Look out to the sea From a tower of white stone A jewel upon the shore Set in green and aquamarine Far beyond the place Where the waves and sky meet That is where they go Broken wings won’t fly them home It’s time to leave Bands strike up Playing their marching tunes All above the boats the flags are flown Church bells ring over the city streets It’s time to sail With the tide Far away from all they’ve known Heading south Making new lives in a new world Far, far away At the helm But the tide is on the turn Here comes the wave Higher now Breaking over the edge
Every falling tear Turns to stone And love makes a home
Leave it all behind Turn their faces downstream The tower upon the shore Fades into a memory It’s time to dream He would try To look for distant stars Lost behind an empire of the clouds Find a way Bring help from overseas
They were apart She would walk in the gardens they had made Hope that love might bring him home again Alone and afraid Cold winds blow She was looking for one last summer day All their dreams Running over the edge
She had lost her head And he had lost all heart
Cold winds set in from the north From the mountains down to the shore Look at the sea Look at the storm
They are lost out in the deep Where the rain is pouring down again Look at the sea Look at the storm
Look at the sea They were waiting by the shore And the rain is pouring down like never before Church bells sound a funeral toll A ship of fools Is home again
Now they say She still wanders in this place All alone Walking at the water’s edge Far, far away Holding on but not holding back the tide Light fades away Looking out From the tower of a dream
Since last month’s update we have announced five shows in the USA to take place before our appearance on Cruise To The Edge. Additionally we will be performing at the final ever Night Of The Prog festival in Germany in July and at the legendary Cropredy festival in the UK in August.
We’re looking forward to all these shows enormously. The band’s first visit to the USA has been long awaited. We hope to return to North America (including Canada!) before too long. However whether we are able to do so depends entirely on how well attended or not the five March shows are. If in doubt, please come out!
The full list of shows announced for 2024 so far is:
1 March 2024 Sweetwater Performance Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
2 March 2024 Rivoli Theater, Rutherford, New Jersey, USA*
3 March 2024 Rivoli Theater, Rutherford, New Jersey, USA*
5 March 2024 Regent Theatre, Arlington (Boston), Massachusetts, USA
6 March 2024 Electric City, Buffalo, New York, USA (new show added)** Tickets on sale 23rd January 2024
8 –13 March 2024 Cruise To The Edge
July 2024 Night Of The Prog, Loreley, Germany
9 August 2024 Cropredy Festival, Oxfordshire, UK
*The two New Jersey shows will feature significantly different set lists.
** The Buffalo show is the only mainland USA show currently scheduled to feature the BBT four piece brass section.
2024 Tour Patron Package
Following the very positive feedback from fans about the 2022/23 Tour Patron package, we will be launching a 2024 Tour Patron package tomorrow.
The Likes Of Us
Last Wednesday our label InsideOut released Miramare, a second single from our forthcoming new studio album The Likes Of Us. Here’s the video:
Thank you to everyone who helped Oblivion, the first single from The Likes Of Us, reach well over 140,000 views so far. You can watch Gregory Spawton in conversation with Andy Stuart about Oblivion here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyUS2vjYie4&t=2s
A further Andy Stuart interview with Gregory discussing the background to the album is here: https://youtu.be/4KBoHS4PeuE.
You can pre-order The Likes Of Us in multiple different formats (limited edition Mediabook with Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound & 24-bit high-resolution stereo; Gatefold 180g 2LP available in black, sky blue, olive green and orange; Standard CD Jewelcase) here:
Taken from the album “The Likes of Us’ out March 1st, 2024
The award-winning progressive rock band BIG BIG TRAIN release their 15th studio album via InsideOut Music on March 1, 2024, marking the first full release with new frontman Alberto Bravin (ex-PFM). The anxiously-awaited unveiling of ‘The Likes Of Us’ follows BIG BIG TRAIN’s massively successful recent European tour, which saw them perform 17 concerts across nine countries, concluding with two triumphant appearances at London’s Cadogan Hall. The album is a stunning piece of work that retains all the elements that make the band so special, including absorbing and memorable arrangements and first-rate musicianship.
Line-Up: Clare Lindley Nick D’Virgilio Alberto Bravin Rikard Sjöblom Gregory Spawton Dave Foster Oskar Holldorff
The award-winning progressive rock band Big Big Train will release their 15thstudio album ‘The Likes Of Us’ on March 1st, 2024. The album is the internationally-based group’s first full collection of songs since the unexpected passing of long-serving lead vocalist David Longdon in late 2021. Besides marking the debut of new frontman Alberto Bravin, a former member of the Italian band Premiata Forneria Marconi, ‘The Likes Of Us’ also heralds the beginning of a new relationship with InsideOutMusic, the group having self-released their music for almost two decades.
The band comments: “We are delighted to announce the release of ‘The Likes Of Us’. After the events of the last few years, this is a particularly important album for us, both as a band and individually. We’re very proud of the new songs, which we recorded principally in a studio in Italy. Working together in one room brought additional inspiration, real energy and a clear sense of purpose. We’re thrilled with the results.”
