On Stage (Extra): Marillion plays the Keswick, Sunday

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times 

On November 6, the Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) will present a show featuring two acts with musical histories that date back to the early 1980s – British band Marillion and American singer-songwriter-guitarist John Wesley.

Marillion, which formed in Buckinghamshire, England is a progressive rock band which, over the last three decades, has made music too varied to be limited to the “prog rock” genre.

The band has gone through several personnel changes over the years but ever since 1989 has maintained the current line-up — Steve Rothery – electric guitars, acoustic guitars; Mark Kelly – keyboards, samples and effects, backing vocals, programming; Pete Trewavas – bass guitars, backing vocals, additional guitars, samples and effects; Ian Mosley – drums, percussion; Steve Hogarth – lead vocals, lyrics, keyboards, guitars, percussion.

Marillion has just released its 18th studio album titled “F E A R,” which is short (and socially acceptable) for “F*** Everyone and Run.”

“This album was three years in the making,” said Kelly, during a phone interview Monday from a tour stop in Toronto, Canada. “But, we weren’t working on it continuously. The process of trying to come up with new ideas is slow. We don’t know how many more albums we have left in us. This is the best we could do.

“We were jamming quite regularly. We literally had hundreds and hundreds of ideas that we liked. We narrowed it down gradually into this bunch of songs. Most of the work was done in the last five or six months.

“The recording process has been changing. In the past, we’d write, rehearse, make demos cheaply and then record the album in a studio. These days, we have our own studio. We all have a home life. So, we’ll come into the studio during the day and then go back to our family. We also did some recording at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio.”

“F E A R” was released worldwide in October and immediately charted at Number 4 in the Official Album Chart in the U.K. – the band’s highest chart entry in 29 years in the U.K. And, in this era where singles rule, there purposely is not a single in the batch – just five suites and 17 tracks.

“The writing process is basically the band jamming,” said Kelly. “Steve (Hogarth) writes the lyrics. When we started recording, some of the lyrics were finished and some were not. ‘H’ (Hogarth) will have the story ideas. Eventually, it guides us to where the song will go.

“This album has a lot of episodic songs. It’s not a pop record. What’s good about the album is that the lyrics are dark – there’s a sense of foreboding — but the music is engaging and can be uplifting. It’s a protest album of sorts – and a bit of a prophecy.”

Video link for Marillion – https://youtu.be/Ax6-2bXKPwE?t=218.

John Wesley also dropped a new album last month.

Wesley, a renowned singer-songwriter and a highly-acclaimed guitarist, released his eighth studio album – “a way you’ll never be” — on October 7 on Inside/Out Records.

“I made the album over the last year-and-a-half,” said Wesley, during a recent phone interview from his home in Brandon, Florida. “Everything was written in that time period. Everything was fresh for this record.

“I own a recording studio in Tampa so I was working on the album in my own studio. Then, I closed up the commercial location and moved all the equipment to my house. It’s both analog and digital. The input road is definitely analog. The recording side is ProTools. It doesn’t make sense to record to tape anymore.

“Around February, I realized that I had written the material that would create the core of the record. I’ve been working with this one drummer for 36 years – Mark Prater. I’d do drum tracks on my own and then he’d come over and play to the tracks. When he got to what he wanted, then we’d do the take. I used three other players and each guy got as much time as he wanted. I wanted each guy to use the studio to their capacity – creatively.”

Wesley felt everything come together nicely as he was making “a way you’ll never be.”

According to Wesley, “‘a way you’ll never be’ was fairly big step for me in that I have worked extremely hard at bringing the two sides of my writing together — the ‘acoustic singer songwriter’ and the ‘electric heavy guitar’ elements. This album is most certainly the set of songs that has successfully combined my introspective lyrics with the aggressive type of guitar playing and writing that I love.

“Mark Prator and Sean Malone brought the songs to life as an amazing rhythm section. The themes of the lyrics, the melodies, and the playing make these my favorite, most cohesive and adventurous set of tracks to date. Stylistically the songs revisit some of the guitar music of the 70’s that grabbed me and made me want to be a guitarist. Sonically I combined those 70’s big guitar tones with the modern sounds available to us as guitarists today.”

Wesley is a grizzled veteran of the rock world.

“I’ve done eight albums in 22 years,” said Wesley. “I always went to indie rock for artistic control.

“I’m raising a daughter on my own and single dad-hood will keep you tied down. In the 90’s, I found out that you could make a living being a ‘hired gun’ guitarist and I opened my own studio in ’97. The last time I toured was two years ago.”

Video link for John Wesley —https://youtu.be/KLiKRNPl-pc?t=9.

The show at the Keswick Theater will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $60 and $75.

