A View From The Back Of The Room: Big Big Train (Live Review By Matt Bladen)

Big Big Train & Haunt The Woods, The Riverfront, Newport 18.09.24

Have you ever been to a gig that totally rekindles your love of live music?

Over the last year and a bit I've been a lot more choosy with the gigs I go to. Pre-Covid, it was everything ever but now, I don't know maybe I'm getting older, maybe I've seen nearly everyone I want to see at least once, maybe I'm a bit sick of going to gigs on my own or maybe people are just annoying me more.

I don't know so I've been more selective over what I'm seeing and to be honest this year nearly everything has been brilliant and while nothing this year will come close to Day Of Wreckoning in terms of the amount of love I have in my heart. What took place on a balmy Wednesday in Newport is pretty close.

First though the support, Cornwall four piece Haunt The Woods (9) took their opportunity to impress in their stride, showcasing tracks from across their releases. If I was to try to describe it I'd say Muse if they had more a Radiohead influence, one of the most powerful voices I've heard for a while set against intricate layered indie prog.

Between the songs there was a it too much silence, for tuning purposes, inside Newport's Theatre Venue The Riverfront, which was little awkward in a theatre setting but when there was banter it was affable and funny and the songs themselves were captivating. Cut short before what I assume was a big finish, the amount of people calling for one more song showed how well Haunt The Woods had won over the audience.

A break, a queue for the gents and then back in for tonight's main event. The super talented, international collective known as Big Big Train (10), supporting their latest album The Likes Of Us, most of the set came from this stunning record with a few older numbers too but the setlist was very much curated to show that this was the new era of Big Big Train.

What an era, what a band, every members changed instrument, sometimes mid-song, at least once, resulting in a performance that featured in total 5 different singers, 5 different keyboardists, 5 different guitarists, 2 different drummers, 1 trumpeter, 1 violinist and 1 bassist. Not bad for a band with 7 members. Everyone was multi-instrumental, positioned on stage so you can see clearly what they were doing, the light show augmenting the crystal clear live production as instruments were swapped, roles traded, harmonies sung and dynamic instrumental moments given standing ovations more than once.

It was all utterly breathtaking, Gregory Spawton the solid foundation of everything due to his songwriting and thick sounding Rickenbacker (what is it about prog bands being founded by bassists?), he locks in with prog drummer extraordinare Nick D'Virgilio as the defined, jazzy, powerhouse rhythm section, of course Nick has plenty of frontman energy behind the kit and also sings.

Behind the keys Oskar Holldorff tames his beast of an organ (not a euphemism) with immense passion combining with Rikard Sjöblom's often double neck guitar heroics, Claire Lidney's violin, Paul Mitchell's trumpert as the main 'solo' instruments of the band. Holldorff also sings, as does Lidney, Sjöblom and occasionally Desmond, giving the band for me a feel of Yes meets Fleetwood Mac.

Alberto Bravin though is the new lead voice, and what a voice especially in the climax of Black With Ink, the power, the poise the precision all while playing various instruments and getting the crowd to interact as much as possible on Apollo. This show very much felt like the first tour of a revitalised band, trimmed back to just 7 (in the past they have had 8/9) members, they're redefining what Big Big Train is through stunning musicianship and songs that carry a harder edge, especially live.

I could go into detail about what was played but that would spoil it, I urge to to check out the other dates on this tour as it could well be the best show I've seen/will see all year!