BIG BIG TRAIN THE JOURNEY CONTINUES 2023

Big Big Train are delighted to announce 15 further shows in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and the UK to take place in August and September 2023. 

These additional dates form part of the band’s The Journey Continues tour and are in addition to the band’s previously announced headlining appearance at the 2 Days + 1 Festival in Italy on 2nd September 2023. At these performances the band will be promoting the forthcoming Ingenious Devicesalbum, which will be released on 30th June 2023. 

For these shows Big Big Train will consist of lead vocalist Alberto Bravin, drummer Nick D’Virgilio, guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom, bassist Gregory Spawton, violinist Clare Lindley, keyboardist Oskar Holldorff and guitarist Maria Barbieri. Barbieri is deputising for Dave Foster, who has prior commitments in September with the Steve Rothery Band. The Big Big Train brass ensemble, led by trombonist Dave Desmond, will perform at all shows.

Alberto Bravin says: “After the shows we played in the UK and the Netherlands back in September, I cannot wait to get back on stage again with Big Big Train later this year. I remain truly grateful to the fans for welcoming me so warmly at last year’s shows and am excited about BBT touring more extensively.”

Rikard Sjöblom adds: “I have been campaigning for a long time for Big Big Train to come to Sweden, so I am really pleased that we’re bringing the band for the first time not only to my home country for two shows but also to play two other dates in Denmark and Norway. I hope the Scandinavian prog fans will come out in force to see us live!”

Nick D’Virgilio says: “As we’re doing two nights at the beautiful Cadogan Hall in London, these will be very special shows with about 45 minutes of material being played at one show which will not be performed at the other.”

Gregory Spawton concludes: “As 2023 begins, I’m very confident about Big Train’s future. Apart from playing live this year, we will also be recording a new studio album for release in 2024 and are looking forward to taking BBT across the Atlantic for Cruise To The Edge in March next year.”

Tickets for all shows go on sale at 10am UK time on Friday 10th February.

Support at all shows except Wednesday 13th September comes from rising Norwegian stars Dim Gray, who feature Oskar Holldorff. There will be no support at the Wednesday 13th September show. 

QUEENSRŸCHE Announce 2023 Digital Noise Alliance Tour! New Album ‘Digital Noise Alliance’ Out Now!

Celebrating the release of their sixteenth studio album, ‘Digital Noise Alliance’, QUEENSRŸCHE have announced the 2023 Digital Noise Alliance Tour! The band has just wrapped up a Fall run in North America supporting Judas Priest on the 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour, and will now launch their first headlining campaign in the US supporting DNA!

Commenting on their upcoming live shows, QUEENSRŸCHE share, “We are very excited to be doing this headline tour in support of our most recent album, Digital Noise Alliance! This touring package is amped up and very much looking forward to seeing all of you! Come on out and let’s have a great time together, as live music is as vibrant as ever once again!”

Direct support on the Digital Noise Alliance Tour comes from Marty Friedman, with Trauma opening the night for each show. A complete list of dates can be seen below.

QUEENSRŸCHE – 2023 Digital Noise Alliance Tour with special guests Marty Friedman + Trauma:

3/3/2023 – Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live

3/4/2023 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

3/5/2023 – Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre

3/7/2023 – Destin, FL @ Club LA

3/9/2023 – San Antonio, TX @ The Vibes Event Center

3/10/2023 – Houston, TX @ Scout Bar

3/11/2023 – Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues

3/12/2023 – Midland, TX @ La Hacienda Event Center

3/14/2023 – Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theatre

3/16/2023 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

3/17/2023 – El Cajon, CA @ House Of Blues

3/21/2023 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom

3/22/2023 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre

3/24/2023 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre

3/25/2023 – Kansas City, KS @ Knuckleheads Saloon

3/26/2023 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall

3/28/2023 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave

3/29/2023 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ The Clyde Theatre

