In August and September 2023, multi-national progressive rockers Big Big Train undertook their longest ever tour to date, performing 17 shows over 21 days across nine countries in the UK and Europe, and concluding with two triumphant concerts at London’s prestigious Cadogan Hall. Those two concerts are now immortalised as ‘A Flare On The Lens’, released on 13th September 2024 via InsideOutMusic.
This new concert film package includes every song performed by the band over those two evenings and is available as a Limited 3CD+Blu-ray media book, with the concert film audio mixed in 5.1 surround sound and stereo. A gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl version is also available, which features a carefully selected range of material from the Cadogan Hall shows.
To mark the announcement, you can now watch a video of the band performing ‘A Boy In Darkness’ here:
Lead vocalist Alberto Bravin comments: ’’A Boy In Darkness is one of the most emotional and difficult Big Big Train songs to sing and interpret. It’s amazing how the mood of the song changes completely from a very dark place to a crowd-pleasing clapping section that leads to a tragic and powerful finale.”
Bassist Gregory Spawton says: “A Boy In Darkness takes the listener – and the band – on a historical and musical journey. We had never played it live until last year and it was a bit overlooked within our back catalogue. I always thought that it was one of David Longdon’s most accomplished songs and deserved greater prominence. The audience reaction every time we performed it reinforced that view.”
Violinist Clare Lindley comments: “There is a weight to A Boy in Darkness, a held tension, which is there right from the start and builds throughout the song to the magnificent final chorus. It’s a tremendous song to play live, full of interesting lines and melodies and, for me, an exciting instrumental section where I play all the violin and flute solos. I think the music carries the subject matter perfectly.”
Pre-order ‘A Flare On The Lens’ and stream ‘A Boy in Darkness’ here:
Big Big Train – A Boy in Darkness (Live in London 2023) (lnk.to)
‘A Flare On The Lens’ features the band’s full show at Cadogan Hall from the second of their two nights there last year and also includes seven songs which were played only on the first night.
As such, the Blu-ray film runs to around 3 hours and contains no fewer than 17 songs, including both back catalogue favourites such as ‘East Coast Racer’, ‘Hedgerow’, ‘Folklore’, ‘Judas Unrepentant’, ‘Curator Of Butterflies’ and ‘Victorian Brickwork’, live instrumental tour de force ‘Apollo’ and future classics ‘Love Is The Light’ and ‘Oblivion’, plus a 3 song acoustic medley. ‘Love Is The Light’ and ‘Oblivion’ have subsequently been available on the band’s acclaimed studio album, ‘The Likes Of Us’, released in March this year.
The full tracklisting is:
1. Folklore*
2. The Connection Plan*
3. Curator of Butterflies*
4. Summoned by Bells*
5. Drums & Brass 2023*
6. Love Is The Light*
7. A Boy In Darkness*
8. Apollo*
9. Acoustic Medley
10. East Coast Racer*
11. Victorian Brickwork*
12. Oblivion
13. Swan Hunter
14. Keeper of Abbeys
15. Brooklands
16. Hedgerow
17. Telling the Bees
18. Judas Unrepentant
*included on 2LP vinyl release
‘A Flare On The Lens’ is the sight and sound of Big Big Train back on an upwards curve and re-establishing itself as one of the rock music scene’s most compelling live bands.
Big Big Train headline the final Night Of The Prog festival in Germany on 21st July before making their debut at the renowned Cropredy Festival in the UK on 9th August. The band then undertake their own headline tour in September and October, before returning to co-headline Cruise To The Edge in April next year.
21st July – Night of the Prog, Loreley, Germany
9th August – Cropredy Festival, Oxfordshire, UK
17th September – Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, UK
18th September – The Riverfront, Newport, UK
19th September – Playhouse Theatre, Whitley Bay, UK
21st September – Queens Hall, Edinburgh, UK
22nd September – Palace Theatre, Newark, UK
24th September – Stables Theatre, Milton Keynes, UK – SOLD OUT
25th September – The Stoller Hall, Manchester, UK – SOLD OUT
27th September – Stadthalle, Weinheim, Germany
28th September – Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
29th September – Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
1st October – Cosmopolite, Oslo, Norway
2nd October – Viften, Copenhagen, Denmark
5th October – Cadogan Hall, London, UK
Ticket links for all shows are at www.bigbigtrain.com/live