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THE BEST OF
THE BIG COUNTRY MAILING LIST
5/94-11/95
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PART FOUR: BIG COUNTRY LIVE
A) What Bands Has BC Supported, Been Supported By, and/or Been On Tour With?
B) Recent Concert Reviews By List Members
Part Four: BIG COUNTRY LIVE
a) What Bands Has BC Supported, Been Supported By, And/Or Been On Tour With?
< Mike Lynd>
Alice Cooper, David Bowie, the Who, the Rolling Stones + the support band at their
recent Guildford concert was two guitarists calling themselves EZIO.
BC supported David Bowie, Queen, U2 & The Jam
BC were supported by ASLAN in Ireland '87
BC supported Elton John
BC were supported by The Big Dish (another fine band)
Well, on the Buffalo Skinners N. American tour, their opening act was a band called
700 Miles, who really sucked (IMO). Here are some others, from the fan club biography:
1982--opened for the Members in NY and A Certain Ratio in London, opened for
the Jam at Wembley
1983--opened for the Popsicles in London, opened for U2 in London, "special
guests" of the Stranglers at Reading
1984--"special guests" of Elton John at Wembley; tour w/ the Cult as opener
1985--open for Roger Daltry in NY
1986--"special guests" of Queen at Knebworth
1988--co-headline w/ Bryan Adams in Berlin, co-headline w/ PIL in Estonia
Another of my fave groups "Cry Before Dawn" supported BC during the"Peace In Our
Time Tour", was it 1988? Anyway I saw BC & CBD at the Reading Hexagon (where I
work part time), the Oxford Apollo and Guilford Civic Hall. It was a brilliant tour and I
saw CBD quite a few times after the tour at several venues in London.
The support band I remember the best was Airhead, at the town and country club
(can't remember the exact date), I've got their album BOING!!! and it's, well...good!
Wire Train in '86, Ghost Like Sun in '93.
Every now and then you see a really great support band. I remember in the mid
eighties, seeing BC at the Whitley Bay Ice Rink in Newcastle, England, and the support
band absolutely blew me away !. They were The Big Dish, who I think achieved limited
success in the US, but very little in the UK. While still having that strange Scottish feel
to them (in the same way as Deacon Blue, Danny Wilson etc), they provided some very
fresh songs, combined with some killer melodies. They've now released three or four
albums, all of which deserve a good listening. Would love to see both 'Big' bands together
again, each doing a two-hour slot !!!.
In 1991 at the Town & Country Club in Camden, London, the support was excellent.
AIRHEAD (2 hits - counting sheep & It's funny how) followed by 80's band
The Icicle Works). In 1993, there was what's his name, the lead singer
from the Stranglers & his band (apologies for being ignorant). Also back in
1989 on the PIOT tour, there was a band called Diesel Park West.
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b) Recent Concert Reviews By List Members:
This week, BC played two times as a support act for the Rolling Stones in Rotterdam,
the Netherlands. The night before the first of these two gigs, they did an acoustic set
in Rotterdam. The concert took place in a music cafe in Rotown and it was sold out
(a huge 250 showed up; average age 30-35). The concert took about an hour and fifteen
minutes. According to Stuart this was a gig by The Sheep Shavers (?), only "the sheep
couldn't make it because it had died."
Stuart "Brucie is me pal" Adamson and Bruce "You're very kind - or very stoned"
Watson played Takamine guitars. Mark "wants to be Dutch therefore wears orange soccer
shirt" Brzezicki played a drum kit which seemed to be Pearl to me and various percussion
instruments. I couldn't figure out what kind of bass Tony "..." Butler was playing; could
have been a Takamine, too. They played quite well, though it struck me that hardly any
real guitar solos were given. There were, of course, the usual technical screw-ups, starting
immediately in the first song. They made two false starts before they were really off.
Absolutely fabulous were the remarks and stories of Stuart and -a bit less- Bruce inbetween
songs. These two are a magnificent comic duo; if ever they decide to quit music they can
easily continue their showbizz career as stand-up comedians. However, I do think that part
of the jokes were inspired by the consumption of various substances, some of which illegal
but all very helpful in creating a loose atmosphere.
Playlist:
1) All go together
2) You dreamer
3) Look away
4) Ships
5) I'm not ashamed
6) Just a shadow
7) Long way home (Stuart: "This song's about being a long way from home and
it's called uhm... uh... Long Way Home!" The following outburst of laughter
forced them to re-start the song.)