3/31/2023 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall

4/1/2023 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection

4/2/2023 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall

4/4/2023 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall

4/5/2023 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theater

4/7/2023 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium

4/8/2023 – Huntington, NY @ The Paramount

4/10/2023 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

4/11/2023 – Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage

4/12/2023 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground

4/14/2023 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl

4/15/2023 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Heaven)

4/16/2023 – St. Petersberg, FL @ Jannus Live

Website http://www.queensrycheofficial.com/
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YES Announce Re-scheduled UK RELAYER ALBUM SERIES TOUR IN JUNE 2023

12th October 2022: Progressive legends YES have announced UK dates for their long-awaited Album Series 2023 Tour featuring their 1974 Relayer album in its entirety together with a selection of other classic YES favourites. Tickets are on sale from 10am on Friday 14th October.

The Relayer Tour was originally planned for 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic and last year’s highly successful 50th anniversary of their legendary Close To The Edge album. The Royal Albert Hall was the original choice for the tour’s London show but has no availability, so the band will make a nostalgic return to an old haunt, the former Hammersmith Odeon.

The coming tour features Steve Howe (guitars), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Billy Sherwood (bass guitar) with Jay Schellen (drums and percussion) stepping into Alan White’s shoes following his passing in May 2022.

The show will comprise of two sets by the band. The first will feature favourite classic tracks from YES’s extensive catalogue. YES will perform Relayer, their seventh studio album, in full in the second set. Relayer marked a slight change in direction bringing an edgier feel to this album. At almost 22 minutes in length, the opening track Gates Of Delirium included a battle scene between keyboard and guitar. The battle gives way to the beautiful closing ballad Soon, a prayer for peace and hope.

Relayer continues with Sound Chaser, a prog-rock-jazz fusion experiment demonstrating the power of Alan White and Chris Squire, and To Be Over, a calm and gentle conclusion to the album, based on a melody by Steve Howe and Jon Anderson.

Released in late 1974 on Atlantic Records, Relayer continued YES’s success reaching number 4 in the UK album chart and number 5 in the US Billboard chart.

The UK Relayer Tour dates for 2023 are as follows:

Saturday 10 June Birmingham Symphony Hall

Sunday 11 June Southend Cliffs Pavilion

Monday 12 June York Barbican

Wednesday 14 June Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Thursday 15 June Gateshead The Sage

Friday 16 June Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 

Saturday 18 June Manchester Bridgewater Hall

Tuesday 20 June London Eventim Apollo

Tickets from Yesworld.com, Bookingsdirect.com and all usual outlets.

About YES

Steve Howe: guitars, backing vocals (1970 –1981, 1990–1992, 1995–present)

Geoff Downes: keyboards (1980–1981, 2011–present)

Jon Davison: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2012–present)

Billy Sherwood: guitar, backing vocals ((1994, 1997–2000), bass guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)

Jay Schellen: drums and percussion

Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson and the late, and much-missed, Chris Squire, YES have been one of the most innovative, influential and best-loved bands in rock music history. Their 1970s albums The Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge, Yessongs (a triple live album set), Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going For The One were ground-breaking in musical style and content. Their music also became synonymous with artist Roger Dean whose distinctive YES logo design and artwork adorned the lavish gatefold presentation sleeves of many YES albums.

With sales of over 50 million records, the Grammy-award winning YES were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 where they performed Roundabout from the album Fragile and the FM radio-friendly Owner Of A Lonely Heart from the 1985 album 90125.

YES released their 22nd studio album in 2021, The Quest, which went to No. 1 in the UK Rock Albums Chart and entered the Official UK Album Chart at No. 20.

In May 2022 came the sad news that drummer Alan White, ever-present in the YES line-up for 50 years, had passed away. The news came shortly before the band embarked on their 50th anniversary tour marking the release of their classic, genre-defining album Close To The Edge.

