SHA!!!
And you will take my hand
And make believe it's Wonderland
Currently on a train crawling back to London.
Yep, I did it. I went to Dudley last night to see Big Country, after some prodding by Tia who, it turns out, had recruited a small expeditionary force from Facebook.
Damned glad I went. Bloody Hell, they were good. Superb performance and, however many times I'd heared the audience singing Chance on live CDs, it's quite another to be down in the mosh pit doing it yourself. Needless to sya they played most of the classic standards (Wonderland, Look Away etc) but would have liked more from Peace In Our Time, especially 13 Valleys. Interestingly, they were also playing some new material and did mention they were working on a new album.
Does make me regret terribly I didn't go see them when Stuart Adamson was still around though. Sigh. Tony Butler did a good job with the vocals but, especially when talking to the audience, the absence of a strong Scottish accent sounded a bit weird!
Added bonus: Tia had strongly advised me to stay at a certain hotel even though there was a nearer one, just across the road from JB's in fact! As I suspected, the reason was the band was staying there and came down to the bar for drinks afterwards! End result: drank lots of beer, got introduced to the Big Country fan community (one actually flew in from New Jersey just for the Dudley and Leeds dates) and to Tony Butler, Bruce Watson and Mark Brzezicki and even got photos taken with him (God, I hope I wasn't too much of a gushing fanboy).
Finished up sitting outside with Bruce Watson and a bunch of others discussing the likes of politics, whether the military is a good career path and Britain's Imperial legacy (unexpectedly, the strongest advocates of it being positive proved to be me and a Sikh guy!) Some of the other fans thought I was being a bit of a lightweight for heading back to London today rather than go on to Leeds though!
Another weird-assed small world coincidence thing: Jason, an old schoolfriend, found me via Facebook. We arranged to meet for a coffee and a chat on Friday. I mentioned I was going to see Big Country. Turned out he was a massive Big Country geek when younger and would have gone if he'd known. End result: he wants to meet again next week and expects a full debrief!
And make believe it's Wonderland
Currently on a train crawling back to London.
Yep, I did it. I went to Dudley last night to see Big Country, after some prodding by Tia who, it turns out, had recruited a small expeditionary force from Facebook.
Damned glad I went. Bloody Hell, they were good. Superb performance and, however many times I'd heared the audience singing Chance on live CDs, it's quite another to be down in the mosh pit doing it yourself. Needless to sya they played most of the classic standards (Wonderland, Look Away etc) but would have liked more from Peace In Our Time, especially 13 Valleys. Interestingly, they were also playing some new material and did mention they were working on a new album.
Does make me regret terribly I didn't go see them when Stuart Adamson was still around though. Sigh. Tony Butler did a good job with the vocals but, especially when talking to the audience, the absence of a strong Scottish accent sounded a bit weird!
Added bonus: Tia had strongly advised me to stay at a certain hotel even though there was a nearer one, just across the road from JB's in fact! As I suspected, the reason was the band was staying there and came down to the bar for drinks afterwards! End result: drank lots of beer, got introduced to the Big Country fan community (one actually flew in from New Jersey just for the Dudley and Leeds dates) and to Tony Butler, Bruce Watson and Mark Brzezicki and even got photos taken with him (God, I hope I wasn't too much of a gushing fanboy).
Finished up sitting outside with Bruce Watson and a bunch of others discussing the likes of politics, whether the military is a good career path and Britain's Imperial legacy (unexpectedly, the strongest advocates of it being positive proved to be me and a Sikh guy!) Some of the other fans thought I was being a bit of a lightweight for heading back to London today rather than go on to Leeds though!
Another weird-assed small world coincidence thing: Jason, an old schoolfriend, found me via Facebook. We arranged to meet for a coffee and a chat on Friday. I mentioned I was going to see Big Country. Turned out he was a massive Big Country geek when younger and would have gone if he'd known. End result: he wants to meet again next week and expects a full debrief!