8) The storm
9) 13 valleys (Stuart solo)
10) --- some cover song I don't know the title of; something with a lot of
"Reaper" in the first verse, a lot of "Mary" in the bridge and a lot of "La
la la" in the chorus ---
11) We're not in Kansas
12) In a big country (The crowd roared enormously after only one bar and the
band stopped. Stuart: "Wha? Wha? Wha'ppen?" Someone in the crowd shouts it's
because everybody likes the drummer so much. Stuart: "Hey Mark! There's a
guy here who wants to stick his tongue right down your trousers!" Imagine
this said by someone with a heavy Scottish accent - I almost died with laughter.)
First encore:
11) Peace in our time
12) Found out about you (cover tune, original by Gin Blossoms)
13) Rockin' in the free world (cover tune, original by Neil Young)
14) Chance
Second encore:
15) Tracks of my tears (cover tune, original by Smokey Robinson)
To give you a bit of an idea of the mood of the concert:
It had been a long time since BC played the Netherlands. Someone in the audience shouted
they should come more often. Stuart, replying seriously at first but soon (re)turning to his
comedy act: "Yes! You're right! It HAS been a long time and we will come more often.
We like to come! Coming more often is always a good idea!"
In between two songs someone in the crowd shouts something - didn't hear what. Stuart:
"Who said that? I know that voice. Ah, it's you! I know you! In fact, I was talking to your
mother before I came here. She said: if you see my retarded son, please send him home!
So, you'd better go now. But you may not recognize her because I shaved her back!"
Followed by a malicious grin: "Ouch!"
Before playing "Chance" Adamson made a remark about President Chirac of France and
the proposed French nuclear tests, suggesting to Chirac a certain place to stick his nuclear
bombs. (However, I don't think Chirac was present.)
All in all a great concert, which was a bit of a surprise to me, because I don't like the whole
acoustic thing and WTLF doesn't do that much for me. All this is of no real importance to
you all, of course, but still I wanted to tell you this.
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My ears are still ringing from the gig at Hammersmith Odeon last night, so I thought this
would be a good time to mail - sorry if this is at bit long.....
Well, 1st Simon Townsend played for 1/2 hour; he was reasonable and obviously talented.
Next came Ezio who also played 1/2 hour. They were actually quite good and I bought their
CD single from the merchandise stand (also a sweatshirt and a programme). Eventually BC
arrived during a musical/visual build up of the size usually reserved for much 'bigger' bands
at the end of which they played the following set:
1) God's Great Mistake 9) Storm |
2) You Dreamer 10) Post Nuclear Talking Blues | Acoustic
3) Look Away 11) Broken Heart (13 Valleys) |
4) Ships 12) Inwards
5) Sail Into Nothing 13) I'm Not Ashamed
6) Thunder & Lightning 14) Wonderland
7) Eiledon 15) We're Not In Kansas
8) Peace In Our Time
Encore:
16) Alone 19) Fields Of Fire (Scratch)
17) Chance 20) Rockin' In the Free World
18) Cover fill in (don't know it)
I think I may not have had the best seat in the house as far as the sound quality was
concerned, unfortunately I have heard them sound better. The sound was very distorted
during the 1st song but better after that, I think maybe the sound guys 'tweaked' it during
the song. Having said that BC were still just as much full of energy as ever and Stuart
leaped about all over the place. The good thing about the venue is that at the front you
are just that and when the lads 'soloed' to the front row, kneeling down, it's possible to
touch them if you wanted to: someone put a baseball cap on Stuart while he was
playing (he took it off at the end of the solo).
Stuart and Tony sang/played a new harmony & instrumental section in the middle of
Sail Into Nothing which was very moving. Being 3/4 of the way up the stalls from the
stage I didn't do my usual jumping madly around bit with the others down at the front
and probably for this reason I wasn't getting so much of a 'buzz' as usual. This all changed
when they played Eiledon which was brilliant to hear played live finally and raised my
spirits to the roof and made me feel like I -was- at the front.
PIOT was ace - I first heard this song live and prefer it that way. Towards the end it
turned into a heavy 'thrash' version which was good fun - the lads clearly enjoyed it!
