Yikes Doug! You could've just said you don't like BBT! Joking aside, be well soon! You will be missed!Originally Posted by Gravedigger
Yikes Doug! You could've just said you don't like BBT! Joking aside, be well soon! You will be missed!
I'll be there with my wife, my son, and my friend Steve who I think you met before. I think we're about 10 rows back in the center section, right next to the aisle.
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It'll be great to see you guys, been too long.
Likewise!
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Some great photos from a NJ show in this thread
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...1190173/page-3
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Two great shows in NJ. More like the Rikard & Nick show. What a great weekend.
JG
"MARKLAR!"
I agree! I’m glad Rikard got his chance to wail. Both shows were great, though I was a little disappointed that the two set lists were so similar. Alberto was a great front man - his voice is amazing and he’s funny and likable. Much like Steve Hogarth when joining Marillion, he won-over the audiences immediately.
Also, I wasn’t a big Nick DiVirgilio fan, but he was very likable and relaxed too. The guy on trumpet did great too. They’re a talented bunch of multi-instrumentalists!
If setlist.com can be trusted five different songs were played on the second night.
Sounds about right. Someone after the show said 6. I dunno. That's one of those bands I don't learn most of the song names. I just put the albums on and listen. I was really happy both nights. They're all such great players.
With NDV sitting sideways front stage left, you can watch him put on his drum clinic with BBT jamming in the background.
JG
"MARKLAR!"
Just took a look on SetList FM and it seems there were 5 changes out of an 11 song setlist, so that’s quite a decent percentage. It was similar in London last time out.
Does the trumpet guy (Cade?) play additional guitar too? I see that the full brass section is back for the final show and the cruise, so the additional chap doesn’t get to have a holiday too.
I wished more and more over the two evenings for less drums in the mix. Nick plays and sounds great, and would have been just as easy to appreciate and might have sounded even better if blended more. I wanted to hear more keyboards, more of the midrange bite of Greg's Rick, and even more of Rickard. The drums seemed to be masking those elements. Maybe it was more balanced farther back in the room. (I was in the 2nd and 5th rows Sat and Sun.)
Alberto's athleticism, dynamic persona, and constant connection with the other band members are a real change in personality for the band, and I expect a profound evolution over the next few years. Longdon was much more formal, and there was generally less movement on stage in his era. I base this on their concert videos, having never seen them in person before now.
That 12-string acoustic (which I understand was purchased last week at Sweetwater) got quite a workout, didn't it? Played by four different musicians during the show.
The band has clearly come out of the difficulties of the past few years changed, but strong. The new musicians are capable, they contribute actively, they seem fully committed. Alberto is a convincing frontman. The internal dynamics seem healthy. The back catalog is being performed with respect but also as living music that can change and grow. There were only two newer pieces performed ("Love is the Light" and "Last Eleven") but they were high points, IMO.
I did miss the brass and the second full-time guitar, and sometimes the sound seemed thin. But I quibble, because it really was Big Big Train, playing music I love, playing it well, and sounding wonderful. I had a great, great time.
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
^^^ That is so good to hear, I am pleased you guys got to experience a little of what we have seen over the past decade or so.
Alberto is a breath of fresh air, and in the liner notes for the new CD Greg thanks him for "picking me up when I was down", so he has provided more of a catalyst to the continuing story that I think any of us realised. He does have a more expressive stage persona than David, which helps set the presentation on a different course, and it is right that it should not just be a re-hash of previous glories. There are some great new pieces on the new album, and Last Eleven has really grown on me since I first heard it in a live setting.
I think The Last Eleven is my fave too, I have yet to be moved by Beneath The Masts yet sadly.
^^ I haven't played the album many times yet, but I did play Last Eleven quite a bit on streaming so it is far more familiar. The proggy middle section on Beneath The Masts hasn't gripped me on first plays, but these things often take time.
I spoke to Cade the trumpet player after the show on Saturday. He said he IS playing on the cruise. According to him, only 1 of the regular brass players is coming over from UK, and the others will be hired hands like Cade.
Thanks for the feedback, that makes sense, but is not quite how it was presented in the recent FaceBook post. Nonetheless these are all consummate musicians. so they will very easily slot into the mix.
That was the plan four years ago as well. Dave Desmond, trombonist, who leads the section, comes over and rehearses locally hired players. I’d be curious how they’re recruited, and how much they rehearse separately before joining with the band. There’s probably a secret society of British brass band musicians. The show in Buffalo makes me wonder if they’re Canadian, otherwise why go so far from Florida just before CTE?
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
How was the attendance in New Jersey and Boston?
Boston (Arlington) is tonight.
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Fort Wayne was full, about 250.
Not sure of the seating capacity of the NJ venue. 500, 600 at most. I’d say 2/3 full on Saturday, half full on Sunday, largely of people who were also there Saturday I’d imagine.
The last two shows, in Boston and Buffalo, are in smaller venues with seats still available.
One might have dreamed of better.
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
Indeed, yet this is probably what one could realistically expect. It's the reason why it's hard for a band like BBT to tour the US. It's a big country with fans spread across it. It's great that they could build this small tour around the CTTE cruise. I guess it's too early to say if they will be alble to return.
Not just a Genesis fanboy.
Miramare, Oblivion and Last Eleven are the highlights for me. Miramare, in particular, ranks alongside some of the best songs the band has ever done.
However, I’m not feeling it with the rest of the album. Previous epics like Voyager, Brooklands and ECR worked so well because the subject matter was “big“ and the music ramped up the story, adding another dimension, but the lyrics in Beneath The Masts just don’t suit a big, proggy workout. All I hear with BTM are heartfelt lyrics shoe-horned into “the epic”.
Given that the East Rutherford shows were meant to draw from the greater NYC area, this is borderline depressing. 😢
I was at both of the NJ shows and they were just fantastic. I had never seen them live and did not own anything live from the band, so except for all of the comments on here about Foster being left behind, and no full brass section, I didn’t know what to expect. Blown away, I was. Bravin is an engaging front man, as well as a dynamic vocalist. The keyboardist, who admittedly I don’t recall his name at the moment, was really really good and doesn’t get mentioned enough imho. And both the violinist and trumpeter added so much to the music. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how damn good it all sounded. I thought everything sounded spectacular, so hats off to Rob Aubrey.
There was definitely enough difference in the two nights setlists that I was so glad I went to both. I thought the songs they pulled out were varied enough, reaching back to 2007 for "Summer's Lease" all the way to a couple songs from the new one. I guess time will tell if this winds up being financially viable enough for them to make a return trip, but I certainly hope so.
Oskar Holldorf ... he has his own band, Dim Gray, besides being part of BBT.
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