If you’re in the mood to catch a concert on November 6 but you prefer your music on the heavier side, then you should head to the Trocadero (10th and Arch streets, Philadelphia, 215-922-6888, www.thetroc.com) to see and hear Dark Tranquillity headline an all-ages show that also includes Swallow The Sun, Enforcer, and Starkill.

Gothenburg, one of Sweden’s main cities, gave rise to a death metal scene in the early 1990s – a scene that included bands such as Nihilist, Morbid and Dark Tranquillity. Billed as a melodic death metal band, Dark Tranquillity features Mikael Stanne, Niklas Sundin, Anders Jivarp, Martin Brändström and Anders Iwers.

Dark Tranquillity’s show in Philadelphia will come just two days after the release of the band’s 11th album “Atoma,” which has come out worldwide through Century Media Records. The first single and video from the album is the song “The Pitiless.”

The video was filmed during the group’s stay at the German Turock Open Air Festival 2016 in Essen by the director Dirk Behlau. “Atoma” was recorded at Rogue Music in Gothenburg, the studio owned by D.T. keyboardist Martin Brändström. Mixing duties were handled by David Castillo, known for his work with bands such as Katatonia, Opeth and Candlemass. The striking cover artwork was created by the band’s guitarist Niklas Sundin.

“We’ll play at least six of the new songs in our show on this tour,” said Stanne, during a phone interview Wednesday, two hours after the band arrived in New York after a flight from Gothenburg.

“I’m really confident about this album. I love these songs. There is a great musical spirit. Lyrically, it’s about how the world is hurting and what it’s like to be in a tiny country while all these things are happening around the world.

“With us, songwriting is a band thing – for sure. We come together with the arrangements and then I write all the lyrics. We recorded the album in the spring. We started pre-production late last year.

“We spent a longer time writing this album than we did on any of our previous albums and finished it right on time. We have our own studio and we’ve recorded our last four albums there. Having our own studio gives us a lot of freedom.”

Still, making a new album is not just a “walk in the park” for the veteran Swedish metal band.

“It’s always a struggle,” said Stanne. “We’re in our 27^th year together and this is our 11^th album. It doesn’t get any easier.

“It’s not easy to find something that is new and still has our sound. It’s a challenge. The basics are what it’s all about. It’s hard – but what can you do? The emotional component of the music is what challenges me a lot – challenges me in a good way.

“Also, having so much music, it’s definitely tough to come up with a set list for the show. We’ve always been an album band. We still go back and play songs from our early albums. We like to mix it up.”

Video link for Dark Tranquillity – https://youtu.be/qLzcYx6iWec?t=103.

The all-ages show at the Troc, which has Swallow The Sun, Enforcer, and Starkill as the opening acts, will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22.50.

On November 5, Parachute will be part of a four-band show at the Electric Factory (421 North Seventh Street, Philadelphia, 215-627-1332, www.electricfactory.info) along with Needtobreathe, Matt Kearney and Welshly Arms.

The three members of Parachute – Will Anderson (vocals, guitar, piano), Johnny Stubblefield (drums), Kit French (keyboards, vocals, saxophone) – grew up together. Now, they have grown apart – but only geographically.

“I’m living in New York and Nashville,” said Anderson, during a phone interview Wednesday. “One of the other guys lives in L.A. and the other lives in Richmond.”

For years, the band’s home base was in Charlottesville, Virginia – the home of the University of Virginia. All three graduated from Charlottesville High School.

“The three of us grew up together,” said Anderson. “Johnny was one of my first friends and Kit was one of his earliest friends. We were 15 when we started playing together. Johnny’s dad was a drummer and Kit played sax in school. I was always writing songs – even as a kid.

“We’d get together and play a lot. We just thought that being in a band was the ‘bees’ knees.’ It was never even an option to stop. In college was when we said we knew we were going to make a career of being in a band. We always wanted to be a band.

“We built up a good following at the University of Virginia when we were in college. We started selling out 500-seat venues and then made our flirts album in 2009. Since then, we’ve made an album bout every two years. Butt, we always tour – even when we’re making an album. We need to play shows to jeep the momentum up.”

Parachute is now touring to support its latest album “Wide Awake,” which debuted at #1 on the iTunes Pop Albums and #40 on the Billboard Top 200 first week of release earlier this year.

“I do all the songwriting,” said Anderson. “This one was more like the first album we did – me in a room writing songs without much co-writing. Most of them are crazy tunes about a person I’m in a relationship with. Still, I tried to keep each one insular.”

Video link for Parachute – https://youtu.be/ixOIyL7xDgM?t=4.

The show at the Electric Factory will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $42.50.

