, MAASTRICHT, NL
Sat Oct 5th 2024         Muziekcentrum, ENSCHEDE, NL
Sun Oct 6th 2024        Oosterpoort, GRONINGEN, NL
Tues Oct 8th 2024       Tivoli Vrendenburg, UTRECHT, NL
Wed Oct 9th 2024      Tivoli Vrendenburg, UTRECHT, NL
Thurs Oct 10th 2024   Grosse Freiheit 36, HAMBURG, DE
Fri Oct 11th 2024        Carlswerk Viktoria, COLOGNE, DE
Sun Oct 13th 2024      Im Wisemaan, STUTTGART, DE
Tues Oct 15th 2024     Volkhaus, ZURICH, CH
Wed Oct 16th 2024    Muffathalle, MUNICH, DE
Thurs Oct 17th 2024   Arena, WIEN, AU
Sat Oct 19th 2024       A2, WROCLAW, PL
Sun Oct 20th 2024      Progeresjam, WARSAW, PL
Mon Oct 21st 2024     Studio, KRAKOW, PL
Tues Oct 22nd 2024    Srtary Manez, GDANSK, PL
Thurs Oct 24th 2024   Rockefellar, OSLO, NOR
Sat Oct 26th 2024       Byscenen, TRONDHEIM, NOR
Mon Oct 28th 2024    Pustervik, GOTHENBURG, SW
Tues Oct 29th 2024     Berns, STOCKHOLM, SW
Wed Oct 30th 2024    Amager Bio, COPENHAGEN, DK
Fri Nov 1st 2024          Alter Schlachtof, DRESDEN, DE
Sat Nov 2nd 2024        Tollhaus, KARLSRUHE, DE
Sun Nov 3rd 2024       Metropol, BERLIN, DE
