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| Concert Review |  |
by Michael Lynd |
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| (As posted to the Big Country Mailing List):
Stuart and Marcus appeared about 9.10, with Mark on a set of four bongos plus cymbals. About 50-60 people present so very intimate atmosphere. Both Stuart and Marcus were playing acoustic guitars. It was a relatively short set - about one hour in length with one encore only. Basically, Stuart and Marcus took it in turns to sing songs of their own composition, though at one point Stuart played the instrumental: The Travellers. The encore was a wistful slow version of IABC - not heard it like that before but very effective. IMHO the best songs were Stuart's Simple Man and Private Battlefield - both classic SA/BC ballads, though Stuart's Learn to Row was also another pleasant slower number (he said it was about his father who became a deep sea fisherman to avoid going down the mine). I thought Marcus' songs were pleasant enough in a singer/songwriter sort of way but nowhere near as good as the aforementioned two Stuart Adamson songs. Marcus said that it was really good to be play in a place where the audience could understand what Stuart was saying! Oliver, my attempt to tape the gig failed pitifully! The recorder took it into it's head to record only the first three tracks properly and then decided before giving up the ghost altogether to record most of the rest at a slow and horribly variable pitch! (which means that they sound more like classical Chinese opera than anything else!) I could make MP3s of the first three and put them on the site of some generous soul (Jeroen?) and if anyone out there has the time and technology to "remaster" the rest then they are very welcome to a copy of the tape. I must warn you however that as they stand the remainder of the songs are wholly unlistenable to. Ian Grant was there as was Stuart's son Calum (who was going round selling Marcus' US CD (apparently now No. 1 in some US chart)). Calum also plays and has a band of his own. Ian said that the new BC album won't be out until next year, it taking as long again to do the production as it takes to make the recordings. On the question of the identity of the new label's owner, he remained tantalizingly cryptic but dropped a few more hints. He is a "member of one of Britain's most famous bands" and Ian is amazed that no-one has yet sussed it out. I suggested Paul McCartney and Ian said "No, it's his cousin!" By this I take him to mean a band as well-known as the Beatles. Could it be a member of the Rolling Stones? After all, they did tour together. Ian wants the official web site to run a sort of on-line fanzine and asked Oliver if he wanted the task! We said that there would be no shortage of volunteers on the list. |
