My friend - well, cyber friend - went to see Marc in Cornwall this weekend (Friday counts as weekend to me!!) and here is her review of the show............


Hi,



Sorry for the delay in getting this to you – was hoping to send pics, but they’ll have to follow in another note.



I won’t go into the details of the journey there, but it was a total nightmare and we arrived in the Festival Marquee, just as the lights went down and the show started. The Festival Marquee appeared to be in the grounds of the local primary school and was filled with local people of all ages – not a Marc fan insight – at first. It was all very bizarre!



Marc had the band, Neil, Martin, Carl and Dave and opened with I have Lived. Despite the ‘mixed’ audience he got a great welcome and seemed quite relaxed (considering everything, rain, marquee etc) and spoke about looking forward to cream teas in Cornwall – despite the weather, which was vile buy that point…Next was Redeem Me and again the reception was really good from the audience. R, M and I were sat on the LHS of the stage 3rd row – next to a journo and photographer for The St Austell Voice (J) – article to be published on Weds I think….



Marc did a section of acoustic songs with Neil, Dream Lover, Child Star, Brilliant Creatures and Amsterdam which was fantastic! The audience were really responsive and enjoying the show and Marc was obviously surprised by the reaction he was getting and loving it! Mr Sad was a real treat with the whole band again, before the 1st half was closed with a set of songs with Martin on piano, What makes a man a man, Yesterday when I was young, If you go away and Jacky. It was great to hear If you go away, I really love that one, but I cannot tell you how well the whole set was received by such a non standard Marc audience! The audience was the complete opposite of the unquestioning, loyal and devoted from the Wilton’s shows. A real mixture of locals supporting the Du Maurier festival, pensioners, ladies in the 30’s who may have remembered Marc from the 80’s and were out for a night out and a good time….During the break Rod overheard someone describing Marc as very professional and expressionate ;-)



During the break we did spot a few familiar faces, 2 fans from Birmingham – Adrian and a girl with a black bob whose name I missed, the Japanese fan and a one or two others….M was with us and was wearing the Stardom Rd T-Shirt – he was receiving a lot of comments!!! Don’t think people expected a 5 year old to be a fan! He sang along with all the songs and had a great view as the layout mean there was only 1 row of seats in front of us.



The second half opened with Something’s gotten hold of my heart and the whole place came alive ! A bunch of ladies immediately jumped up and started dancing in the area between the stage and front row – Marc seemed thrilled by the reaction! Next was Back stage I’m lonely, then Tears Run rings, and My Hand over my heart. More and more people began to fill the ‘dance floor’ and by the time Marc did Days of Pearly Spencer it was like being in a nightclub! Marc then did The Boy who came back and M and I went down to the front of the stage and he sat on the edge of the stage, in front of Martin Watkins J



Next was Tainted Love and the whole place (~500 people) went wild! Next was What and then I close my eyes. Marc was obviously really enjoying himself and was jumping around the stage – so far away from the ‘exhauted’ angry figure from IndigO2. He closed the set with SHWG and I’ve never heard it get a better reception – the whole audience appeared to sing along!



We’d taken flowers and hoped we’d get chance to give them to Marc. During the final section of SHWG someone gave Marc, Neil and Martin red Gerbera, M ran back to our seats to get our flowers and stood on the edge of the stage and handed them to Marc as he walked towards us J Marc was very kind, smiled and waved to M, before taking the flowers back to the middle of the stage where he thanked me also J I was very very happy and M and I had a big hug and waved to Marc as he closed the song. We weren’t able to record it and there’s no chance any of this will be posted on YouTube, but we shall never forget it!



It was a really really special night – I’m sorry that you weren’t there, but I’m sure Bexhill/Leeds – your next show will be fabulous. After a terrible journey to get there, and last minute, post Wilton’s ticket purchases, it was more than worth all the hassle and we were sooo pleased to have been there to experience a great set of songs, in a fabulous atmosphere, with a happy and relaxed Marc and most of all for M and Marc to have ‘met’.



It was great to see Marc being able to connect and entertain such an audience, as well as the devoted at Wilton’s only a week or two ago - if ever he needed reassurance that he still has the ability to be a great performer he need look no further than these shows.



I do hope Marc wasn’t too freaked out to be confronted by a small boy in a Stardom Rd T-shirt on the edge of the stage holding a bunch of red roses!



Pics to follow tomorrow – they’re not great, but thought you’d like to see them none the less ….