Last night I was at a gig I booked about a year ago. I was going to see Big Big Train a couple of years back when they last did some shows, but it clashed with a family holiday. When tickets came up for this run I had to get some. It was at the Cadogan Hall where I went before to see Jimmy Page be interviewed. This time we were up on the gallery next to the stage. This gave a great view of the band, but had some issues.
Drummer Nick D'Virgilio is an amazing, musician, but he was about all we could hear. A drum kit is very loud and the main speakers were pointing away from us. We could barely hear the vocals and they are vital as it's all about stories with this band. Many of the crowd were not happy and several moved back down the hall. The band acknowledged there was an issue and said they would try to fix it during the interval.
When I went for drinks in the interval I heard a number of people discussing the sound issues and those in the stalls said it wasn't ideal there either. After the break I stood near the back and it was much better. My other half stayed where she was and it did improve when they managed to use the hanging speakers you can see at the top of the picture.
The second half did make up for the first. This is an amazingly talented band who have to be heard properly. There's eight of them plus a brass band. The mix of music with some atmospheric videos was a great combination. Their songs are epic and can last twenty minutes or more. The first picture was actually from the encore when I returned to my original seat and the sound was much better than before.
I can understand that many people were disappointed with the experience. There were a couple behind us who had come from Germany for the gig. This was the first of three shows there, so I would hope they do not repeat the problems. The sound technicians should have foreseen this, especially as the venue should know their acoustics. I think they have more classical music there, but I know they have rock bands too.
Guitarist Dave Gregory (formerly of XTC) did some great solos and had some cool vintage guitars.
Personally, I did really enjoy my evening. They are a band I really wanted to see and I got a great show in the end. My other half didn't know their music. She enjoyed it, but is not sure there is room in her life for multiple prog bands. She does really like Steven Wilson and will happily see him play again.
This is a performance of a song they did last night recorded in 2015. They didn't have the drum solo intro this time.
Update: The Times liked one of the gigs. I assume it wasn't the one I was at. I haven't read the whole review as you have to register for that.
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