A tribo dos Marillion

O amigo Aranha chamou-me a atenção para este artigo "20 Years of Being Brave – How Marillion Crawled Back From Obscurity".
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Julgo que há aqui alguns ensinamentos para a vida em Mongo, terra de numerosas tribos orgulhosas.

"how can a band who are arguably remembered for one 29 year old single maintain such a strong fanbase,
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Whilst this kickstarted a new era for the band, there still lingered an ongoing image problem in the mainstream media, ... Rarely played on radio or on television, the band were written off as being irrelevant, cultish, and deeply unfashionable.
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After one more record, Marillion were dropped by EMI in 1996. On a smaller label, they continued to struggle with commercial success, reaching a nadir when they had to admit that they couldn’t afford to tour America. Then something hugely surprising happened. Despite all the changes, the band still had a strong fanbase, one that was becoming increasingly devoted. At the prospect of not seeing their favourite band, the American fans coughed up $60,000 to get the band on US soil, essentially leading to Marillion becoming the first band to successfully crowd-source themselves. Paying keen attention to the rise of the internet, Marillion found an unprecedented way to engage with their fanbase, bringing a personal connection that had hitherto been unimaginable.
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This connection to the fans was to have a huge impact, not just upon the band, but on the way the music business could operate, providing a potential solution to a problem, several years before it actually existed. By building up these ties to their fans, learning about them, and discovering what it was they wanted from the band, Marillion were able to take the radical step of asking people to pay for an album, before they’d recorded it. With over ten thousand pre-orders, Anoraknophobia was paid for by the fans, allowing the band the kind of autonomy that many major label artists crave. Without the pressure to make a ‘hit’ record, and having already covered their costs, Marillion could make the kind to music they wanted, and – perhaps more importantly – their fans demanded. Rewarding the dedicated sponsors with pictures and names on the records, as well as special ‘fan’ versions of the album, they were able to carve a new path for themselves, one that neatly allowed them to avoid the crash that the major record industry was heading for when it came head-to-head with downloading.
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By this stage in their lifespan, Marillion had developed an almost godlike status amongst their fans, with the fans in turn displaying an intense, and occasionally extreme level of love for the group. Under Hogarth’s stewardship, this was a band that had come to soundtrack lives, his complex and passionate songwriting attaining an almost spiritual reverence for many people. Concerts became gatherings of like minded souls, people establishing lifelong friendships through their love of the band, and attending conventions in various locations over the globe, with the band reciprocating by playing sets of fanfavourite material. Rather than returning Marillion to the heart of mainstream music, the devotion of their fans had seemingly pushed them further to the sidelines, an irrelevant 80s prog band, with a legion of crazy fans behind them.
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To many Marillion fans, Marillion are the only band in the world that truly matters, going places that other bands would fear to tread."

Para as outras tribos os Marillion podem ter morrido e não passar de uma recordação longínqua. No entanto, para a sua tribo tudo continua bem vivo. Não têm todos de tentar subir ao mesmo pico, há cada vez mais picos que não concorrem entre si.