I must admit that, while I do enjoy a concert every once in a while, I have never considered myself an active concert-goer. Then, in 2004, I saw Marillion for the first time live, and I finally understood why some people live and breathe the live experience.

There was something very special about the show at Irving Plaza in New York; it was the first time the band had been back to the U.S. in seven years, and when they finished their first song, “The Invisible Man,” off then-newly-released double album “Marbles,” the capacity crowd cheered and cheered and cheered. Singer Steve Hogarth seemed to wipe away a tear of appreciation and said, “What can I say, I'm thin-skinned.”

That is why I eagerly dove into this pair of live double CDs from the band, recorded during its most recent “Marillion Weekend” even in the Netherlands last year. The bi-annual event, held in Europe and, starting last year, in Montreal, Canada, is a three-night festival of all things Marillion, where the band plays songs both old and new, interacts with the participants and generally has a good time.

For its 2009 weekend, the band held a show chronicling its back catalog, all the way back to 1981.

“This one's from – what the hell, 1991... are we that old?” Hogarth says as the band plays the rarely-performed live “The Party,” a song about a teenage girl who, well, goes to her first party. The band pays homage to its past, with songs like “Slainte Mhath,” a song from the Fish-era, which ended with that singer's departure in 1988. And, always, they remain firmly in the present, giving most attention to their current output, like the incredible “This Train is my Life”, from 2008 and “When I Meet God”, from 2001.

On “Size Matters,” the long songs are given their due, including the almost never performed live “Interior Lulu” from 1999's “marillion.com” and the nearly-20-minute “Ocean Cloud”, from “Marbles” disc two. Much more than with “Tumbling Down the Years,” “Size Matters” is best experienced in one long, relaxed session with the sound turned up, in a comfortable chair, though this really is the best way to experience for both performances. Well, that's not entirely true; the best way is to see them live for yourself.

Each song is given reverence, nothing is just thrown away and the whole thing shows just how incredibly diverse the band's sound has been, and continues to be, over their 30-year career. Live production by Michael Hunter (the band's producer for the last two albums, 2007's “Somewhere Else” and 2008's “Happiness is the Road”) is exceptional and everyone, from Hogarth to guitarist Steve Rothery, bassist Pete Trewavas, keyboardist Mark Kelly and drummer Ian Mosley, sound like they genuinely want to be there, performing for their friends.

And their friends want them to perform and continue to amaze. What a fanbase that would cheer in equal measures of loudness and excitement for the old school “Garden Party,” the modern, drum-sampled “This is the 21st Century” and the decidedly commercial (for the early 1990s) “Cover My Eyes,” which has continued to be a perrenial favorite among fans.