A word about the computer graphics display on a huge screen. Up until now apart from
the dog skeleton at the beginning (WTLF) none of the computer graphics had been relevant
and I was beginning to wonder why they had spent so much money on such an expensive
'trendy' gimmick. During The Storm however they used it to display pictures of clouds,
the violent sea and other images relevant at certain points through the song. This would
have been tip-top if the colours hadn't messed up (or did they mean it to look like the
palette had been rotated?). It was still very effective though and this is the sort of thing I
would like to see rather than just a 'flashey' morph or some such, although the girl->dog
morph shown during WNIK was pretty good.
Inwards seemed to hit a certain spot and the already enthusiastic crowd went berserk. In fact
someone actually jumped up on the stage, danced for a bit, and then stage-dived off into
the crowd - the first time I've seen this at a BC concert!!! Also no-one seemed to mind!
After WNIK, a handful of people left - BEFORE THE ENCORE. Why do people do
that? I have never understood. Are they trying to leave before the rush?, are they worried
about leaving the car park first?, what is it? By doing this they then miss the best part
of the show. Oh, well, as they say, "there's nowt so strange as folk".
The band seemed to find even more energy for the encore if this was possible and
performed a cracking version of Alone. During Chance, Stuart did his traditional
into-the-crowd-handshaking bit whilst the rest of us kept the song going. Then there
was a couple of minutes of a song I didn't recognize (chords only) while Stuart pulled up
a few girls (10 in total) onto the stage (and the stage manager bloke pushed the lads
who were trying to get up back - surely this isn't fair? :-( a little bit sexist?) They stayed
up for FOF scratch version and then all hugged and kissed Stuart before leaving the
stage. (Just as an aside - are there actually any girls on the list?)
Last, but by no means least, came Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World (again). This
was really powerful stuff and -everyone- sang the chorus. At the end I think they were
trying to get in the Guiness Book of Records for the most drawn-out finish which was
quite amusing. So, after 2 hours of excellent music, BC finally left the stage leaving us
to wander into the foyer to give some money to Greenpeace and wend our way home
(in my case a 1 & 1/2 hour drive back up the M1) after a fantastic evening out.
I was a bit surprised at the small Greenpeace content. During PNTB Stuart & Tony
unveiled a Greenpeace banner along the stage by Mark's drum kit and several GP
members carried banners of John Major with his mouth gagged and the French flag
with NON on it. Also the computer screen showed pictures of GP and such stuff, but
there was no speech by Stuart or any other reference to it. I suppose he might say "let the
music speak for itself", but I at least expected a "this one is for Greenpeace" or something.
I feel genuinely sorry for those who are unable to see BC on this tour (how many is that
exactly?) and hope that they come to where you are soon.
Cheers and "Stay Alive".....
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I was at Hammersmith on Wednesday and thought I would chip in
a bit on the gig without repeating any of Oliver's rendition.
"...someone actually jumped up on the stage, danced for a bit, and then
stage-dived off into the crowd - the first time I've seen this at a BC concert!!!
Also no-one seemed to mind!" [quoting Oliver's review]
This guy was standing next to my mates & I. From his accent, I think
he was South African. For the first half an hour, he kept telling us he
was going to stage dive and would we all catch him ?? "Yes we would (!!)
so just get it out of your system." After he proceeded to dive 3 times
(the last time my friend's watch became detached from his wrist
during the catching of him & he had to dive to the floor to salvage
it!) he then spent the next half an hour persuading US to do it ! I
wasn't going to risk being ejected & missing the 2nd half of the
set & politely declined !
He then said during WNIK that the band were pretty good and
could I give him their names (imagine getting across Mark's
surname with 100+ decibels entering your ear) !
"Then there was a couple of minutes of
a song I didn't recognize (chords only) while Stuart pulled up a few
girls (10 in total) onto the stage"[quoting Oliver's review]
I would say there was only 30 seconds of chords that led really
nicely into FOF. I may be mistaken but I think the chords were the
intro to Rebel Rebel (Bowie). Regarding what Stuart referred to as
"the BC dancing girls", there was some very nice looking girls on
the stage especially one with a black jumper and tartan trousers !
Stuart must have good taste. There was one very large girl who
was finding it difficult to get onto the stage. We had to help push
her up. She then did one jig up and down and then jumped off again !
Overall, the thing that surprised me about the gig was the overall
sedateness of the crowd compared to the previous 5 times I've seen
them. There were a lot of people standing with arms folded and there
was not a lot of jumping around. This was hopefully due to the existence
of seats in the stalls and not because the average age of us fans is rising
close to 30 and we're just too old to jig around.
