Big Big Train v. "The Likes Of Us" OUT NOW; European Tour Sept/Oct 2024!

[Harmony]

I will be there!

Just for fun, anyone ever watch this guy Just JP on YouTube?  His first listen of Summoned By Bells.  I love his excitement and enthusiasm.  I've heard this song a million times and I still get this excited by it, TBH. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i0Po2FCWgA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2Ar2RPIS8QvOFHu4UaqhhkRWnPHpWnVh3ziOTh70O3P2Y4KFxPIjUhJBM

[The Letter M]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XSGGmdHFBU

Posted a couple of days ago, here is the trailer for the band's upcoming live video release, coming to BD and Vimeo. I pre-ordered mine from BurningShed last week and just got my shipping notification this morning, so I hope it comes in in the next couple of weeks. Can't wait to watch this one!

The band also recently sent out a news letter with some updates concerning 2020 shows (including RoSfest and Ramblin' Man Fair), a new solo album by Nick D'Virgilio, and a new collaboration between David Longdon and Judy Dyble. Also reminders that Rikard is touring to support The Flower Kings this month, and David is performing with the Downes Braide Association in February. And violinist Rachel has been working with Soilwork, a Swedish hard rock band.

No further news on any new material, but they did just release a studio album in May, so it might be a little while yet til the next one, but given how frequent their releases have been since English Electric, I wouldn't be surprised if they're already working on new material. I'm still wondering if Station Masters will still come out though...

-Marc.

[Fritzinger]

I'll be getting this for sure, and I will also give one copy to my dad for Christmas. Looking forward to watching it with him at home! We always used to watch concert DVDs together when I was younger, but we haven't done that in years since I don't live at home anymore. Great chance to revive that old tradition around Christmas

[The Curious Orange]

The thing with Voyager is that it's so powerful and emotional that it HAD to be the last track. I didn't get that feeling with what Roe said from those previous album and I actually didn't notice that until Roe mentioned it. It's hard to turn away from Voyager and then Homesong comes along and its not as powerful, climatic as Voyager is.

I do agree that the epic should end the album.

There's a little 5-note violin refrain in Voyager that really summons up that sci-fi feeling of racing off into the unknown far skies and deep time. It should be reprised at the end of the song, repeated and built upon until it soars, then broken back down to a simple fading melody, kind of like how Victorian Brickwork or East Coast Racer ends. I can hear in my head how it should end, and it's so much better than how it does end. Needless to say, my version is longer and there's no time for Homesong on the disc.

[Fritzinger]

The thing with Voyager is that it's so powerful and emotional that it HAD to be the last track. I didn't get that feeling with what Roe said from those previous album and I actually didn't notice that until Roe mentioned it. It's hard to turn away from Voyager and then Homesong comes along and its not as powerful, climatic as Voyager is.

I do agree that the epic should end the album.

There's a little 5-note violin refrain in Voyager that really summons up that sci-fi feeling of racing off into the unknown far skies and deep time. It should be reprised at the end of the song, repeated and built upon until it soars, then broken back down to a simple fading melody, kind of like how Victorian Brickwork or East Coast Racer ends. I can hear in my head how it should end, and it's so much better than how it does end. Needless to say, my version is longer and there's no time for Homesong on the disc.

Could you state the time at which that chorus comes?

[RoeDent]

The violin motif comes at the comedown after the proggy instrumental of "Grand Finale".

[Fritzinger]

I listened to Grand Tour again this morning and yesterday. This is a great album. My favourite album is still The Underfall Yard, and I would love the band to return to this darker, more complex version of their music. But still, Grand Tour is just beautiful. Those arrangements surpass most bands of today.

Somehow, the music of Big Big Train fits every season. When Grand Tour came out in May, I thought it was the perfect album for spring and the coming summer. Now I listen to it on a sunny but very cold December day and it fits just wonderfully.

[The Curious Orange]

Yeah, I mean the little refrain that kicks it at about 9.36 and repeats for a minute or so. it needs to form the end of the song.

[Fritzinger]

Big Big Train will launch The Passengers Club on this year's Valentine's Day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0LZQRT8ZFk&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2WCDkG7BWLiRz5AFkbJ9Z2q3MOuRqcEzlqbEaY5lK7RIKCIg60ppwMClo

I'm not sure I know this song they're playing here - anyone recognise it? It sounds very much like NDV on drums, but I can't place it.

[The Letter M]

I'm not sure if anyone has seen this, and I would've shared it when it went up, but I was busy this past weekend.

