I can't believe I missed all the Marillion stuff two weeks ago.
Wavy lines time...
Back in the mid 90s when I was a student and was also involved in hospital radio, Fish did a series of short gigs and signings in HMV to promote a single ("Fortunes of War", I think). Having nothing better to do when he played Cardiff, I went to see him there and bumped into a friend from the radio station. Ian had brought his state-of-the-art Walkman with him hidden between his jacket and green-and-white striped T-shirt to record the gig, which considering Fish's stance on bootleggers was a bit of a risk.
So, a few minutes later, Fish and his band come out into the shop and start tuning up. Ian clumsily reaches into his jacket to start the Walkman. Fish sees him fidgeting and walks straight up to him, towering over him by a good twelve inches. Ian starts shitting himself. I start shitting myself through guilt by association. After a few seconds silence, Fish says "Och, I thought you were wearing a Celtic top. You could stand at the back if you were."
When I saw Ian later at the studio he admitted that he had panicked and pressed record and pause at the same time thus recording nothing.
I do have another story about Fish taking the piss out of Marillion's "Brave" album at a soundcheck in Newport, but I'll save that for another occasion.