Also, I'm sure this must be the first tour when IABC was not played?
Shame really !
I shook Stuart's hand the other night - Oliver was right, BC were
really enjoying themselves - you could see it in his eyes.
Cheers
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Excellent concert at Manchester Academy , UK, 22nd October 1995. Played
before a strong crowd the set list was something like this :
1. GOD'S GREAT MISTAKE
2. YOU DREAMER
3. LOOK AWAY
4. SHIPS
5. SAIL INTO NOTHING
6. THUNDER & LIGHTNING
7. EILEDON
8. I'M NOT ASHAMED
9. THE STORM (ACOUSTIC)
10. POST NUCLEAR TALKING BLUES (ACOUSTIC)
11. 13 VALLEYS (ACOUSTIC)
12. INWARDS
13. PEACE IN OUR TIME
14. WONDERLAND
15. WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS
16. ALONE
17. TRACKS OF MY TEARS
18. CHANCE
19. FIELDS OF FIRE
20. ROCK'IN IN THE FREE WORLD.
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< Steve Bullman>
So what was the gig like?
Well, the posts already from Martyn Wright, Richy (via
Markus) and Mike Lynd have given us all a lot of the flavour
- but here's a few extras.
The set list was identical to Martyn's.
The "video" described in Richey's review was, in fact, a
projection of a computer screen. I think it's a series of PC
screen savers that have taken someone's fancy: Here's what I
remember (in no particular order)
Snapping Dog Skull (during God's Great Mistake)
Rotating Skulls + landscape + lightning (Thunder & Lightning)
Goldfish swimming in a bowl which periodically swam "outside"
the fish bowl+ small questioning insect (Sail Into Nothing)
Picture of very young girl with blonde hair morphing into a
wolf (We're Not In Kansas ?)
Somersaulting golden chalice (Look Away?)
Fractal images - split into 4 and shuffling around the
display.
A few others with skulls (I was looking at the band half the
time rather than the projection)
I know it was a computer screen as at one point it went into
windows (Title bar was "AAA - Play") and someone had to
restart it. Whether a PC or something more fancy, I couldn't
tell.
At Derby, there were four long banners with mirror images of
some strange looking runes, which I thought for ages were
some kind of Japanese letters - but when I looked at the same
thing in isolation in the programme the next day, I realized
I was just being dumb and that they were four VERY long
faces. Simple when you plug your brain in.
Mike Lynd was right about it being loud - it started off
normal volume but suddenly got louder after the acoustic bit
- and having a good spot only 10 yards from centre mic (but
only 5 yards from right speaker bank), I wasn't keen to
retreat - though my right ear is paying the price (as were
Carol's).
I saw Bruce leap onto Tony's back in one of the encores,
which I've not seen him do before, and apart from a brief
smile in "Chance" was his usual grimacing self (the epitome
of a :-( face almost throughout!)
Stuart seemed a lot more relaxed than I remember, and I think
his vocals have got smoother - he sounded a lot better on
PNTB than on record - he also seems to want to sing in a
lower register - most of the chorus's were sung differently
to lower notes. Mark seemed to have a good 'un and Tony was
his usual smiling self.
We got a much better version of YD - sounded heavier and much
more BC than the record version, and even more audience
participation than normal - Ships,PIOT,The Storm ,13 valleys,
Wonderland, FOF & (of course) Chance all had their audience
section, encouraged from the stage.
The "Sheep-shaggers" bit got a particularly dramatic response
from the Derby locals with a big chorus of "Sheep Shaggers,
Sheep Shaggers" - that being sung at the local football
ground (the local team, Derby County, have the alternative
moniker of "The Rams", I believe - I'm quite a rare species
in England in that I'm male but haven't got a clue about
football)
And as reported by Richey, in FOF, Stuart went along the
front row and asked female attendees if they wanted to come
up for a dance. At Derby there were 13, so if that's your
(female) thing, get to the front for the start of FOF.
The only real disappointment was that they put the lights up
after Rockin' In The Free World, 'cos I'm sure the audience
would have got another encore if they hadn't. Maybe then we
could have shouted for BOAGP!
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No one who has heard Without The Aid Of A Safety Net could fail to notice how
much Stuart Adamson, and the rest of Big Country love coming to the Glasgow
Barrowlands. And the crowd love it too!! Big Country is always one hell of a gig,
at the best venue in town, and Saturday night was no exception.