The Passengers Club Trailer

To go straight to the Passengers Club sign-up page, click here:

https://thepassengersclub.com/

For more information on the Club, please see the text below:

The Passengers Club is a members-only club where we will share lots of creative material which has not been seen before. Membership of the Passengers Club will give listeners a chance to get behind the scenes in the world of Big Big Train. 

The Club will be updated with new online content every fortnight. There will be early demos from the writing and recording stages of our studio releases and demos of songs that got lost along the way, including some tracks from an abandoned concept album that we were working on a few years ago. There will be films of us backstage, recording in the studio and during rehearsals and soundchecks. There will also be exclusive photo galleries, blog posts, Facebook q and a's and other good things.

WHY WE HAVE CREATED THE PASSENGERS CLUB

Generally speaking, things have been going well for Big Big Train. We’ve become a Top 40 album band in the UK, we’ve won awards, we get played on the radio and we get reviewed not just in music magazines but in some parts of the mainstream press as well. And alongside all that, we’ve been playing more gigs and getting some festival headline slots.

However, there are also a lot of things going against BBT.

Whilst vinyl sales are still holding up, CD and download sales are declining as people increasingly choose to access music via streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music.

Streaming is a great thing for listeners who want to access a huge catalogue of music, and we are committed to making sure our releases are available through all good streaming platforms. Unfortunately, streaming services are not currently providing enough income to bands to fill in the gap left behind by declining CD and download sales.

Many heritage bands with big audiences from the 70’s and 80’s have been able to earn a living by focusing on continual touring. However, we’re still building a following and we don’t have that legacy audience on which to base lengthy tours. Furthermore, we are at heart a band of songwriters, so a focus on playing gigs doesn’t work for us as we want to ensure we have time to make new music.   

We have started to play more shows to promote the band and we expect to be on tour for a period of time every year from this point on. However, making ends meet on the road is very difficult. We like to perform our songs in a way that includes all of the complicated layers of sound in the arrangements. We don’t play to backing tracks and so our live shows feature twelve musicians on stage. That makes life on tour very expensive as we have a lot of people to feed, accommodate and move around.

We’ve been doing some thinking about how we can sustain Big Big Train in the future and we hit upon the idea of the Passengers Club. We hope that we can offer plenty of unique and interesting content to Club members who will, in turn, help to support the growth of the band.

JOINING THE PASSENGERS CLUB

Listeners can join the club for an initial period of either one or two years. We already have enough content to provide updates (which will take place every two weeks) for the whole of 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, whilst we are making new music and are out on tour we’ll create new films, demos and blogs so that we should be able to keep the Club topped up with fresh material for many years ahead.

We’ll aim to keep the vast majority of content exclusive to the club for at least two years and, for the most part, on a permanent basis. Some of the demo material members will hear may end up being released as finished songs at some stage, but the demos will, of course, be different from the finished versions.

The fee to join the Passengers Club is £30 for one year, or £50 for two years. There is also an option to pay more than the standard charges if anyone wishes to become a patron of the band. 

The membership sign-up page is here:

 https://thepassengersclub.com/

Thank you for watching the film and reading this information. If you choose to sign up to the Club, we hope you will enjoy your membership. In any case, we greatly appreciate the support of all of our listeners.

Danny, Dave, David, Greg, Nick, Rachel and Rikard
Big Big Train

Sounds intriguing, and whenever I've got the funds, I will definitely join!

-Marc.

[Fritzinger]

I'm always happy to give this band my money so I'll be joining this for sure!

[HOF]

I really hope this brings in enough money to keep the band stable. Feels like they’ve done so well on their own building a fan base and getting a lot of recognition, but it stinks that they aren’t really able to make ends meet. I know the tours are expected to lose money. Personally, I’d much rather they focus on making music and limit the live shows to a couple events a year (like the initial shows they played at King’s Place and Cadogan), but I know that most bands are sustained by touring and that may ultimately be necessary to grow their audience. Hopefully people in the states take more notice of the band, though it sounds like there will only be a small number of US shows.

This is very adultish of me, but I wish they could get featured on NPR or someplace artsy like that. Feels like there may be an audience for them beyond just the narrow prog rock sphere.

[Fritzinger]

I really hope this brings in enough money to keep the band stable. Feels like they’ve done so well on their own building a fan base and getting a lot of recognition, but it stinks that they aren’t really able to make ends meet. I know the tours are expected to lose money. Personally, I’d much rather they focus on making music and limit the live shows to a couple events a year (like the initial shows they played at King’s Place and Cadogan), but I know that most bands are sustained by touring and that may ultimately be necessary to grow their audience. Hopefully people in the states take more notice of the band, though it sounds like there will only be a small number of US shows.