UK www.yesworld.com

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YES MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCE CHANGE TO TOUR LINE-UP

22nd May 2022: YES Management have announced today that due to current health issues Alan White will not be taking part on the forthcoming 50th Anniversary Close to the Edge UK & Eire Tour.   Alan was really looking forward to playing live again preparing to celebrate 50 years with Yes, having joined the band for the July 1972 Close to the Edge Tour, coming full circle in 2022.  Alan’s close friend Jay Schellen will be taking on drumming duties in Alan’s place.      

The Album Series Tour 2022 which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of YES’ iconic album Close to the Edge and will feature the album, performed in full, along with other classic tracks from YES’ extensive catalogue.  

The tour line-up will feature Steve Howe (guitars), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (vocals), Billy Sherwood (bass guitar and backing vocals) with Jay Schellen (drums and percussion).  

The show will comprise full production and a high-definition video wall directed by Roger Dean who will also be joining the tour with an exhibition of YES related art.  

A full performance of the Relayer album will now be featured in a future UK tour in The Album Series.  European dates were recently announced for rescheduled dates in 2023.  

The 10 date UK and Eire tour starts on 15th June – full dates are:  

Wed 15th June Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 

Fri 17th June Manchester Bridgewater Hall 

Sat 18th June Nottingham Royal Concert Hall 

Mon 20th June Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 

Tues 21st June London Royal Albert Hall 

Wed 22nd June York Barbican 

Fri 24th June Birmingham Symphony Hall 

Sun 26th June Newcastle O2 City Hall 

Tues 28th June Dublin Vicar Street 

Wed 29th June Cork Opera House  

Tickets remain valid for the rescheduled shows. For full details and to book tickets for all shows go to venue website or http://yesworld.com/live where you can also book Meet and Greets with the band.  

About YES 

Steve Howe: guitars, backing vocals (1970 –1981, 1990–1992, 1995–present)
Alan White: drums, percussion (1972 – present)
Geoff Downes: keyboards (1980–1981, 2011–present)
Jon Davison: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2012–present)
Billy Sherwood: guitar, backing vocals ((1994, 1997–2000), bass guitar, backing vocals (2015–present) 

Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson and the late, and much-missed, Chris Squire, YES have been one of the most innovative, influential and best-loved bands in rock music history. Their 1970s albums The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Yessongs (a triple live album set), Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going For The One were ground-breaking in musical style and content. Their music also became synonymous with artist Roger Dean whose distinctive YES logo design and artwork adorned the lavish gatefold presentation sleeves of many YES albums. 

With sales of over 50 million records, the Grammy-award winning YES were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 where they performed Roundabout from the album Fragile and the FM radio-friendly Owner Of A Lonely Heart from the 1985 album 90125.  In 2021 YES released their 22nd Studio album, The Quest, produced by Steve Howe, which went to No.1 in the UK rock chart and entered the Official UK Album Chart at No. 20.  

UK www.yesworld.com
www.facebook.com/yestheband
www.twitter.com/yesofficial
www.youtube.com/user/yesofficial
www.instagram.com/yesofficial
soundcloud.com/yesofficial 

The Pineapple Thief Give It Back With New Album And Tour

English alternative progressive rock band The Pineapple Thief will release an album titled Give It Back on May 13th via Kscope. This is an album of newly recorded, re-worked classic tracks, that now feature drum legend Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), from the band’s impressive catalog.

The Pineapple Thief is one of the leading lights of Europe’s experimental rock domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord and reinforced by Gavin Harrison (King Crimson) on drums.

In the lead up to their extensive forthcoming 2022 European and US tour (23 Feb through to June) in support of their latest studio album ‘Versions Of The Truth’, The Pineapple Thief present ‘Give It Back’ which is due for release on the 13th May through Kscope.