Upon arriving at the Barras, we were greeted by an army of Greenpeace volunteers,
drafted in the wake of the French nuclear tests. They had their own T-shirt stall, and
were also collecting money in tins. And upon entering the hall itself, there was a huge
French flag, with the word 'NON' written across it, and a Greenpeace emblem at the
bottom. The other thing that I noticed was that Mark's drumkit was already set up on
stage (easily spotted, due to the 50 cymbals and 200 drums!! ;-) ) which meant:
a) We had either missed the support act (unlikely since it was only 1/2
an hour after the doors opened, and the place was still half empty)
b) There was no support band
or c) The support act didn't need drums!!
As it turned out, c) was the correct answer!!
At about 8.00, the lights went down, and Mark walked out on stage. He explained a bit
about who the support was. Him and Tony used to be in a band (I never caught the name)
with Simon Townsend who was the support act for the evening. Simon came out on stage
and proceeded to play through 6 or 7 acoustic songs, and despite a frustrated crowd (there
were a group down the front singing over the top of him and shouting) he was pretty good.
But maybe not what you need as a support act. At the end of the day, there are only so many
things you can do with just guitar and voice, and when you don't know the songs it can
get a little repetitive. Having said that, I enjoyed most of what he performed.
(Is this Pete's son? I know Tony and Mark have Who connections, and he did look like him
(same eyes and nose) and he sounded like Little Angels, who always wanted to be The
Who!!) His parting comment was the inevitable album plug, for his band which also
includes Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr's son!?)
So he went off, and the lights came back on, and we waited for Big Country. It was at that
point that I started to look at the actual stage. Behind the drum set up was a big white
"sheet" which I reckoned was going to be a screen. Inspection of the lighting gantry
revealed a makeshift shelf, which I guessed (correctly, as it turned out) was holding a
video projector. There were also 3 other plain white banners hanging to the left of the
drums (ie behind Bruce) but other than these and the instruments the stage was pretty bare.
Shortly after 9.00, the lights went out again, and the video started playing. At first it
was showing lots of fractal images, but it soon began looping through an animation
of spinning skulls. This skull theme continued all night. The were some white lights
above the ban ners, and these started moving about all over the place, and then the
intro to God's Great Mistake began pouring from the speakers. The band came on
stage, and began to play. Inevitably, the crowd right at the front began to bounce,
and so did I (and the friends I was with). Unfortunately, we were 2 rows too far back,
and had to give up, because on one around us was having it. The second song,
You Dreamer was met by a similar reaction, and it wasn't until Mark played the
opening drum fill to Look Away that the whole crowd came alive. A massive surge
carried us forward and I managed to lose all my friends (this happens every gig I go to -
I just gotta be right at the front, and if they can't hack it, tough! ) Look Away was
Look Away: stand around during each verse, go mental at the chorus, and sing along
to all the instrumental bits.( Big Country are the only band I've ever seen where the
crowd sing along with the guitar solos "deh-deh-deh-deh-deh-deh-deeeeehhhhh...."!)
After Look Away, came (I think) Ships. And the thing that always amazes me about
ships is that even although it is a slow song, the crowd STILL bounces all the way
through I t. (Or is this just a Glasgow thing??) After this, however, my memory goes
a bit hazy as far as order goes, but here is a list of all the songs they played, in (I think)
almost right order (anyone who wants to mail me the real order feel free)
Gods Great Mistake
You Dreamer
Look Away
Ships
Sail Into Nothing (is this the name - I haven't been able to check cos someone else
has my Why The Long Face CD)
Inwards
Thunder And Lightning
Wonderland
The Storm
Post Nuclear Talking Blues
Peace In Our Time
Eiledon
I'm Not Ashamed
We're Not In Kansas
Encore 1: Restless Natives
Encore 2: Fields of Fire
Encore 2: Hey Hey My My (Neil Young)
Stuart said that this is the first time the band have played Eiledon on tour ( I don't know
if he meant this show was the first time they have played it, or the tour as a whole ) The
Storm and Post Nuclear Talking Blues were both acoustic, in the bands alter ego of
"The Sheep Shaggers". Stuart got the words of the first verse wrong in The Storm, and
near the end Tony missed a bit he should have sung. Him and Stuart just looked at each
other and laughed!! Post Nuclear Talking Blues was the "Greenpeace song|", which
Stuart introduced by saying "I don't normally lecture from up here on stage, but..." a
nd talking about the French nuclear tests and how he thought the cold war was supposed
to be over, and that the only thing we should have to worry about was having a bad day.
