Big Big Train - Hackney Empire

Remarkably for a group that has been releasing material since 1991, 2019 marked Big Big Train's first UK tour, a 'grand tour' complete with a 5 piece brass band to mark 2019's Grand Tour album and Hackney Empire was the last stop, filmed for subsequent release on Blu-Ray. David Longdon explained that their normal modus operandi was to set up somewhere and let the punters come to them but their continued success, itemised in the tour programme, allowed them to put together the 13 piece ‘prog collective’ (a description coined by The Guardian) to cover six UK venues. Having been late to catch a ride on the Big Big Train phenomenon, I thought I’d better go along to see them at London’s Hackney Empire.
The band’s core line-up consisting of drummer Nick D’Virgilio, guitarists Dave Gregory and Rikard Sjöblom (Sjöblom also played keyboards), Danny Manners on keyboards, violinist Rachel Hall, vocalist and flautist Longdon and original member Greg Spawton on bass was supplemented by Cosmograf’s Robin Armstrong on keyboards and guitars. The set list spanned back to the English Electric duo of albums which meant that despite a band history marked by frequent personnel changes, the protagonists on stage were all well acquainted with the original material. Up to that point my BBT collection consisted of Grimspound and Grand Tour, though I had listened to other selective compositions, story-telling cameos of unsung heroes from the industrial revolution onwards. Along with the tour programme, my purchase included a vinyl copy of English Electric Part Two in an attempt to get better acquainted with their output. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the material presented was from Grand Tour.
Perhaps more so than on the recorded works, the live arrangements highlighted the layers of each composition thanks in no small part to the excellent sound which was crystal clear even up in the gallery, a remarkable achievement when you consider the range of instrumentation employed by the protagonists, including a five-piece brass section. Having been brought up in a cul-de-sac favoured by the local Salvation Army band on a Christmas morning, brass ensembles are actually one of my least favourite forms of music but to be fair, Dave Desmond (trombone), Paul Hawkins (trumpet), Nick Stones (French horn), John Storey (euphonium) and Jon Truscott (tuba) were used to great effect. It’s hard to choose a favourite song of the evening, but I was a little disappointed with Wassail, mostly because I’m not a fan of bands encouraging audience participation.
Apart from that, it was an immensely enjoyable gig, though for anyone thinking of booking late or cheap Hackney Empire tickets for a future event, the seating in the gallery is uncomfortable, there is a very limited view of any back-projections and you have to be alert to overzealous lighting technicians – we were blinded by spotlights during the first song from support act Sweet Billy Pilgrim until the anguished cries from somewhere amongst us registered with whoever was responsible for the lights!