‘Give It Back’ is a new album featuring 12 new versions of earlier works including songs taken from the albums ‘Little Man’, ‘All The Wars’, ‘Tightly Unwound’. The band has completely re-recorded all of the tracks to complement brand new Gavin Harrison drum parts and new song arrangements. The result of this process is a unique release of reworked songs which showcases the evolution of The Pineapple Thief. Bruce Soord explains the idea behind the album “Gavin went through the entire TPT back catalog and picked out some songs he felt we could revisit. As soon as I heard what Gavin was doing, it inspired me to completely rework the songs too. Gavin would suggest adding new parts, chopping things around, bringing in extra verses and I was completely open to all of it. I also ‘closed the story’ lyrically on a lot of the songs which I felt were left too open-ended. It was a lot of fun to do, even if it felt a little strange at times going back in time.”

The Pineapple Thief – Give it Back (Rewired) [Official Lyric Video]

Gavin Harrison comments “When I first started working with The Pineapple Thief I had only played on the album “Your Wilderness”, so when the time came to play live, I obviously had to approach quite a few songs I didn’t know and hadn’t played before. Having spent some years in King Crimson (where this challenge was often presented to me), Robert Fripp suggested that you should approach every song as if it were new regardless of when it was written. So with the blessing of The Pineapple Thief, I developed my own take on some of the earlier material. As the tours went by, I got curious about their huge back catalog and found myself listening through and applying the ‘old song/new song’ process and imagining how I could (sometimes radically) rework them – initially just for the purposes of finding other songs to play live. However, Bruce encouraged me to go as far out as I wanted (including writing whole new sections) – after all, the original already existed – so why not breathe new life into these earlier songs? This isn’t a compilation album or any kind of selected ‘best of’ record – but rather the tunes that gave me inspiration to rearrange, rework, rewire.” 

The title track from the album is the first single to be released on 22nd February. Bruce explains“One of the first songs that Gavin picked out from the back catalog was Give it Back. We completely re-recorded and re-worked the entire piece. It feels like a completely new song and it’s already part of our live set.” 

The ‘Give It Back’ album artwork has been created by Carl Glover.

‘Give It Back’ will be released as a 2 disc CD & Blu-ray (Audio – Hi-res Stereo/DTS-HD MA 5.1/Dolby Atmos), CD, black vinyl LP, and digitally and is available to  PRE-ORDER HERE (https://TPT.lnk.to/GiveItBack )

‘Give It Back’ Tracklisting

  1. Wretched Soul (Rewired) [05:26] 
  2. Dead In The Water (Rewired) [04:43] 
  3. Shoot First (Rewired) [03:43] 
  4. Build A World (Rewired) [03:42] 
  5. Start Your Descent (Rewired) [04:23] 
  6. Give It Back (Rewired) [06:20] 
  7. Boxing Day (Rewired) [03:25] 
  8. Someone Pull Me Out (Rewired) [04:00] 
  9. Last Man Standing (Rewired) [05:15] 
  10. Little Man (Rewired) [03:51] 
  11. 137 (Rewired) [05:06] 
  12. Warm Seas (Rewired) [03:59] 

The band will also be touring North America for the first time in years in support of the record.

The Pineapple Thief – Dead In The Water Rewired (Lyric Video)

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BIG BIG TRAIN Continues The Journey With New Vocalists 

Big Big Train has recruited Alberto Bravin as lead vocalist following the tragic death of David Longdon in November 2021. 

Based in Trieste in Italy, Bravin’s career includes performing around 200 shows with progressive rock legends PFM between 2015 and January 2022, both in Italy and internationally, singing lead and backing vocals and playing keyboards. 

Alberto Bravin says: “I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to join Big Big Train. I was already a huge BBT fan and am looking forward to play my part in taking this great band forward while also honoring the memory of David Longdon.”

Big Big Train bassist and founder Gregory Spawton comments: “Before Covid-19 hit, Nick D’Virgilio and I had both seen Alberto perform with PFM. We were very impressed with his abilities as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist and therefore approached him earlier this year.

