VELVET THUNDER

This is the story of the 2023 European tour undertaken by Big Big Train (BBT), which saw the band performing 17 gigs across nine different countries, and which offered their fans, who are known as ‘passengers’, their first opportunity to check out new vocalist Alfredo Bravin onstage. It’s also the second book about BBT inside a year as BBT: Behind The Lines by Grant Moon was published in 2023.

BBT’s is a very human and touching tour story which deserves to be told, in the sense that the band were still mourning the loss of much loved and respected vocalist David Longdon, who’d died tragically in a freak accident at his home in November 2021, which put the future of the band in doubt. But Longdon’s express wish for the band to continue was adhered to, even though band founder member Greg Spawton was wondering ‘did we still have fire in our belly, after the loss of our singer, with a huge amount at stake?’ Was touring the right thing to do and with a new singer? Would their ‘passengers’ accept the new boy? Would the tensions inherent in any tour spill over? Happily, they didn’t. BBT honoured Longdon’s wishes to continue, the ‘passengers’ bought tickets and the tour was very successful.

A View From The Embankment combines the diaries of Andy Stuart, who accompanied the band across Europe on their tour, often having to make his own way between countries, with a whole series of in-depth and insightful interviews with all the band members … and they number quite a few. It offers a uniquely personal view of touring and a few pearls of wisdom from the perspective of a band who’ve risen to become darlings in prog, winning four prog awards, playing sold out tours – including a first visit across the pond in 2024 – having an album, Grimspound, reach no.1 in the rock charts and also the top 50 official UK charts.

This is all the more remarkable as it’s a truism to say BBT play some very complex music, using a wide variety of instruments, including the occasional colliery brass band. A backstage discussion between two of the band went something like this ..
‘Okay, we’ll go from 3 bars of 11 to a bar of 19, and then a 7’
‘But where’s the first beat of the bar?’
‘You can count them in.’
‘Yes, but where’s the number one beat ?’
‘I don’t know. Where are we again?’
No such discussions in AC/DC’s dressing room!

If you intend reading this book looking for ribald adventures of miscreant musicians living the rock n’ roll lifestyle in extremis, you’ll be out of luck. The wild life touring for these guys and gals is the ‘real’ hard stuff – Karaoke, Greg Spawton dancing, and everyone attempting to out-falsetto each other singing Bee Gees tunes on the tour bus! This may well be because the Dramatis Personae of BBT consists of intelligent, highly motivated musicians who are determined to ensure nobody leaves a gig dissatisfied, and what comes across clearly in this book is the degree of friendship and respect each musician has for each other and the band. There’s an almost ‘beautiful unity’ amongst the travelling minstrels here, which Ian Stuart captures in his interviews, and with their collective desire to put on the best show they can, with a willingness to take pains to make this happen which is quite remarkable. Guitar man David Foster states ‘it’s genuinely the case everyone got on, though it’d be a much juicier book if they hadn’t. There are no egos or abrasive personalities in BBT.’ After the release of BBT’s latest album in early 2024, The Likes Of Us, David left the band, citing time pressures with his other projects.

‘Passengers’ will clearly relish and devour this book, but anyone who enjoys well performed prog, with a brass ensemble added on, can get something from it. There’s also plenty for other music fans to derive something as well. Maybe the likes of self-appointed arbiters of public taste, like Simon Cowell, should even have a read to learn about what it’s like to be a real musician making real music…