Following last Friday’s announcement of the new studio album ‘The Likes Of Us’ by the award-winning progressive rock band Big Big Train to be released on March 1st, 2024, the band are delighted to announce four shows in the USA in March 2024. These shows are in addition to the band’s previously announced co-headlining appearances next year on board Cruise To The Edge in March and at the final Night Of The Prog in Germany in July as well as their debut at Cropredy festival in the UK in August.
The band will perform for the first time ever in the United States as follows: Friday, March 1st, 2024 – Sweetwater Performance Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 – Rivoli Theater at The Williams Center, Rutherford, New Jersey Sunday, March 3rd, 2024 – Rivoli Theater at The Williams Center, Rutherford, New Jersey Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 – Regent Theatre, Arlington (Boston), Massachusetts Ticket links for these shows are at www.bigbigtrain.com/live. The band’s two performances at the Rivoli Theater will feature substantially different set lists. Tickets for all shows will go on sale at 10am Eastern US time on Friday, December 15th.
“We could not be more pleased to be bringing Big Big Train to the USA for the first time,” comments lead vocalist Alberto Bravin. “We know that over the years a number of fans have travelled huge distances from North America to see the band play live in the UK and Europe. It’s wonderful that we can now re-pay that commitment so that they will be able to have the opportunity to see us in the States.”
“I’ve wanted Big Big Train to play in North America for many years,” drummer Nick D’Virgilio adds. “We’ve been thwarted a couple of times previously, so this is long overdue. We can’t wait to perform for our North American fans who have been so patient waiting for the band to cross the Atlantic. As we have only have a small time window that works for all of us, this is a very short run of dates, but if the shows go well then we will aim to return soon!”
For these four shows the band’s line-up will consist of Alberto Bravin (lead vocals), Nick D’Virgilio (drums), Oskar Holldorff (keyboards), Clare Lindley (violin), Rikard Sjöblom (guitars/keyboards) and Gregory Spawton (bass) as well as an additional multi-instrumentalist who will play trumpet, guitar and keyboards.
“In an ideal world Big Big Train would include a full brass section at every show, but financial realities just don’t allow us that luxury currently,” explains Gregory Spawton. “Going forwards we want Big Big Train to play as many shows as possible – meaning that we will be performing some shows with and some without the brass section. We’re keen to retain a brass element in all shows however and therefore Dave Foster has very graciously agreed to sit out our North America shows so that we can bring in a trumpet player, whose name we will be announcing soon.”
“Playing with a trumpet player is going to give these US shows a different flavour,” Rikard Sjöblom says. “We’ve got a great set list planned and I’m excited about being able to show what Big Big Train can do as a seven piece live band before we re-unite with a full brass section for the two shows on board Cruise To The Edge.”
Watch the video for “Oblivion,” the first single from ‘The Likes of Us’ here:
‘The Likes Of Us’ will be released as a Limited CD & Blu-ray Mediabook edition that contains the album as 5.1 Surround Sound, 24-bit high-resolution stereo, and for the first time in 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 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. Pre-order ‘The Likes of Us’ here: https://bigbigtrain.lnk.to/TheLikesOfUs
Ten years in the making, the day is finally here. the long-awaited new album from Moon Safari, Himlabacken Vol. 2. is officially out. Their 5th studio album is being heralded as one of the best in the group’s already outstanding discography.
“A veritable pomp-rock-meets-melodic masterclass.” – Classic Rock
“Moon Safari have exceeded any and all expectations with Himlabacken Vol.2.” – The Prog Report
“With ‘Himlabacken Vol. 2’, Moon Safari have delivered the most wonderfully uplifting collection of songs I have heard this year.” – Progradar
“Arguably their best release yet” – Sonic Perspectives
“An absolute stone-cold masterpiece, 10/10!” – The Prog Corner
The band share this message about the album’s release: “It’s been a decade! A decade of real highs and lows. There was a 50/50 chance that this album wouldn’t exist, and a 50/50 chance that Moon Safari wouldn’t persist. Yet here we are, with an album that satisfies almost all of our musical dreams. And hopefully yours too.
