The Stables, Milton Keynes, 7th December 2015
Oliver Hunter writes:"A great gig, despite being an all-seated venue..."
The band got a decent write up in the local paper in the week leading up to the gig, though they used a picture of the band with Derek and didn't mention that Scott was playing bass:
Thursday, December 3,2015 www.northamptonchron.co.uk
Big Country play hits at StablesFOLLOWING the success of their 30th anniversary Steeltown tour, Scottish rock band Big Country are on the road and return to the region next week. Originally formed in 1981 by guitar playing founder members Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, the band achieved worldwide success with the release of their 1983 debut album The Crossing. The album received three Grammy nominations, sold more than two million copies and went platinum in the UK. Big Country's run of success continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s with the band scoring 17 top 30 UK singles, achieving five gold and platinum status albums along the way. Big Country currently comprise of guitarists Bruce Watson and Jamie Watson, drummer Mark and singer Simon Hough. They play the Stables in Wavendon on Monday, December 7. Support is by Remembering August. Doors open at 8pm, tickets cost from E22.50. For more information, and to book tickets, visit www.stables.org
The support band was Remembering August. They had great voices and some good material and as usual I bought a CD, which they kindly signed for me. Sadly they also announced that they were splitting up!
The Stables is a small intimate venue with fantastic sound. It is an all-seater and sometimes the users (all volunteers) are told to ask people to sit down. Sometimes they realise this will be futile and add a disclaimer - "people around you may stand". The one thing they are totally strict on is photos & recording - even when the band say "it's fine", they say "no". The are therefore no photos or videos from the gig, except some photos taken before and after (they are OK with that).
Before the gig started, I took the opportunity to take some pics of the stage and Jamie's pedals set up.
The band came on stage about 20:50 at the end of the short anticipation-building intro piece and launched headlong into a stonking version of "Porrohman". Mark provided some incredible intricate & energetic drumming, which was a joy to watch from my vantage point, stage right. They ran straight into a spirited rendition of "Harvest Home" before taking a breath, with Bruce Watson welcoming the crowd. They kicked off again with "Look Away", which was very well received by the audience, with some dancing around the edges of the auditorium and balconies.
Bruce said that some people had complained that the "Steeltown 30th Anniversary Tour" wasn't very long and they hadn't got to hear the songs, so he said that they would try and rectify this by playing a few songs from the album. They started the group of songs off with "East of Eden", which was a great performance and raised a wry smile from me as Simon Hough pronounces 'bury' as "buh-ree" like Stuart used to. They rolled the song straight into "Steeltown", which featured an absolutely killer bass performance from Scott Whitley. This guy can ROCK! Next was "Where The Rose Is Sown" and they finished with "Just a Shadow" (always feels a bit odd not rolling into "Come Back To Me"), featuring really powerful vocals from Simon. At the end, Bruce introduced Jamie Watson to the audience.
The next half of the gig kicked off with "King of Emotion", with more fantastic drumming from Mark. There was a top version of "Kansas", again with cracking vocals from Simon before it was officially 'audience participation' time signalled by the intro to "Chance". Everyone joined in with the choruses of "oh, lord..." and at the end Bruce gave the usual banter about the audience all being "hired as backing singers". Next was a rocking version of "Peace In Our Time", with more fantastic vocals from Simon before Bruce introduced Simon and then said it was time for a slow song but "don't worry it speeds up later!" Queue "Ships", with an especially energetic performance from Bruce & backing vocals from Mark. The tempo built until everyone was playing their socks off! Bruce then introduced Scott.
When the band started to play "In A Big Country", the crowd finally decided to jump out of their seats and Paul Adamson Foster had a bit of a dance centre stage but sadly no-one joined him. He threw his red tartan hat up onto the stage and at the end of the song, Bruce returned the hat by chucking it back into the crowd (Paul did retrieve it!). The crowd remained standing and dancing for energetic performances of "Wonderland" and "Fields of Fire" before the band left the stage. The crowd cheered and whistled for a couple of minutes
before the band returned to the stage and gave us an encore of "Inwards". Bruce thanked everyone for coming and Mark name-checked Bruce and thanked everyone for their support, before
the band left the stage at about 22:20.
All in all, fairly 'short and sweet' at 1½ hours but, as a single southern gig in a run of Scottish dates, with the Seer 30th Tour coming next year, I think we can overlook that! Throughout the show all the band were full of energy, Jamie rocked out and he and Bruce had some good interaction, moving about the stage, visiting Mark and Scott. Simon referred to his iPad very little during the gig and gave a strong vocal performance throughout. This was the first time I'd seen Scott play and I have to say he was excellent. He has loads of energy, is a great player, and brings his own style to the repertoire, which always sounded great - a great fit with the band.
I got one of the set lists of one of the roadies, who, it turns out, creates the hilarious "Watson TV" episodes. I waited at the stage door afterwards (I was the only one!) spoke to
the band and got them all (except Jamie, who whizzed off) to sign my set list and ticket. I had a quick photo with Simon and by 23:00 we were all off into the night, Mark in his huge
old American car that he had driven in.
A great birthday treat for me having the band play so close to home, I'm now looking forward to the Seer 30th Anniversary Tour!