Have you seen this band live? I think they belong on stage!

Feels like there may be an audience for them beyond just the narrow prog rock sphere.

I totally agree with that. I have shown this band to a lot of friends and there was not one who didn't like their music. And most of them were not very familiar to the prog genre.

[HOF]

I have seen both of the concert films, and they are incredible live. My preference as a fan is always for new music over additional concerts (Marillion has been touring like crazy for four years, and I’m like “can we have a new album now?”), and I think they want to be able to able to focus on new music too. I’ll support whatever keeps them viable as a band though, and hopefully between the tours and the Passengers Club they keep going strong. 

[HOF]

New two CD compilation album for the Japanese/Asia market announced. Enough new stuff to make it worth buying for fans, and should be a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the band. Looks like it’s only getting a Japanese release for now, but on Facebook they indicated it may get a broader release in September.

https://www.bigbigtrain.com/summers-lease-compilation-for-japan/

We are pleased to announce a new Big Big Train compilation album which is being released on the Belle Antique label in Japan on March 25th.

The album is called Summer’s Lease and traces the story of Big Big Train from some of its earliest pieces of music through to the contemporary line-up.

Big Big Train worked very closely with Belle Antique to make this an interesting and beautifully presented album. New cover artwork was commissioned from BBT artist Sarah Louise Ewing and the band recorded a brand new instrumental track written by Nick D’Virgilio which is exclusive to this release.

Alongside the new track, the album includes the full 30 minute song cycle called London Song which has never previously been released on CD. This version of London Song also benefits from additional instrumentation which was not included on the previously released download and streaming versions of the song-cycle.

Summer’s Lease also sees the exclusive release of a brand new studio recording of Wind Distorted Pioneers. A live version of this track was performed by the band for the 2015 Stone and Steel Blu-Ray video release. However, this re-arranged version has never before been released as a studio recording.

Finally, one of the band’s earliest pieces, Expecting Snow has been updated for this album, with new keyboards replacing the keyboard parts on the original album sessions.

Tracklisting

Disc One

Expecting Snow (2.45)
Kingmaker (live at Real World studios) (10.51)
Wind Distorted Pioneers (4.38)
Summer’s Lease (live at Real World studios) (5.06)
Master James of St George (live at Real World studios) (6.23)
London Song
(i) Turner on the Thames (3.07)
(ii) London Plane (10.02)
(iii) Lost Rivers of London (6.00)
(iv) London Stone (2.04)
(v) Skylon (6.44)
(vi) Mudlarks (5.59)

Disc Two

Victorian Brickwork (13.04)
Judas Unrepentant (7.16)
East Coast Racer (15.44)
Curator of Butterflies (8.51)
Swan Hunter (6.45)
The Transit of Venus Across the Sun (7.19)
Don’t Forget the Telescope (6.01)
Brave Captain (12.55)

[The Letter M]

I saw that this morning and am very excited about it! I may have to wait until the fall for the UK orders to come in as I am fairly broke at the moment, so importing the Japanese version might get expensive.

As I said on Facebook, *this* is how you do a compilation album! Lots of love and care has gone into this one, it seems, and with new versions of songs, one whole new song, and some tweaks on a never-before-physically-released suite, this has enough new stuff for existing fans to buy these songs all over again, not to mention, that gorgeous artwork!

Then again, I have two versions of English Electric (eventually 3 once I get a hold of the remastered Full Power set that came out a year or so ago), so I have no qualms buying music twice (or thrice) from this band. They're one of my absolute favorites, so they deserve it!

-Marc.

[romdrums]

Looks like Big Big Train are performing at The Sweetwater Pavilion right here in Fort Wayne, IN on May 23rd.

https://www.sweetwaterpavilion.com/events/#Big-Big-Train

Should be fun!  Personally, I'd like to see a prog leaning festival happen here.  It would be nice to walk out of the office after work, stroll across our parking lot, and catch a show.

[HOF]

That should be great fun. Enjoy!

[The Letter M]

Big Big Train postpone US tour - Plus guitarist Dave Gregory quits the band.


Looks like Randy McStine will replace Dave for the tour (assuming it still happens).

Sad to see the band lose yet another band member after Andy Poole left 2 years ago.

-Marc.

[HOF]

Ugh. That’s a double gut punch (though it seemed unlikely that the US tour would go forward already). I’m hoping Gregory remains involved to some extent because he’s been a huge part of their sound since The Underfall Yard. McStine is really talented though. Might bring an interesting new dimension to the music.