Throughout the song there were various Greenpeace still shots playing up on the screen,
which makes me think this is the song they are releasing next week for Greenpeace
(is it?? ) Inwards was a bit of a surprise, and I had to check the name of it when I got
home. It is one of my favourite songs on The Crossing, but I couldn't have told you its
name. I can now! During Thunder and Lightning, the screen was showing, inevitably,
storm pictures!! Afterwards Stuart said "you don't usually get thunder and Lightning
indoors" I was surprised and a little disappointed when the band left the stage, without
playing Lost Patrol, as its a bit of a tradition. (Do they do that in other places too,
walk off while the crowd are still singing, and then come back on 5 minutes later while
the crowd are still singing) and finish the song??) However when they came back on
and played Restless Natives it more than made up for it. I actually didn't recognize it at
first, but that could be because I don't actually have it!! The second encore they played
began with Fields Of Fire (again I'm not 100% sure about this - if anyone knows better
could they let me know??) and Stuart asked for some volunteer female dancers. About
6 or 7 girls made it up onto the stage, although 2 of them had no idea what was happening,
and didn't even know the words to Fields of Fire!!
The rest of them of course were dancing and singing and loving every minute of it!!
The last song they played (I think) was Hey Hey, My My, a Neil young cover. Have they
played this before? I'm sure I've heard it or at least heard the name associated with Big
Country (or is it a b-side?)
And that's the show.
Original ? No
Different? Not really (although they did miss some songs out, and play some different ones)
Fun? Definitely!!!!
My only gripe was that they didn't sing Lost patrol or Chance, so I missed getting to shout
"1, 2, 3, 4". But I suppose they'll be back and do them again soon. After all, Stuart did tell
us several times how good it was to be back home, and that we were the best crowd in the world!
(I'm curious. Every one always says a Glasgow crowd is the best - do bands say that when
they go to other places (eg if they were playing in Copenhagen, would they say "well
Copenhagen is the best place to play), or is it true (about Glasgow) I'd really like to believe it!)
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"Excuse me, you have blood trickling from your ears,
have you been to a Big Country concert?"
"Eh? What? Sorry? You'll have to speak up,
I've just been to a Big Country concert!"
Wow!! No-one told me!! I had no idea!! All these years of listening to
BC at home and I haven't been playing them LOUD enough!! It was
wonderful, overwhelming, awe-inspiring (oh yes, and LOUD!!). Sheesh, was
it loud. Blood-curdling stuff!! Michael Bickley had suggested that I
would enjoy it, but I didn't expect the experience to be so electrifying.
Talk about goosebumps!!
They played the following tracks and in the following order:
God's Great Mistake
You Dreamer
Look Away
Ships
Sail Into Nothing
Thunder and Lightning
Eiledon
Peace in Our Time
The Storm (acoustic)
Post-Nuclear Talking Blues (acoustic)
13 Valleys (acoustic)
Inwards
I'm Not Ashamed
Wonderland
We're not in Kansas
and for the encore:
Alone
Chance
Fields of Fire
Hey Hey My My
Before Eiledon Stuart commented that it was inspired by a poem by Hugh
MacDiarmid (Old man looking at thistle??) and that this was the first
tour on which they had played this song.
Before the acoustic sub-set, Stuart re-introduced BC as the
Sheep-Shaggers (n.b not Sheep-Shavers), I think more a reference to
simple rustic folk than a specific reference to the well-known antipodean
predeliction for creatures ovine. (Cue for a New Zealand joke..........
"Driver, you've overshot, can you make a U-turn?"
"Strewth, sport, I can make her eyes water!!")
A full house, and the band (and Stuart in particular) really looking as
if they were enjoying themselves. They had the audience really bouncing
right from the first number. These lads can rock!!
In Chance the band got the audience singing the chorus (I've never felt
so low etc) and then all four of them left the stage - for so long that I
was just beginning to wonder whether they would return. I assume that
this is a standard party piece?