Another interesting concert will be happening on November 5 just a few blocks away from the Electric Factory when Berwanger headlines a show at Ortlieb’s (847 North Third Street, Philadelphia, 267- 324-3348, http://www.ortliebsphilly.com/).

Berwanger (the band) is the latest project of Josh Berwanger, most well-known as the singer/guitarist from the band The Anniversary. His latest album “Strange Stains,” which was just released on Doghouse Records, features him teaming up with Michael Hutcherson, original drummer for The Anniversary. The album juxtaposes airy, dreamy pop music with lyrics that deal with themes such as loneliness, fear and frustration.

Produced by Doug Boehm (Dr. Dog, French Kicks) and mixed and mastered by Paul Mahern (Blake Babies, Afghan Whigs, Okkervil River, Iggy Pop, The Fray), “Strange Stains” also features a slew of guest musicians including Jim McPherson (The Breeders, Guided By Voices), TK Webb (TK Webb and the Visions), Brandon Phillips (The Architects) and Heidi Gluck (Julianna Hatfield).

“We finished tracking in 2014,” said Berwanger, during a phone interview Tuesday as he drove to a gig in Detroit, Michigan. “We did it in Kansas City and had Doug fly in from Los Angeles. We took our time with it.

“I finished it all and didn’t have a label. It takes so long to set up an album release. I sent it to 10 labels and didn’t have anyone pick it up. Someone mentioned Doghouse. I sent it to them and they were interested. Then, it took four months to get the plan set up.

“Then, I needed to get a publicist onboard. The process just takes a very long time. I could have doing it differently but I wanted to do it the right way.”

Now, the album is out and Berwanger is touring in support of the disc. He is joined on the road by Ricky Salthouse, Brian Klein  and Nicky Stahl.

“Ricky plays guitar,” said Berwanger. “Brian plays bass and Nicky is the drummer.  Ricky was playing with me in my band Only Children. Brian joined around the same time as Ricky, Nick is new. This is a really good band. I love playing the new songs live.”

Video link for Berwanger — https://youtu.be/ix4Z37m5hGk?t=44.

The show at Ortlieb’s will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10.

On November 9, Voltage Lounge (421 North Seventh Street, Philadelphia, 215- 964-9602, voltagelounge.com) will host a band whose directional pattern for lyrics and music is the opposite of the pattern set out by Berwanger on its new album.

Stitched Up Heart, a Los Angeles-based band that is touring in support of its new album “Never Alone,” pairs dark, heavy instrumental riffs with positive upbeat lyrics.

Lead singer Alecia Demner, who goes by the single name Mixi, put the band together in Los Angeles in 2010. The group has gone through several line-up changes since then and now includes Mixi (vocals), Dorian (guitar), Decker (drums), Merritt (guitar) and Randy (bass).

“Everybody in the band kind of knew each other already,” said Mixi, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon as the band traveled to a show in Clarksville, Tennessee.

“We did a bunch of shows in L.A. and began building a good fan base. We’ve has some band members come and go but right now we have a pretty solid core group. Our drummer has been here four years and the others three. Only one of the guitarists is new.”

Mixi chose the hard rock/metal band’s name based on her state of mind a few years back.

“I started the band in 2010 based off a heartbreak,” said Mixi, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “I pulled myself out of a rut and decided to start a band. The name of the band — Stitched Up Heart — is about getting things back together after they go wrong — about picking yourself back up again.

“I was in bands previously but they weren’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to put together heavy guitar – including a jazz element – wit vocals that send a positive message. Most of it is very hopeful – pulling from a dark place to a lighter place. I don’t like listening to sad songs because it makes me sad. I wanted songs that would bring a light.”

The band’s first recording was its self-released EP “Skeleton Key.” Just recently, Stitched Up Heart released its debut album “Never Alone” on Another Century Records.

“We recorded the album in L.A. with producer Mitch Marlow,” said Mixi. “He’s a badass. We had really good chemistry. He knew exactly what to pull out of us. We were working on it all of last year.

“At first, we wrote 30 songs in a period of three months. Me and Merritt would go in and work with the producer. We’d have a plan — and then it would change in the studio. We’d start with a power ballad and it would turn into something really heavy. We’d usually spend three days on a song from start to finish.

“I write about what I’m going through in my life. My lyrics used to be in a dark place. Now, they’re more positive. They’re about bringing hope into your life and just enjoying the time that you have here.

“When I was writing the songs for ‘Never Alone,’ I was in a very optimistic period. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. The music has the aggression but lyrically it’s very positive. I have people coming up to me after shows telling me how the songs on the album have gotten them through difficult times. That’s a great feeling.”

Video link for Stitched Up Heart — https://youtu.be/acZbW-CmUTA?t=4.

The show at the Voltage Lounge, which also features Icon for Hire and She Pulled the Trigger, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.