What eventually tipped the scales was love, pure and simple. The love we put into the music and didn’t want to abandon. The love between the members (that we sometimes have to remind ourselves about). And, above all, the love you’ve showed us over the last 10 years.
You’re the reason we kept going. This album is now yours! HAPPY RELEASE DAY!
CHEERS / MOON SAFARI”
Track Listing: 1. 198X (Heaven Hill) (3:55) 2. Between the Devil and Me (10:38) 3. Emma, Come On (3:19) 4. A Lifetime to Learn How to Love (8:28) 5. Beyond the Blue (2:12) 6. Blood Moon (5:44) 7. Teen Angel Meets the Apocalypse (21:03) 8. Forever, For You (10:08) 9. Epilog (3:22)
Moon Safari is: Petter Sandström – Lead and Backing vocals, Acoustic Guitar Simon Åkesson – Lead and Backing Vocals, Piano, Organ, moog. Pontus Åkesson – Lead and Backing Vocals, Electric and Acoustic Guitar Sebastian Åkesson – Backing Vocals, assorted keys, percussion. Mikael Israelsson – Backing Vocals, Drums, percussion, keyboards, piano Johan Westerlund – Lead and Backing Vocals, Bass Guitar
Special guest performance by Jamison Smeltz – saxophone on “Forever, For You”
I have been involved in developing a few mission statements over the years, and it is not something I really enjoy doing as there is always the risk of overstating/understating the intent, and then the business not living up to it anyway. Not every business does this of course, and even fewer bands, but you can read United Progressive Fraternity’s on their website, “To produce great music, as a collective concept, whilst conveying a message of peace, hope and global awareness”. There is a lot more than that of course, but this is the core. Hence we now have the second part of ‘Secondary Overload’, following on from 2019’s ‘Loss’. The core of the band are the duo of Mark Trueack (vocals) and Steve Unruh (vocals, guitars, sitar guitar, bass, bass pedals, thumb piano, violin, flute, wind chimes, tambourine, percussion, narration, harmony vocals), but then there are a whole host of guests involved including the likes of Charlie Cawood, JPL, Ryo Okomuto and Steve Hackett but if you are that interested you will need to look them up yourselves as there are about 40! Also, if the nealy two hours of music is not enough then if you purchase it from Bandcamp you get an additional album, ‘The Secret Life of Light’, featuring an additional nine songs (68 minutes) by UPF’s “Romantechs” (Christophe Labled, Mark Trueack, Steve Unruh) which takes us up to a running time of three hours!
This is progressive rock, with loads of different elements and influences as one would expect from the involvement of so many musicians. It can be somewhat overpowering at times, with so many threads and layers that they can blend into each other, yet what makes this work is at the heart of this are some really strong melodies and songs and one can never deny the power of the lyrics and words. This is all about communication and something which brings this really home are the tracks which are just speeches from the likes of Sir David Attenborough and Chief Oren Lyons – that they have been brought in without any trickery really makes them stand out and brings the message strongly home that we are damaging our planet, but we can still reverse what we have done so far, hence “Hope”. This is not an album which can be drifted into, there needs to be a deliberate decision to sit and really listen to it, played on headphones when one has the time to concentrate and not be disturbed. Given the amount of work which has gone into this, the amount of people involved, and the small matter of a global pandemic it is no surprise this album too much longer to appear than was expected, and while there are elements quite reminiscent at times of The Flower Kings this is very much an album which stands on its own. There is a lot to take in here, both lyrically and musical volume, but it is definitely worth the effort.