In the foyer an array of Bc t-shirts and sweat shirts was being sold, and
(wake up there Oberly) a cassette as follows:
BIG
COUNTRY
LIVE 93
"BOOTLEG"
No other details on the inlay but from Stuart's recorded chatter it's
obviously one of the first (if not the very first of BC's 1993 German
concerts. Very high quality recording. Tracks are:
WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING FOR
STEELTOWN
PINK MARSHMALLOW MOON
SHIPS
LONG WAY HOME
ALONE
SEVEN WAVES
FIELDS OF FIRE
CHESTER'S FARM
CHANCE
LOST PATROL
DON'T FEAR THE REAPER
Is this in fact a bootleg? I was told that the band had approved the
sale of the cassettes at the concert, which makes it sound rather
official. On the other it perhaps sounds as if it might correspond to
the rare limited edition bootleg Cd "No Way Home" that was mentioned on
this mailing list a month or two ago. Anyone got any ideas? Jan?
The concert programme carries an advertisement for the new "Non" release
- white cover, huge green NON
and a BIG COUNTRY plus logo at the top. Interestingly, the usual 'half
star' logo is replaced by a small mushroom cloud!
To sum up, a brilliant evening and to my delight I didn't feel out of
place at all - the hall was full of the follicly challenged - in fact an
amazingly wide spectrum of ages - from little teeny boppers in the mosh
pit all the way through to white-haired sixty year olds. I can't wait
for their next visit to my area.
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Here I am with the review of last weeks concert in Karlsruhe (Germany):
Have you ever had the urge of leaving a Big Country concert? - No?
I also thought that never in my life I would leave before the last tune
faded away and I am certain that I don't miss a single note. But last
Saturday I couldn't stand it anymore: I was wet, it was windy, it was
cold - I had to go.
Well, me and a friend of mine arrived in Karlsruhe at 3pm last Saturday
after 6 hours on the train and made it immediately to the place where
we set our tent. It was already raining and although we wanted to have
a look at the city we stayed in our tent until the time we had to go
to catch the show. Well, we arrived at the festival area around 7:40
and the first band of the day started. They were scheduled for 7 and
all the other bands that should have played before were canceled. It
was lightly raining and we were lucky obtaining an umbrella from the
couple standing in front of us. The band was quite good (Jazzkantine
from Germany - combining Jazz and Hip Hop ;-). They played until 9.10
and we knew that we wouldn't get as much BC as we wanted since they
had to end before 11pm. In the break between the two bands we made
it to the stage and there I met Juergen (maybe he can give his own
comments about the concert) and we anticipated the show. When they
started the weather looked good and we were quite happy. But right
into the second song it start to rain. Heavy rain. Heavier rain.
Within minutes we were soaked and the ground was getting muddier
by the minute. We were having a great time, but after nearly one
hour of this I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to go to the back,
where I was starting to freeze because there were no people shielding
me. There was mud wrestling going on, mud dancing, mud throwing -
you get it. Short time later Joerg came back and we decided to go
since it sounded as if they were nearing the end. The trip to the
tent and the night in the tent were also quite eventful, as was the six
hour trip back home the next day, but I want to spare the details.
OK, now for the band:
Tony lost his moustache, Bruce his beard, Stuart has long hair and
Mark looks like he always does. They played the following songs -
not in the right order (maybe I forgot some and I am not certain when
they really finished):
God's Great Mistake (as opener)
You Dreamer
I'm Not Ashamed
Sail Into Nothing
Look Away (third song)
Send You
Long Way Home
Ships (they had problems with the electronic here ;-)
Lost Patrol
We're Not In Kansas (that was when I decided we better go)
Fields Of Fire (when we went)
In A Big Country (heard a short tune when in the tram)
Wonderland
The sound quality was OK, but... (no, I won't mention the weather again)
The new songs sounded quite good life and it is stile amazing what
they can do with the old songs. It was good that they didn't play
Chance (at least not when I was there) since it lost everything it
once had for me. And I don't know why they are playing Ships since
it doesn't that much to me.
Now the final question: was it worth the trip? Yes, definitely.
It's always the same feeling you get when you see them life:
you can't be a real fan of their music until you have seen them
life. I am sorry to say that to the people who weren't lucky
enough to see them, but I believe it's true.
So, the show will also be shown on German TV one day, although they
don't know the date yet. And don't forget: next Sunday at 5pm CEST
they will be on the German show "Hollymuend" that is shown on
West3, a regional TV station that one can also see via sattelite
all over Europe. Look out for it. I try to be in the show (open air
and for free and hopefully better weather ;-)
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I saw them at the Fleadh (festival) at Finsbury Park London on the 10th. They
played for about 40 minutes songs, (from memory)-
I'm not ashamed
Gods Great Mistake
You Dreamer
Ships
look away
The restless natives thing about Rob Roy
and probably a few more (sorry).
