I was lucky to catch Marillion back in 2016 on their first run of F.E.A.R. tour dates,so when they decided to come back to the United States for another group of shows, I just had to attend, this time in Dallas.  As I mentioned in a previous review, Marillion shows are more than just concerts. They are gatherings of hard-core fans to meet up, swap stories, and watch one of the greatest prog bands preform.  One of the things that sets Marillion apart from other bands is that they consistently release new albums and then on tour present healthy chunks of that material.  This show was no different with a over 40 minutes of F.E.A.R. performed to an enthusiastic crowd.  “El Dorado," “Living in Fear” and “The Leavers” were all featured in the set list with the latter being the replacement for “The New Kings,” which was played first time around. 

Another change this time around was the inclusion of some Fish-era material into the set.  Last time, the band focused solely on the Steve Hogarth-era, but at the Dallas show they really went back to where it started (almost) and dusted off “Garden Party"  along with “Kaleigh."  The band showed that they still have a fondness for performing older material.  For fans of the Fish-era, this would be the end of his songs, which proved to be just fine with the crowd.  As I mentioned earlier, the fans who attend Marillion shows are hard-core fans, and they are more than happy to be presented with tunes from Seasons End to F.E.A.R.  Speaking of Seasons End, Steve Rothery and company played the title track from this disc and included some great visuals on the screen behind them.  The Afraid of Sunlight album was featured with “King” and the title track, while “The Invisible Man” was the only airing from Marbles.  The latter opened the show last time around in Chicago but now was positioned as the first encore. 

The rest of the set was filled in by a couple of pieces from Brave, namely “The Great Escape,” “Wave” and “Mad,” which are the first two parts of “Goodbye To All That."  For the encores, the band performed the previously mentioned “The Invisible Man” as the first encore. With the crowd begging for more, they returned again with “This Strange Engine” and “Garden Party” finishing off a great concert and the last show of the US tour.  I must mention that this was the first time Marillion played Dallas and (judging by the crowd size and reception), it probably won’t be the last.