Recent H Natural performances show Steve Hogarth drawing deeply from Marillion’s catalogue, from the UK Top 10 “You’re Gone” to album favourites including “Afraid of Sunlight”, “Easter” and “Fantastic Place”.
by Paul Cashmere
Steve Hogarth’s most recent H Natural performances provide a detailed guide to the Marillion songs Australian audiences could hear when he brings his solo show to Sydney and Melbourne in December, with recent European performances showing that the repertoire extends from 1989’s Seasons End through to the 2007 album Somewhere Else. The four Australian performances will be Hogarth’s first concerts in Australia, following decades in which Marillion themselves have never toured the country.
The January 2026 Netherlands performance contained 22 songs, including 10 Marillion compositions, while a December 2025 UK performance included eight Marillion songs among 21 selections. The format is deliberately fluid. Hogarth does not work from a predetermined setlist, instead allowing audience requests and conversation to influence the performance. Noise11 previously reported that this makes the European sets the clearest indication of what Australian fans may encounter, rather than a guarantee of what will be played.
Among the most significant selections is “You’re Gone”, from Marillion’s 2004 double album Marbles. Released as a single ahead of the album, it reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Marillion’s first UK Top 10 single since “Incommunicado” in 1987. Marillion’s own archive records the single release in April 2004, while the Official Charts confirms its No. 7 peak.
“Afraid of Sunlight” provides another important marker. The title track of the 1995 album was not issued as a UK single, but the album itself reached No. 16. “Beautiful”, also from Afraid of Sunlight, was the album’s principal single and peaked at No. 29 in the UK, while reaching No. 2 on the Rock & Metal Singles Chart. Hogarth has previously identified Afraid of Sunlight as his favourite Marillion album.
“Easter”, from Hogarth’s first Marillion album, Seasons End, has a different history. Released as a single in 1990, it reached No. 34 in the UK. The song therefore sits among the relatively small number of Hogarth-era Marillion recordings that crossed into the mainstream singles chart.
“The Hollow Man” comes from 1994’s Brave, one of Marillion’s major concept albums of the Hogarth period. It was released as a single and reached No. 30 in the UK. “Waiting to Happen”, meanwhile, comes from 1991’s Holidays in Eden. It was not a charting standalone single, although it appeared on the formats surrounding the “Dry Land” single and has remained part of the group’s live repertoire. Holidays in Eden itself reached No. 7 in the UK.
The deeper selections reveal more about the H Natural format. “Genie” and “Fantastic Place” both come from Marbles. Neither was a charting single, although “Fantastic Place” appeared as a live track on a 2004 Don’t Hurt Yourself single. “Three Minute Boy” comes from 1998’s Radiation, another album track rather than a major single. “House” is from 1999’s marillion.com, while “Faith” and “A Voice From The Past” are both from 2007’s Somewhere Else.
That gives the Australian repertoire considerable range. At one end is “You’re Gone”, a genuine Top 10 success from the period when Marillion’s direct-to-fan model was challenging conventional music-industry economics. At the other are songs such as “House”, “Genie” and “A Voice From The Past”, which were never major singles but have endured within the band’s catalogue and Hogarth’s live repertoire. Marillion’s own archive shows how frequently these deeper tracks have appeared in live recordings.
The recent H Natural sets also move beyond Marillion. Hogarth has performed David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” and “Life on Mars?”, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”, Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”, Peter Gabriel’s “Here Comes the Flood”, Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”, Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime”, The Kinks’ “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” and Joe Jackson’s “It’s Different for Girls”. His pre-Marillion history also surfaces through “Dry Land”, originally recorded by How We Live.
For Australian fans, the significance is that Hogarth’s first local appearances are unlikely to resemble a conventional greatest-hits concert. The evidence from his latest performances suggests a moving line between recognised Marillion songs, catalogue pieces and material from the wider musical life of one of progressive rock’s longest-serving frontmen. What ultimately gets played will be determined in the room.
Tour Dates
Thursday 10 December, Sydney, Oxford Art Factory
Sunday 13 December, Sydney, Lazybones Lounge
Wednesday 16 December, Melbourne, Corner Hotel
Thursday 17 December, Melbourne, Corner Hotel
Ticket Details
Sad Cloud Touring: https://www.sadcloudtouring.com
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