Big Big Train (BBT) concluded their 16-date tour that spanned across Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Norway with a final performance in London. The band took the stage in the esteemed Cadogan Hall—affectionately referred to as “our home from home”—to celebrate what had been an exceptionally successful tour in front of a full house of eager ‘passengers.’
BBT are one of prog rocks more cerebral pleasures, always with great music on offer, songs providing thoughtful lyrics and an absence of prog’s occasional tendency to disappear where the sun rarely shines by having a stellar level of musicianship across a wide range of musical instruments. They write strong, memorable compositions which are beautifully arranged and performed brilliantly. Alongside Porcupine Tree and Marillion, BBT are very big fish in the prog pond, and their decision to continue after the tragic loss of songwriter and vocalist David Longdon, who sadly died in late 2021, has been more than vindicated, with Alfredo Bravin joining on vocals, and he’s made an immense contribution to the band.
The support slot featured band members performing short solo pieces. Rikard Sjoblem began with an acoustic guitar piece before Claire Lindley presented renditions of ‘On Her Journey To The Sun’ and Michelle Shocked’s ‘Neck Tie.’ Following this was one of the evening’s unexpected highlights. Nick D’Virgilio, promoting ‘Crazy Shirt Saturday,’ donned an acoustic guitar and, accompanied by his daughter Sophia, performed an acoustic version of ‘You Set My Soul On Fire’ from Troika, the 2022 album he recorded with Neal Morse and Ross Jennings. He was then joined by Alfredo Bravin to perform ‘June,’ a song from his time with Spock’s Beard.
After a short break, the full band takes to the stage and begins with ‘Light Left in the Day,’ from their recent album The Likes of Us. However, they then change their setlist around, and ‘Light Left’ seamlessly morphs into one of their lengthy epics, ‘East Coast Racer,’ which drew a tremendous ovation. It’s only when you see BBT live (I hadn’t seen them before tonight) that you realise just how musically accomplished every musician in this band is. They are able to perform quite lengthy, complex pieces like ‘Racer’ with aplomb, rotating instruments as the set progresses. Drummer D’Virgilio also plays guitar and keyboards, while singer Alfredo Bravin drums and plays guitar; plus everyone contributes to vocals.
Following ‘Racer,’ they go on to perform three other tracks from the latest album: ‘Skates On,’ ‘Miramare,’ and ‘Last XI.’ Founder member Greg Spawton dedicates ‘Last English King’ to the memory of David Longdon, as well as another of his tunes, ‘Telling The Bees,’ from the Folklore album. They conclude what was an amazing set with the instrumental tour de force ‘Apollo’ before returning to perform two encores: the lengthy ‘Beneath The Masts’ and the poignant ‘Love Is The Light,’ both from the latest album.
Given the issues involved in touring with members who play in other bands and live in different countries, we can only hope it isn’t too long before BBT tours again. This show demonstrated that, beyond any doubt, class is permanent.
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