[HOF]

Here’s a more extensive post from the band on Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/story.php?story_fbid=2895152570550394&id=203751903023821

[goo-goo]

Kind of a weird excuse about not wanting to tour internationally. Not sure how old is DG though. Big blow to BBT but the Randy is an excellent replacement.

[HOF]

According to Wikipedia he’s 67. That makes all the sense in the world to me. BBT always existed primarily as a studio band until recently, and I believe most of Gregory’s projects have been the same way (at least XTC famously didn’t tour). I just hate that there had to be a choice between the band touring or Gregory staying on. I’d personally rather have new BBT albums with Gregory on them than more tours. Gregory’s statement in the release makes it sound like future collaboration isn’t being ruled out though, so hopefully he can still contribute to future albums.

[goo-goo]

According to Wikipedia he’s 67. That makes all the sense in the world to me. BBT always existed primarily as a studio band until recently, and I believe most of Gregory’s projects have been the same way (at least XTC famously didn’t tour). I just hate that there had to be a choice between the band touring or Gregory staying on. I’d personally rather have new BBT albums with Gregory on them than more tours. Gregory’s statement in the release makes it sound like future collaboration isn’t being ruled out though, so hopefully he can still contribute to future albums.

Ah, 67. Yes, that makes a lot of sense then. I hope he keeps writing and recording in the studio with BBT.

I do feel bad for Randy a bit. He seems to want to be a solo artist and that was part of the reason he want on that solo tour with Pineapple Thief in the US. But he just keeps getting good prog band gigs (Sound of Contact, The Fringe, Dave Kerzner band, etc). His solo stuff is pretty good. Check out Chalk Lines (with Gavin Harrison).

[HOF]

Yeah, I really enjoy Randy’s work (have heard some of Chalk Lines but haven’t tracked down a copy yet). I think getting a gig like this should help him as a solo artist. The music scene is just so darn crowded and fragmented these days that getting associated with a big(ger) act is probably the best way to get noticed.

[HOF]

New video of Alive from the last tour:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jFlIQNtPwYo

From Greg:

“With so many people having to spend time at home at the moment we thought we would make some additional video content available. This is a performance of Alive filmed at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax in Oct 2019.

We hope all listeners are safe and well.”

[Fritzinger]

New video of Alive from the last tour:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jFlIQNtPwYo

From Greg:

“With so many people having to spend time at home at the moment we thought we would make some additional video content available. This is a performance of Alive filmed at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax in Oct 2019.

We hope all listeners are safe and well.”

Seriously, this band is so great on stage. I still hope I can see them in July.

I joined The Passenger's Club. I am always happy to give BBT my money.

[The Letter M]

As the updated title suggests, the band recently released a compilation album, first available in Japan and later to be released in the west this fall.

I just received my copy from CD Japan yesterday, and I've already listened to it three times! The new song is an invigorating instrumental that would fit perfectly on any of the band's previous three or four albums. The updated London Song cycle sounds much better to my ears, with the additional instrumentation creating a more cohesive piece with bits of musical bridges between each individual movement/song.

If you're a huge BBT fan, this is a must-have! Sure, you probably own 75% of these songs on CD or MP3 already, but the updated parts and new song make it worth it to me. Then again, I also bought the Japanese version of Grand Tour for its bonus track, so I may be a bit biased. The package itself is a gorgeously laid-out gatefold with some beautiful art as usual.

Summer's Lease is a case of a compilation album done right, and they picked some of the band's best songs to showcase as well!

-Marc.

[Fritzinger]

I won't buy this one because I don't collect CD's, but I really want to hear that bonus track.

Marc, are you in the Passengers Club? Have you heard the original demo for Curator Of Butterflies? It was originally intended to be much proggier and less "sweet". There used to be an instrumental section in there. Very interesting. I can't decide if I would have liked that version better though.


Also, the July Big Big Train shows are cancelled, as is everything until August 31st. Very sad about that. But I hope they'll be able to reschedule everything.

[HOF]

I joined the Passenger’s Club this month. The instrumental section on the Curator demo is interesting, but also unfinished so it’s hard to say how it would have turned out with the full band and brass included. Probably would have been great, but I can see why Greg decided it was unnecessary.

[The Letter M]

I won't buy this one because I don't collect CD's, but I really want to hear that bonus track.

Marc, are you in the Passengers Club? Have you heard the original demo for Curator Of Butterflies? It was originally intended to be much proggier and less "sweet". There used to be an instrumental section in there. Very interesting. I can't decide if I would have liked that version better though.


Also, the July Big Big Train shows are cancelled, as is everything until August 31st. Very sad about that. But I hope they'll be able to reschedule everything.

