Big Big Train
A Flare On The Lens
This year saw Big Big Train headlining the finale of the very last Night Of The Prog festival at Loreley. The last time they played there was in 2018 with David Longdon still behind the microphone. The sudden and sad loss of David initially brought the band to an unexpected and confronting standstill. Death struck at the heart of the band. When the band decided to continue after some time, they found Alberto Bravin on their path. With Alberto, they recorded some music, but moreover, they went on tour. In 2022, they stopped at De Boerderij and with the at the time temporary member Oskar Holldorff from Dim Gray, now a permanent member, on keyboards, the band opened the evening delightfully with Master James Of St. George. You could certainly call it a litmus test for a singer: Alberto passed it that evening and perhaps all of that tour with flair. The concert made it clear that the band could breathe again and that Alberto, both as a musician, as a singer, and as a person, quickly became a special match with the other band members.
Due to unforeseen circumstances the tour in 2022 was cut short, way shorter than intended. For 2023, the band wanted to make it an another great tour, with concerts spread across Europe, the United Kingdom and, of course, a finale there as well, in the United in the beautiful Cadogan Hall in London, where the band had previously celebrated successes, also still with David. Now, just a year later, a brilliant document has emerged from those two evenings in the former London church.
The tour took place with the Big Big Train Brass Ensemble, and that is something that clearly distinguishes the band. Progressive rock and brass; many progressive rockers find that something different and where you would expect to experience it as progressive, there are still people who simply do not appreciate it. So much for the progressive tag. For the more open-minded music lover, it will be noticeable that the brass accentuates the character of the music, and that the band, with Clare Lindley on violin, has a significant pillar of its sound based on the brass and the violin. This becomes immediately clear with the opener Folklore; you couldn’t open a concert of the band in a more delightful way. The drive behind the song, Alberto’s clear voice, the splendid background vocals, and that ever fantastic brass and violin. The song simply is a classic.
This tour brought smiles and grins to many faces. And that was especially true with the band’s setlist choice. The Connection Plan once again demonstrated that the band stands alone at the top when it comes to harmony singing. This really stood out live during the tour. And you mustn’t forget that most of the singers sing and play at the same time: Rikard plays guitar or keyboards, Oskar plays keyboards, Clare plays violin, Alberto plays either guitar or keyboards, and indeed, sometimes nothing, and Nick plays the drums as the master he is at it. Curator Of Butterflies brought Alberto’s voice perfectly in balance with the instruments, it is a Big Big Train song that can grab hold of you like never before. And while listening to this live version, you might just fall silent. What an incredibly beautiful solo by Maria Barbieri, the temporary substitute for Dave Foster. A lot of the audience’s appraisal was for her as she played fantastic for the whole of the tour.
Moving on to Summoned By Bells, also from English Electric, but Part One. It’s a song that, like many of the band’s longer tracks, shows exactly why the Passengers are so enamored with Big Big Train: delightful melodies, wonderful singing, pastoral sounds, beautiful historical perspectives in the lyrics, and lovely background vocals. Big Big Train in every way. Yes, you can even get chills from the way Alberto has found his place within the band.
Never intending to bring an identical voice whilst finding a new singer, the band found Alberto with quite a different voice. Still, at the same time, the two singers have a likeness in the way they apparently experience their music and put their heart and soul in it. How magical it must be knowing that their voices are very distinctive and the characters of both men differ as well, and then to see how well Alberto fits. Note that this is not meant to make a comparison, but rather to say something about how wonderful the match is. It certainly couldn’t have been better; that is the takeaway here.
Master drummer Nick D’Virgilio then took a seat behind his kit and dove into a delightful jam with the Big Big Train Brass Ensemble. You can feel the relaxation, while musically it was indeed highly enjoyable. Yes, the ‘true’ prog enthusiasts (ah, the brass) might skip the track, but then they would miss a very tight rendition of the theme from Heart Of The Sunrise by one of the prog greats, Yes. Let Nick and the ensemble groove: it comes out wonderfully strong.
The band dared to play two songs from the yet-to-be-released The Likes Of Us during the tour, and that move was bold and confident. Love Is The Light stood out as a beautiful ballad and came across strongly in the live performance. The same was true for Oblivion, a blistering rocking track from the album. The band had spread those two songs throughout the set. And, it must be said, not every night of the tour featured both in the setlist. This set includes the concert from the second night at Cadogan Hall and seven songs that were played on the first night, songs that also appeared at other times during the tour. Be sure to listen to the acoustic part as well how the singers alternate in the lead. That once again underscores the band’s class. It starts with Leopards and runs through to the mighty Wassail. Wonderful!
Time can sometimes be difficult to measure. And the same goes for experience. At the same time, perhaps it’s possible to put it into words. Judas Unrepentant once was the introduction to the sound and world of Big Big Train. With a song that sounded so vital, how amazing would it be to see and hear the band live, the fluid guitar sound, those voices combined, Greg’s driving bass work, that must be the epitome of experiencing their music, right? Around that time Big Big Train started orienting themselves itself at playing live concerts again and since then there have been several splendid moments of seeing the band live.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, the band’s first concert at Night Of The Prog came too early, and the first time I saw the band live was with Alberto. The experience of Big Big Train live, yes, also, also with Alberto as the singer, is as intense and impressive as it can be. His subtle sounds resonate; when you listen to the quieter songs, they can creep under your skin, and he knows how to captivate you when a song builds in dynamics and he has to give it all to deliver those mighty notes. His voice simply soars at times.
And then I didn’t even mention the excellent musicianship that Big Big Train features. The wonderful interplay of the voices, from Alberto (also guitar and keys), Nick (also drums and guitar), Oskar (also on keys), Clare (also violin), and Rikard (also guitar and keys), and their qualities on the various instruments they play, not to forget Maria Barbieri on guitar and the band’s founder Gregory Spawton on bass. And all of this with the strong backing of The Big Big Train Brass Ensemble. It can be so beautiful. It is so beautiful. A Flare On The Lens is an immensely strong live album. It stands out in terms of production, thanks to the great Rob Aubrey, as well as in musical performance and presentation. A very fitting location to capture the band as well.
The eyes may still be a bit moist, but the countdown to the reunion at De Boerderij in the last weekend of September has begun: the band will play there two nights in a row. Don’t miss that chance!