“We know that David is irreplaceable and we miss him deeply both musically and personally,” Spawton continues. “We were very clear that we didn’t want to bring someone into the band who would seek to mimic David; that just felt fundamentally wrong. Instead, we wanted someone who could do justice with their own musical skills and personality to the songs that David sang for Big Big Train as well as being able to help to drive the band forwards. From his first audition singing some BBT classic songs and subsequently his work on some new material that we’re working on, we’re confident that we’ve found the right person in Alberto.”

 “Aside from Alberto’s great voice and all-around musical skills, it was also vital for us to find the right personal fit, particularly after being struck with David’s sudden death,” drummer Nick D’Virgilio comments. “We flew Alberto to London several weeks ago so we could hang together for a few days and the chemistry immediately felt right.”

About Alberto Bravin

Alberto was born in Trieste, on Italy’s north-eastern border with Slovenia.

His involvement in music began at the age of three when he started taking piano lessons. Later on, he developed an interest in electronic keyboards and synthesizers and this paved the way for his love of progressive rock music.

At the age of 17, Alberto began studying opera singing at the Trieste Conservatory and after a couple of years, he moved to London where he graduated in modern singing. Alongside his singing and piano playing, Alberto is also a self-taught guitarist, bassist, and drummer.

After his studies in London, Alberto returned to Trieste where he opened his own recording studios (Echoes Recording Studios) and released two albums (Sinestesia and The Day After Flower) with his band Sinestesia (featuring Alberto, Roby De Micheli, Alessandro Sala, and Paolo Marchesich of Rhapsody Of Fire). Both albums were produced by Franz Di Cioccio of Italian progressive rock legends PFM – Premiata Forneria Marconi. Alberto also recorded and mixed Rhapsody Of Fire’s eleventh album, 2016’s Into The Legend.

In 2015 Alberto joined PFM (alongside Marco Sfogli) as a singer and additional guitarist and keyboard player. With PFM he played around 200 shows, both in Italy and worldwide, and released two albums (2017’s Emotional Tattoos and 2021’s I Dreamed Of Electric Sheep). Alberto is a Beatles fanatic and at the same time a progressive rock and metal aficionado.

Big Big Train is pleased to confirm that their two previously announced UK shows in September 2022 will take place. In addition, the band has scheduled six further shows for September in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and France.

Keyboardist/vocalist Carly Bryant is unable to tour with the band in September 2022 for family reasons. “After over two years of being part of Big Big Train and involved in two studio albums, I was extremely keen to go on the road with the band. However a recent change in my family situation means that sadly I cannot be away from home in the autumn,” Bryant explains. “I love being part of BBT and will be on stage with the band at the earliest opportunity when my family commitments permit.”

Alongside Bravin, D’Virgilio, Spawton, and longstanding guitarist Rikard Sjöblom, the Big Big Train line-up for the September 2022 shows will consist of guitarist Dave Foster, violinist/vocalist Clare Lindley, keyboardist Oskar Holldorff and the Big Big Train brass section led by Dave Desmond. Holldorff leads Norwegian band Dim Gray, whose debut album Flown was much acclaimed last year and who are preparing to release their second album later this year. 

“Oskar came to our attention from his work with Dim Gray and is another tremendous talent to involve in Big Big Train,” Sjöblom says. “We’re very grateful to him for stepping in while Carly is unavailable. It’s also exciting that Big Big Train is becoming an increasingly international band – in September we will have an American, a Swede, an Italian, and a Norwegian on stage with the Brits.”

During the September tour, Big Big Train will be playing material from various stages of their career and also one new song. 

“We were originally scheduled to play live shows in spring 2020 but then Covid-19 derailed our live plans repeatedly and since then we’ve prepared numerous different setlists,” Sjöblom continues. “We’ve released two full albums since we last played live and are spoilt for choice with the setlist for September.” 

“In addition to our UK shows, I’m really looking forward to getting back into continental Europe,” D’Virgilio adds. “As well as visiting the prog strongholds of the Boerderij and Z7, we thought it would be cool to play some smaller venues in France and Germany as we re-establish BBT as a live band. We can’t wait to get out and play again and show what this band can do!”