What an Show!

Big Big Train 

Greg Spawton

 

Thomas has enjoyed the British progressive rock band Big Big Train for years. Although I find most of prog rock to be too smart for me, I do enjoy Big Big Train. They have melodic themes that I can understand, and the complex musical parts that I can't grasp, still create mental and mood pictures that are very beautiful. 

The band was going to come in 2020, just in time for Thomas and I to go to a concert as a trip for our 15th anniversary. Unfortunately, like so many things, it was cancelled due to Covid. Now four years later, Big Big Train have been able to plan another trip to the US. This time, we decided to take the boys so we could all share the experience of our first rock concert.

 What an amazing show! I had to turn off my theater brain every now and again, especially when I wanted to see their facial expressions, but their hair got in their faces. The lights occasionally seemed behind or reactionary. The stage movement and switching instruments seemed planned but was not always smooth. But I feel silly for noticing such nuances. Those things go with performing on multiple stages, and after I reminded myself I know nothing about shows of this sort, I enjoyed watching the differences between theater staging and concert performance.

Clare Lindley

The music was phenomenal. Sometimes I felt like I was a child listening in on a complex philosophical conversation that I could only pick up phrases but will shape my future understanding. Sometimes I was lost in an underwater world, or listening to the inside of a giant machine, or racing over rolling countrysides. Other times I was listening to life stories around a fire or at a table covered with food and drink.

Yet, as a mother, I could not completely lose myself in the music. There was part of me that was always watching for my children's reactions and needs. Are they too tired? Is it too much for them? Are they doing okay? But I shouldn't have worried; they were enjoying everything, except for when the spot lights shown in their eyes. They recognized more of the songs than I did, and though they were overwhelmed by everything, it was a good sort of being overwhelmed. 

 

Nick D'Virgilio

After much coaxing, Malcolm said, "I was happy I was there and listening to music. It was like an explosion of wonder and excitement and t-shirts (Thomas got each boy t-shirt, like his). I got to see them close up, not like a video. And I got to stay up late." 

Eamon wrote the following about his time. "Big Big Train started with one of their biggest hits, Folklore. They went on to play The First Rebreather, A Boy in Darkness, A Mead Hall in Winter, Apollo, and many others. After that, we met some of the musicians including Nick DiVirgilio! It as a great time." 

As Eamon mentioned, after the show, we were able to talk to several of the band members. They seemed like they were the type of people it would be fun to actually sit down with. We also appreciated that several of them took the time to talk specifically to the boys.