I also attended the promotional appearance at HMV London on the date of the
album release. There was quite a few people there, and the sound was AWESOME!
they mostly played stuff from WTLF, I remember
I'm not ashamed
Gods great mistake
You Dreamer
One in a Million
and Im not in Kansas
The HMV management were desperate to stop them from playing any more to leave
time for a signing session before the store closed (practically pulled the plug
on them).
Anyway I bought the album and got it signed by BC. There must have been 100+
people that stayed for the signing session.
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Markus made mention of the wet and windy time at Karlsrhue - and (although I
wasn't there) I have it on good authority from behind the scenes:
One song into set (again) and the heavens opened. It's monsoon time. Within no
time there was 12" of water. The catering tent collapses. The dressing room
tent is under water. Lightning and thunder add to the special effects. The
35,000 crowd don't leave. They are soaked to the skin, lots become naked! The
highland fling and congas break out amongst the mud throwing and body slamming.
The back drops blow away. Stuart jumps into the crowd, losing his shoes unaware
that there is so much water on the ground. This gig will go down as a German
Rock and Roll legend. We have TV footage of band and crowd as living proof.
Also, whilst BC were in Dublin (last Thursday) with Plant/Page, Mark suffered
from a severe bout of food poisoning prior to going on stage and the band were
15 minutes late on stage. After the first song Mark had to run off - making a
bit of a mess over Jimmy Page's speaker cabinet on the way. The doctor was
called and sent Mark to his bed immediately and he was forbidden to eat for 36
hours. Meanwhile the band brought the house down by continuing without a
drummer for the rest of their set.
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Markus got me started on this, so here is the set list of the two concert that were
broadcasted in Germany last weekend (Bonn, Biskuithalle, 6.9.1991 and Essen,
Grugahalle, 15.3.1986). I was at the Bonn gig, too, but probably too far in the
back to be spotted). I think the encores to the Bonn gig were shown for the first time
on TV (both gigs were aired before this date at least once).
In the encores, Stuart tells everybody to get naked before they would play any
more songs (later it turned out that he saw the Woodstock tape the night before)
and this is the only video I know of that has Mannish Boy on it
(unfortunately, it also has the keyboard player on it...).
Here are the set lists:
Bonn:
Were Not In Kansas / King Of Emotion / Look Away / Republican Party Reptile /
Ships / In A Big Country / Leap Of Faith / Chance
Encores: Peace In Our Time / Fields Of Fire / Mannish Boy / Rockin In The Free
World
Essen:
Wonderland / Fields Of Fire / Where The Rose Is Sown / Raindance / Remembrance
Day / Just A Shadow / Steeltown / Look Away / Chance / The Teacher / In A Big
Country / Inwards / Harvest home / The Storm / Lost Patrol / Tracks Of My Tears
The concert in Mannheim last Monday was very good although they again had the
technical difficulty when Stuart broke a string on the acoustic during The
Storm, so we presumably missed PNTB and 13 Valleys as an acoustic version due
to that.
That's the set of the Mannheim gig (VERY similar to the other German gigs of the
tour, I'm told):
1) God's Great Mistake 9) The Storm (Acoustic)
2) You Dreamer 10) In A Big Country
3) Look Away 11) I'm Not Ashamed
4) Ships 12) Wonderland
5) Sail Into Nothing 13) We're Not In Kansas
6) Thunder & Lightning
7) Long Way Home
8) Peace In Our Time
Encores:
14) Alone 16) Fields Of Fire
15) Chance 17) Rockin' In the Free World
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I went to see BC at Wolves Civic Hall (again), I 've seen Stuart there
every year for the last 16, since the days of the Skids.
Unlike some of the of the other participants I can never remember what a
band plays, let alone in what order. General impressions were that the
electric part of the set was stronger than ever, but I felt a bit
disappointed by the acoustic bit - IMO the choice of songs in this bit
was on the weak side, and not long enough for my tastes. However on
balance I think this tour has to be one of the best yet undertaken,
everything just seemed to come together, and the audience was superb,
giving a wonderful atmosphere.
On a personal note I got some good pix of the band and wondered if there
would be any interest for them in these parts, I've even got some pix,
somewhere, of their first ever tour in 198? from my college days in
Sheffield.