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Rating: September 2010: the big news is released through Mike Peters of the Alarm. The Big Country will perform a 7-date mini-tour to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the first tour. I can’t miss it. Online ticketing, flight, hotel, and all that's left to do now is wait for the gift from the Befana. Which arrives punctually. I've been a good girl!
The emotion is immense. I'm returning to a concert of my favorite band after almost 25 years (Modena 1986). What will happen? Will Mike Peters live up to the memory of Stuart Adamson? Those who loved Big Country can't help but have loved the Alarm, and I trust him blindly, despite the fact that their voices are abysmally different. Stuart's throat, hoarse, ("manly") voice, and Mike's bright and smiling one — will they give the same chills?
The answer comes after an hour of good introductory music. A young Cornish folk group (the Crown) and absolutely exceptional rock-blues from a group of old-timers (The Dirty Strangers).
Right after, the heart races. The Boys come out. Four fifty-year-olds and a young one (Jaimie Watson, worthy son of Bruce) on a bare stage in a small venue in Islington, London. The chubby blonde in the center makes an impression, a very good impression. And when the music starts, here we are.
The classic tracks begin, 1000 Stars, Harvest Home, Driving to Damascus (the most recent of the evening’s songs), The Teacher, Just a Shadow, Look Away, and we pause here. With some emotion, Mike starts to talk about his first meeting with the band, then pulls out an old copy of "Amazing Stories" and, to explain who Stuart Adamson was and which song best represents him, reads a passage by H.G. Wells dated 1895, the finale of "Pollock and the Porroh Man". The guitars start. Someone, even on stage, cries. Mike disappears. Tony Butler's bass starts. Mark Brzezicki whirls his 6 arms and 4 legs. Then Mike starts to sing. Among us. Two arms from me. Bruce Watson’s guitar may not have Stuart's magic, but it’s still wonderful. Mike returns to the stage. It’s a frenzy of jumps, the whole floor starts moving from one side of the venue to the other, from my position about 5 meters from the stage to practically under it. And we all sing and jump, together.
We revert to sanity (maybe) with Inwards, then East of Eden and Steeltown, The Storm, Wonderland. As usual, real professionals, Big Country and Mike sing, play and jump for almost an hour and a half. Occasionally, Mike confuses song lyrics, repeats verses, loses pieces of the choruses, but Tony Butler, and we, are there singing them right, and then, who cares, we follow him in the mixed-up choruses, it doesn't matter, it’s beautiful, we jump and sweat and sing all together, that great body which is a good rock'n'roll concert audience. We step on each other's feet, pat each other on the back, smile at each other. And when you look at the stage, the looks from the Boys going around, and you’re sure they’ve looked us all in the eye, and that they’ll remember our faces.
It’s very hot. Break. Everything goes quiet, and the classic "here we go" chorus from the audience begins. After a few minutes of darkness, there they are again. Encore, first part.
Lost Patrol, Chance, Fields of Fire. Nothing to say. The magic is still the same. But it can’t end like this. And outside again, for Restless Natives and the grand finale, In a Big Country.
What can I say, sweaty, voiceless and happy, one hour and forty-five minutes of jubilation. I never thought I’d ever hear Big Country live again, but here we are, reviewing a memorable night, an overwhelming emotion, equal to that of 1986. The choice of songs played was fabulous: all the oldest and most significant tracks excellently interpreted by a Mike Peters in a state of grace.
Yes, he made it. Big Country had thought of never playing together again after Stuart’s death, then for a while performed with Tony Butler as an excellent singer and this year, thanks to Bruce Watson (who participated in an event organized by Mike Peters), we had an excellent guest lead vocalist in MP. Let’s remember, he has just overcome a tough battle against cancer. And since then, he’s dived into a sea of activities, founding Love Hope Strength, which funds and encourages bone marrow donation, alongside wonderful post-trekking concerts on the world's major mountains.
Writing the review, I’m listening to the concert again (thanks to the organization which, in collaboration with simfylive makes a flash drive with the live recording available to fans at the end of the event) and the heartbeat continues. A wonderful experience, to be repeated again, and again, and again.
Big Country are great musicians, who have developed new and special techniques of using instruments (first of all the use of the e-bow, the electric bow, which gives the classical ballads their unmistakable Scottish sound) and still know how to create that "certain chemistry" of the early '80s. And Mike Peters is a great singer, with a big heart and a humility that few know how to display, repeatedly apologizing for not being up to “that guy."
...for those interested, new dates coming this spring!
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