To coincide with this announcement, the band have launched the first single from the album, a track titled ‘Oblivion’ which the band were seen performing on their UK and European tour in August and September 2023. The video was filmed by Tim Sidwell of Toward Infinity at Urban Recording Studio in Trieste, and you can watch the clip here:
‘The Likes Of Us’ will be released on several different formats, including for the first time as Dolby Atmos mixed by The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord, while the stereo mixes were undertaken by the band’s regular engineer Rob Aubrey together with Alberto Bravin. The Dolby Atmos mix will come as part of the Limited CD & Blu-ray Mediabook edition that also contains the album as 5.1 Surround Sound & 24-bit high-resolution stereo. The album will also be available as a Gatefold 180g 2LP (available in black, sky blue, olive green and orange formats), Standard CD Jewelcase and Digital Album. The stunning artwork was created by the band’s longstanding collaborator Sarah Louise Ewing, with layouts by Steve Vantsis.
In May 2023, six members of Big Big Train left their homes in England (bassist Gregory Spawton, guitarist Dave Foster and violinist Clare Lindley), the United States (drummer Nick D’Virgilio), Sweden (guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom) and Norway (keyboardist Oskar Holldorff) to gather for a week in lead vocalist Alberto Bravin’s home town of Trieste in north eastern Italy. They convened at Urban Recording, a studio recommended by Alberto, to lay down the basic tracks for the band’s new studio album ‘The Likes Of Us’. Being face to face in a room, as opposed to emailing sound files, the intimacy of the process generated moments of inspiration that would otherwise have gone unheard.
The process would prove emotional. “There were some tears; I cried a few of my own,” recalls D’Virgilio. “There are many reasons to explain why we hadn’t worked that way in quite a while, but the process brought out the best in everybody.”
“These were stories from our lives and we have a deep, personal connection with them,” Spawton remembers. “If there was blood on the tracks, we did everything possible to let that sink into the music.”
On the group’s most recent tour, two selections from ‘The Likes Of Us’ – first single ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Love Is The Light’ – were introduced to an ecstatic audience response. During a tidal wave of rebirth and celebration for Big Big Train, Alberto Bravin was accepted as one of the family. Indeed, the chemistry of the band’s latest line-up has delivered mouth-watering results. “We’ve got a great mix of people that want to be here and go the extra mile to do something very special,” D’Virgilio concludes. “There’s a big world of talented musicians out there, and luckily some of them want to hang out with us.”
ALBERTO BRAVIN – Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards NICK D’VIRGILIO – Drums, percussion, vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals DAVE FOSTER – Guitars OSKAR HOLLDORFF – Keyboards, vocals CLARE LINDLEY – Violin, vocals RIKARD SJÖBLOM – Guitars, keyboards, vocals GREGORY SPAWTON – Bass guitar, bass pedals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Mellotron
InsideOutMusic is delighted to announce that it has signed Big Big Train to a multi-album deal for new studio releases. The band are currently working on a new studio album, expected to be released in spring 2024, and have recently been recording in Trieste, Italy, where lead vocalist Alberto Bravin is based.
Big Big Train bassist/founder Gregory Spawton comments: “We have ambitious plans for Big Big Train and are very pleased to have signed this deal with InsideOut. Having run our own record label, English Electric Recordings, for a lengthy period, it’s clear that the music industry has changed enormously in recent years and we believe that we are best positioned to grow BBT further by becoming an InsideOut band. Over the last decade we had received offers from various labels. When we considered the different options, signing up with the premier label for progressive music was the logical choice. We’re very excited about this new era for the band and working with InsideOut/Sony.”
Drummer Nick D’Virgilio adds: “It’s an absolute thrill for me that Big Big Train has become an InsideOut band. Over the years, previously as member of Spock’s Beard and more recently alongside Neal Morse and Ross Jennings, I’ve worked extensively with Thomas Waber and his team at InsideOut/Sony. From experience I know that there is no better label for Big Big Train to be working with. It’s wonderful to join a roster that includes the biggest names in the prog genre such as Dream Theater, Steve Hackett, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Devin Townsend and Yes. We’ve got a lot of new Big Big Train music in the works and with InsideOut’s unrivalled reach across the progressive rock world we hope to reach plenty of folks who may not be familiar with us yet.”
Label head Thomas Waber comments: “We have been in talks with the band for a while and are happy that we can finally announce our partnership. Big Big Train have been proudly carrying the flag for progressive music, and we look forward to helping them on their very bright journey ahead. We are all excited to be stepping on board this particular train!”
Check out a teaser of brand new music here:
In parallel with this deal with InsideOut, Big Big Train will continue to run their English Electric Recordings label and expect to commence a re-issue campaign for previous studio BBT albums in late 2024.
Big Big Train’s latest album, Ingenious Devices, was released on 30th June 2023 (CD, 2LP black and 2 LP sky blue vinyl; Bandcamp) and is available to stream.
The band will embark on their most extensive ever tour in August and September this year, with 17 shows taking place across 9 countries. Big Big Train will also be on board Cruise To The Edge in March 2024. Find the full list of dates in 2023 below:
24th August – The Court Theatre, Tring, UK (warm-up show) 26th August – Cultuurpodium Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands 27th August – Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany 28th August – Stora Teatern, Gothenburg, Sweden 29th August – Cosmopolite, Oslo, Norway 30th August – Fryshuset Klubben, Stockholm, Sweden 31st August – Viften, Copenhagen, Denmark 2nd September – 2 Days Prog + 1 Festival, Revislate, Italy 3rd September – Z7, Pratteln, Switzerland 5th September – Neuberinhaus, Reichenbach, Germany 6th September – Victoria Carlswerk, Cologne, Germany 7th September – Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany 8th September – Mozart-Saal, Stuttgart, Germany 10th September – Queens Hall, Edinburgh, UK 11th September – Town Hall, Birmingham, UK 12th September – Cadogan Hall, London, UK 13th September – Cadogan Hall, London, UK
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