My favourite pictures from the three Marillion weekends--which are yours?

Marillion, Port Zelande, 2015

So... three full weekends of Marillion: Port Zelande, The Netherlands; Wolverhampton, England, UK; and then Montreal, Canada. Incredibly-wonderful-weekends. So happy to have been there... and to have been allowed the access to shoot all of the shows. This is one very happy photographer :-)

I have (at last) finished editing all of the Marillion photos from the weekends, at least, the evening concerts. I still have many of the support acts, most of the fan photos, the Sunday afternoon Swap The Band and quiz sessions from PZ and Montreal, and a load of others to work on... please be patient a little longer, it all takes a while (and I will update this post to a link to them as I finish editing).

I'm picking out a few of my personal favourites here, from each of the nine shows. Click on any of the photos to go to that evening's gallery. And, if you see another that you like, feel free to use the "Share" button to share on social media (no copy-paste, please!). Just be kind enough to tag @alisontoon and @marillion when you share! (@marilliononline and @alisontoon on Twitter).

Marillion, Friday, Port Zelande

Friday, Port Zelande: I have no clue how this photo "worked". There are a couple more similar shots in the gallery. The incredible light show, the crowd cheering the band... the great atmosphere of a weekend in Marillion World.

The Invisible Man, Marillion, Saturday, Port Zelande

Saturday, Port Zelande: Marillion's performance of The Invisible Man, indeed all of Marbles, was stunning. The video and lights, beautiful. Together? Something to be experienced. Again and again. Each time I saw the Saturday evening show--PZ, Wolves, Montreal--I saw, and heard, something else, another nuance, another memory. Bloody wonderful. Seriously.

When did you say the DVD will be out???

Marillion, Sunday, Port Zelande

Sunday, Port Zelande: I know everyone loves the photo of H doing the walk.. but there's something about this one that I love, too. It's also not a perfect shot by any means, but... I like it. Oh and the ones with the shadow in the spotlight and the smoke. OK, Sunday is difficult to choose.

Marillion, Friday, Wolverhampton

Friday, Wolverhampton: I'm going with this one, just-because it's almost identical to the one on the cover of The Web UK magazine from 2013 (yep, that's mine too). It wasn't intentional... oh OK, maybe just a little intentional.. audience not quite as worked up yet (but it didn't take long at all... the Wolves shows, all three, were unforgettable!)

Ocean Cloud, Marillion, Saturday, Wolvehampton

Saturday, Wolverhampton: All of Marbles, wonderful. Ocean Cloud? I'm running out of superlatives... beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Sunday, Marillion, Wolverhampton

Sunday, Wolverhampton: The three Sunday shows, many singles, oldies and newbies, a lot of singing along, laughter and tears and a whole lotta love...

Friday, Marillion, Montreal

Friday, Montreal: Yes, that's Ian Mosley, drummer, not hidden behind cymbals, sunglasses or anything else!!!!

Saturday, Marillion, Montreal

Saturday, Montreal: "Put your arms around my soul, and take it dancing"... (shivers down my spine, how I love Marbles...)

(Pull yourself together woman. Not here.)

Sunday, Marillion, Montreal

Sunday, Montreal: Steve Rothery, serene as ever, plays on... and H leaps around like Zebedee.

You ever watch the movie, The Last Samurai (the only good movie with Tom Cruise)? At the end, Ken Watanabe's character, Katsumoto, who had been searching all his life for the perfect cherry blossom, sees the blossom falling, and finally realises: "Perfect... they are all, perfect". That's how these weekends were for me. Every moment, perfect. Gaza, Sympathy, oh darnit can we do it again please?????

If I go back through the photos again tomorrow, I'll choose nine different ones, because they'll each bring back another memory.

If you were there--I hope they do that for you, too. If you were not: I hope they share something of the music you missed. Go to http://marillion.com, and take a listen. And if you're on this side of the pond--North America--look out next year for a Marillion gig near you. If you see a tent outside, or a gypsy caravan, that'll be me, Alison.

(And if you enjoy these photos and those of the others who were shooting the weekends, check out the book, A Million Photo Flashes, which contains the work of seven photographers, yours-truly included, and the words of the band. There are copies available, while they last, on http://marillion.com)