I just joined The Passengers Club last week! I've spun all the release audio tracks a couple times each, and the demo for COB is a highly for sure. I do love the final album version a lot, but this proggier version is an interesting look at what their songs have gone through during the writing and demoing stages!

I haven't yet gotten around to the video or other goodies of the TPC, but I look forward to watching and reading all of those in the days and weeks to come.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

It’s possible Big Big Train get their next album together by the end of the year I guess since they aren’t touring (and the Summer’s Lease compilation might get released in the fall outside of Japan).

Quote from HOF from the "Favorite Albums of 2020 so far" thread.

Regarding Summer's Lease, it has been said that the band will be able to release it outside of Japan by September of this year, so it'll probably be made available at the usual shops like Burningshed.

Greg Spawton has said on Facebook that the band are currently in the midst of writing their next album and plan to get together to record it this fall for a Summer 2021 release, so we won't see any new BBT music THIS year, but definitely next year, when they plan to hit the road and visit all the dates they were planning to in 2020, and then some. They've also said that Dave Gregory will be featured as an honored guest in the future, but they did not say in what capacity (probably on their next album that they are planning).

The band have also said that they are looking to release a limited edition CD set compiling a selection of performances from the shows they played in 2018 and 2019. They also have asked the film crew who filmed the Loreley show to put together some more videos of songs so that they can share them.

And speaking of live shows, the Hackney Empire show from London last year was recorded for release. Here is the set list for the curious! Greg has said the film was made by Torward Infinity, and it'll be out before Christmas. Also mentioned was that the Hackney show won't get a separate CD release, but they will look to include all the then-new songs on the above-mentioned compilation of live tracks from 2018-2019. Greg mentioned that they will try to avoid over-lap from their previous live releases, but in the case of "The Permanent Way" from the 2018 shows, it segued into "East Coast Racer", so we may get a third live version of ECR (which wouldn't be the end of the world for me, especially if it means getting a live version of TPW).

And finally, they're continuing to work on the remaster (remix?) of The Underfall Yard, due out early next year I believe, as well as a remaster of Bard, which will be out in the next couple of years.

That's all I've got for now, and from what I can recall and find in the BBT Facebook group's posts. Definitely lots of good things happen in the world of Big Big Train over the next year or two, so plenty to look forward to!

-Marc.

[HOF]

Nice curation Marc!

I’m personally more excited for a new album than a tour, so while it sucks for the band financially, I’m happy to get more music out of all of this! The live albums and re-issues are also something to look forward to. Also have the Longdon/Dibble album and NDV solo album coming this year.

Another way people might support the band is by buying the Genesis book being put out by Greg’s side publishing business. This video has a snippet of some new music the band is working on as well:

https://vimeo.com/415194237?fbclid=IwAR0Oqg4hTTilkE6G15Wx5FgPPhKEHoSuiG4WNa3gOJT8KI55SEDe3QDGqtM

I wish they would finish off the “Station Masters” project they started years ago but it sounds like it’s pretty much lost steam at this point and is unlikely to ever be released.

[The Letter M]

Nice curation Marc!

I’m personally more excited for a new album than a tour, so while it sucks for the band financially, I’m happy to get more music out of all of this! The live albums and re-issues are also something to look forward to. Also have the Longdon/Dibble album and NDV solo album coming this year.

I wish they would finish off the “Station Masters” project they started years ago but it sounds like it’s pretty much lost steam at this point and is unlikely to ever be released.

Thanks HOF, and yes, I forgot to mention the David Longdon & Judy Dyble album, as well as NDV's Invisible (which I have on pre-order from NDV"s own site!), so more BBT-related goodness to come THIS year.

As for Station Masters, Greg has mentioned in a recent FB reply that they do have some in-progress songs, but nothing has been finished. I suggested that they release these as part of the Passengers Club series, whether they finish them or not, since a lot of the audio tracks have been demos and in-progress versions of songs anyways. It seems that the band are constantly moving forward, though, so finishing Station Masters seems like a thing of the past at this point. They've even abandoned the "Hope" concept album they were planning after English Electric, and have since turned some of that music into new songs, like "Voyager" from Grand Tour.

-Marc.

[HOF]

I always thought it would have been cool for the band to let Nick have a go at singing some of the Martin Read songs from the first two albums. As it is, I like Read’s vocals a lot though, and since I do generally like all of those early albums as they are, I’m not as worried about the band re-recording them I guess. Still would have been fun to hear. The one I don’t have is Bard, so it will cool to have that re-mixed and released.