Recorded at the Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA on October 21st 2022, here we find Renaissance performing alongside the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra to celebrate Annie Haslam’s 75th year. I have long been a fan of this band in its multiple iterations, and there is no doubt their 2002 live album ‘In The Land of the Rising Sun’ is one of my favourites, so when I was sent this by keyboard player Geoffrey Langley (who I know from The Twenty Committee) I was definitely looking forward to it. There have been multiple iterations of the band over the years, but most people point to the line-up of Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford, John Tout, Jon Camp, and Terry Sullivan as being the classic, but Michael and John are no longer with us while Jon and Terry long ago departed, but Annie is still there keeping the flame alive. These days she is joined by Mark Lambert (bass), who was a member in the Eighties, Rave Tesar (keyboards, piano), who played on the ‘Rising Sun’ album, drummer Frank Pagano (who has been there for more than a decade), Geoffrey Langley (who joined in 2016) and new bassist Leo Traversa, so this is certainly a valid line-up as opposed to Annie and a host of session musicians.
This double CD set covers decades in music, and we get music from Renaissance, Annie Haslam’s Renaissance and her solo albums, and there is no doubt great thought has gone into the arrangements as the use of the additional musicians provides amazing depth. There are two keyboard players, and their repertoire has been greatly expanded with the use of real strings and horns. I am sure anyone who went to see this tour would have had a wonderful time, and those who purchase the album will be the same people and will happily relive the experience, but I wonder how many will purchase this for pure listening pleasure as opposed to collectors? Musically this is wonderful, and one cannot fault anyone involved as their delicacy and accompaniment is superb, but we cannot look past the fact that Annie is now into her eighth decade, and it sounds like it. That she is not using effects to mask this is to be admired, but while the range is still there, her voice is now quavery and can be quite shrill. She hits and holds the notes, but sometimes they are a little sharp, and I soon found I was not enjoying the album nearly as much as I expected or wanted to. One could never give this to someone as an introduction, it is only for those who already know the material and are pleased to be able to experience Annie performing the songs which they did not expect to still hear played in this fashion. That she can still hit the notes in “Symphony of Light” is incredible, and “The Sisters” is a triumph with wonderful performances from all involved, but sadly somewhat let down by the vocals. Back in the Eighties I was one of the biggest Jethro Tull fanatics around, but when I last saw them in 2004, I vowed never to see them play again as Ian’s voice was totally shot in the live environment. The arrangements and performances from the musicians involved are superb, and there are plenty of opportunities for them to weave their magic, but sadly it is often let down by the vocals, which is a real shame as many of us view Renaissance as being built around Annie and her amazing voice. Sadly, time has taken its toll.
It is strange to be reviewing UPF and Unitopia one after the other as they are very much related, not only musically but also in personnel, except this time around it is a band as opposed to a 40+ musicians. This band has always been the brainchild of Mark Trueack (vocals) and Sean Timms (keyboards, backing vocals, various stringed instruments), but they have brought in new members including Mark’s UPF songwriting buddy Steve Unruh (backing vocals, violin, flute, rhythm guitars, mandolin) along with John Greenwood (backing vocals, lead electric guitar, nylon-strung guitar, 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars, mandolin, programmed orchestration). If that were not enough, we also have a massively impressive rhythm section in drummer Chester Thompson (ex-Genesis, Frank Zappa, Weather Report) and bassist Alphonso Johnson (Santana, David Gilmour, Weather Report). Even before putting it on the player one knows this is going to be something impressive, and it is.
Musically it is closely related to UPF, not only through having the same singer but also a very similar approach, but here it is less layered (although there is still plenty of complexity) which allows for more space and for the music to breathe more easily as it is not being constrained by so many threads. However, although there are far less musicians, the main players are multi-instrumentalists which means they can bring in multiple sounds so we can go from acoustic guitar to piano, violin, or something much heavier. The idea of bringing in a ready formed experienced rhythm section was inspired, given these guys have been at the top of their game since the Seventies. Johnson’s touch on different basses is wonderful, his fretless slides often combining with Trueack’s vocals, while Thompson allows himself to sit back at times and blast through at others.
Due to when these albums were released, and their place in the alphabet, I have been listening to Unitopia straight after United Progressive Fraternity and consequently have been comparing them to each other. While there is more depth within the latter, it is the former I have enjoyed most as this is a release which hist all the high notes and the more it is played the more there is to be discovered and enjoyed
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
