So here we are once more. It has been quite a journey that has led to here, not just for Fish but also for every one of the people filling the sold-out London Palladium. Billed as The Journey To The Isles, this last trip along the highways and byways is one filled with memories and emotions, the connection between artist and audience both deep and unbreakable.
Fish
The London Palladium – 25 February 2025
Words: Paul Monkhouse
Photography: Manuela Langotsch
Shared experiences of marriages, births and deaths over the past forty-four years since the artist emerged as the towering presence front and centre for Marillion have been soundtracked by the music Fish has made. 
Always a man with a way with words, it is apt that this last London show should be on the same London Palladium stage that has seen the footprints of so many of the great performers throughout its legendary history.
As MetalTalk walked up Tottenham Court Road, the sign at the end of Wardour Street brings a wistful smile as thoughts of nights spent seeing Marillion at the long lost but much-loved Marquee Club come flooding back.
Whilst only a stone’s throw away, The London Palladium is a million miles from the sticky-floored, dark sweatbox of the Soho venue, the red velvet, tiers of balconies, royal boxes and gold leaf exuding a world of dinner jackets and tiaras rather than scuffed denim and band t-shirts.
It is certainly a suitable place to hold tonight’s spectacle, the weight of history hanging here and its feeling of grandeur befitting not just the occasion of the farewell tour but also the cinematic scale of the music.
There has always been an odd juxtaposition with Fish’s music, the sweeping and intricate soundscapes that encompass universal themes but done in the intimate and confessional style that feels like you are listening to a close friend who knows you inside out.
It is this positioning that has always defined his career, the iconic artwork of Script For A Jester’s Tear and the music within onwards onto his solo career, setting out his unique vision and style. Here, these gilded halls were transformed into a bedsit where the smallest gesture and quietest word mattered.
Alissimon
There has always been a sense of community between the artist and the audience. A symbiotic relationship that has more weight than the transient affections of most, the Fishheads are a family, no matter their background.
With very pleasing symmetry, the opening act for the show Alissimon features original Marillion bass player Diz Minnitt’s daughter on vocals and acoustic guitar, the familial core continuing. 
Seemingly unphased by the size of the venue, the quartet had a naturalness about them despite this being, incredibly, their debut band gig and by the end of the first number, they had managed to utterly charm those present.
Same Old World grew from its silky start into something that gently rocked, Alissimon’s voice full of charter and a patina of seductive playfulness, following number Rain Hits The Deck sparkling with a kaleidoscope of colours.
Having learnt the guitar during lockdown, the singer is incredibly adept and with Gavin Dean on electric, Jack Kircher on cajon and Liam Larkin on bass, the four-piece fill the hall with a deceptively spacious sound, all adding dynamics to a set of songs that exude a real quality.
Higher, Plasticine and the sweet but biting Drink Up Baby all shimmer, their arrangements and smart lyrics promising much to come. If this is how they start, you feel that within a few years, it will be their name on the front of the venue, the house sold out and hanging on every note. Most definitely ones to watch.
From a band just starting out to the last waltz with an old friend, there is a real sense of occasion that hangs bittersweet over the night. Unlike some artists who indulge in endless farewell tours, this really feels like the end of Fish’s musical career, the man himself stating he will be transformed back to Derek in two weeks once the tour has finished.
Fish – It Is The Right Time
It is the right time, and whilst it may have caused him issues at times, his choices are from the heart, always true to himself and retaining an integrity so easily lost in the music business. The crofts of the Outer Hebrides may be beckoning, but tonight is all about the music, a last ceilidh in London with old friends.
With a backdrop featuring projections of the iconic artwork by Mark Wilkinson and to the closing notes of the famed The Thieving Magpie by Rossini intro, the band strolls onstage and unfurl Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors, the perfect start to the feast.
Fish is on great form and accompanied by the two thousand and three hundred people packed into the place singing every word, the song’s musical hills and valleys sound as fresh as they did when the debut solo came out.
With an audience of old friends in front of him, it was nice to see some very familiar faces with him onstage, some of whom had been with him since Vigil. Dressed all in white, keys maestro Mickey Simmonds cuts a dash, with longtime guitarist Robin Boult, bassist Steve Vantsis, drummer Gavin Griffiths and backing vocalist Elisabeth Troy Antwi all adding their own vital ingredients.
A full-blooded Credo gets the audience clapping and, given the current state of affairs in the White House across the other side of the Atlantic, Big Wedge with its ‘greed is good imagery’ catches the zeitgeist perfectly, some thirty-five years after its first release.
Darkness swirls around Pipeline and Shadowplay, the whole a cathartic experience, Fish informing the audience that due to their support of his career “you’ve saved me thousands in therapy and counselling,” with a wry smile on his face.
It is not all heaviness, though. The chemistry onstage is obvious between the band members, adding a real sense of enjoyment and appreciation; the duet with Antwi on Just Good Friends is playful yet soulful as both vocalists shine.
Unique in his delivery and the depth of emotion conjured, there is a sense of modesty when Fish says, “I’m a writer who sings, not a singer who writes,” but given his extraordinary way with words and ability to conjure so many rich images you can understand why he feels this. It is these gifts that have brought everyone here tonight. 
Dedicated to wife Simone, a truly beautiful Cliché was enough to move this writer to tears, Boult’s subtle fretwork and the gorgeous slide notes on the bass of Vantsis singing their own yearning parts, the revenge porn tale of Incubus delivering a darker side of passion.
The epic and sprawling Plague Of Ghosts brought things to a spectacular close before an encore of the bare-boned Gentleman’s Excuse Me, a trio of numbers from Misplaced Childhood, including Kayleigh, and a final run-through of Raw Meat, its chant of “I’ll always have the strength to carry on” a poignant promise.
Whilst long tours playing music may be coming to an end and his forthcoming lifestyle change holds its own adventures, there is a feeling that the artist may never be able to truly put down his pen, nor intends to fully, the long-awaited autobiography still a work in progress.
The future is yet to be written, but no matter what happens, Fish is leaving us with a musical legacy that has deeply touched countless lives.
Slàinte Mhath Fish, thank you for the music. 
