Big Country Gig Review (7 replies)
My latest gig was Big Country supported by Mike Peters of The Alarm at The Phoenix Exeter, Peters actually also played in Big Country for a short while.
Mike has of course been battling cancer. You may well have seen the TV documentary following the challenge that he and his wife Jules went through. Recently he had a relapse and has been on a new type of treatment. All I can say, it was fantastic to see him on stage this evening.
His set up was him and acoustic guitar with a variety of pedals plus a bunch of tricks to give additional bass and percussion. It worked really well!
The set started with The Return from 2001. This was followed by Beautiful. Mike’s voice sounded fantastic. We then had Alarm classics The Stand and Rain in the Summertime. Both produced excellent choral accompaniment from the audience!
Transition followed. Mike used the impact of the song to give an impassioned plea for stem cell donations. He has a form of leukemia that needs that treatment if he wants to see a cure.
Back to Alarm classics with the wonderful Strength, again plenty of audience support.
Next it was Next - yes that’s what the track is called, the set was completed by 68 Guns and Spirit of 76.
68 Guns was delivered in a laid back format, which I loved. Spirit, the banger it’s always been, and quite applicable with what Mike has gone through. You see a man can change his own destiny!
Superb stuff from Mike, which really whet the appetite!
So onto Big Country. I suppose I ought explain the tour. It’s the 40th anniversary of Steeltown, Big Country’s second album. Before I talk about the set, I need to get something off my chest!
I loved The Crossing, their first album. It was edgy and punchy, Stuart Adamson’s guitar drove the tracks, and it was a real announcement of the band’s arrival.
I found Steeltown disappointing. I felt it lacked the same punch, it felt toned down and without the same bite. Side 2 was definitely better than side one, but not a patch on The Crossing. However, I was prepared to put that opinion to one side as I had only seen the band once before, supporting U2 on their War Tour! Yes, it’s been a while!
The band came onto the stage and commenced the album. They played the tracks in order. The songs came over much better live.
The set wasn’t without issues though. Firstly, rarely for The Phoenix, the mix was awful to begin with. All bass and drums - hardly any guitar or vocals. It took the first 4 tracks to sort that.
Flame of the West, East of Eden, Steeltown and Where the Rose is Sown started the set.
When the mix was sorted, it was much better. That said, the guitarists Bruce and Jamie had issues with pedals through the set. (Especially Jamie who had to stop playing several times before getting sorted).
All that said, the album came over very well live. The 5th track was Come Back to Me. This is a slow burner. It starts in a haunting style and explodes into life about half way through. This is where I felt they really kicked on.
The excellent Tall Ships Go was next followed by probably my favourite track off the album, Winter Sky.
After this track, Tommy acknowledged Mark, the drummer, who left the band a few days ago. They bought in a young lad called Reece Dobbin who did an excellent job.
Bruce explained that the album was recorded in Sweden at the studio owned by ABBA. They knew Benny and Bjorn apparently!
Next was Rain Dance, with Jamie having issues again!
Jamie, once he had sorted things, played really well. Like father like son! (He’s Bruce’s son!)
The Great Divide and Just a Shadow were the final two tracks off the album. As I said, I enjoyed hearing them live a lot more than the studio versions.
We weren’t done though. We then had the brilliant Look Away off The Seer followed by Chance. The latter had the usual audience participation, and is a favourite to play live, it’s off The Crossing of course.
Staying with that album, In a Big Country was next with Wonderland to follow. The set was concluded with Fields of Fire, which had a snippet of Whiskey in the Jar in the middle of it.
The encore was 1000 Stars, again off The Crossing and now we were done.
Despite the technical issues, a very enjoyable evening. It’s a busy week because I have Wishbone Ash on Saturday and Tom Robinson Sunday,same venue.
Mike has of course been battling cancer. You may well have seen the TV documentary following the challenge that he and his wife Jules went through. Recently he had a relapse and has been on a new type of treatment. All I can say, it was fantastic to see him on stage this evening.
His set up was him and acoustic guitar with a variety of pedals plus a bunch of tricks to give additional bass and percussion. It worked really well!
The set started with The Return from 2001. This was followed by Beautiful. Mike’s voice sounded fantastic. We then had Alarm classics The Stand and Rain in the Summertime. Both produced excellent choral accompaniment from the audience!
Transition followed. Mike used the impact of the song to give an impassioned plea for stem cell donations. He has a form of leukemia that needs that treatment if he wants to see a cure.
Back to Alarm classics with the wonderful Strength, again plenty of audience support.
Next it was Next - yes that’s what the track is called, the set was completed by 68 Guns and Spirit of 76.
68 Guns was delivered in a laid back format, which I loved. Spirit, the banger it’s always been, and quite applicable with what Mike has gone through. You see a man can change his own destiny!
Superb stuff from Mike, which really whet the appetite!
So onto Big Country. I suppose I ought explain the tour. It’s the 40th anniversary of Steeltown, Big Country’s second album. Before I talk about the set, I need to get something off my chest!
I loved The Crossing, their first album. It was edgy and punchy, Stuart Adamson’s guitar drove the tracks, and it was a real announcement of the band’s arrival.
I found Steeltown disappointing. I felt it lacked the same punch, it felt toned down and without the same bite. Side 2 was definitely better than side one, but not a patch on The Crossing. However, I was prepared to put that opinion to one side as I had only seen the band once before, supporting U2 on their War Tour! Yes, it’s been a while!
The band came onto the stage and commenced the album. They played the tracks in order. The songs came over much better live.
The set wasn’t without issues though. Firstly, rarely for The Phoenix, the mix was awful to begin with. All bass and drums - hardly any guitar or vocals. It took the first 4 tracks to sort that.
Flame of the West, East of Eden, Steeltown and Where the Rose is Sown started the set.
When the mix was sorted, it was much better. That said, the guitarists Bruce and Jamie had issues with pedals through the set. (Especially Jamie who had to stop playing several times before getting sorted).
All that said, the album came over very well live. The 5th track was Come Back to Me. This is a slow burner. It starts in a haunting style and explodes into life about half way through. This is where I felt they really kicked on.
The excellent Tall Ships Go was next followed by probably my favourite track off the album, Winter Sky.
After this track, Tommy acknowledged Mark, the drummer, who left the band a few days ago. They bought in a young lad called Reece Dobbin who did an excellent job.
Bruce explained that the album was recorded in Sweden at the studio owned by ABBA. They knew Benny and Bjorn apparently!
Next was Rain Dance, with Jamie having issues again!
Jamie, once he had sorted things, played really well. Like father like son! (He’s Bruce’s son!)
The Great Divide and Just a Shadow were the final two tracks off the album. As I said, I enjoyed hearing them live a lot more than the studio versions.
We weren’t done though. We then had the brilliant Look Away off The Seer followed by Chance. The latter had the usual audience participation, and is a favourite to play live, it’s off The Crossing of course.
Staying with that album, In a Big Country was next with Wonderland to follow. The set was concluded with Fields of Fire, which had a snippet of Whiskey in the Jar in the middle of it.
The encore was 1000 Stars, again off The Crossing and now we were done.
Despite the technical issues, a very enjoyable evening. It’s a busy week because I have Wishbone Ash on Saturday and Tom Robinson Sunday,same venue.