6/18/2023 0 Comments Big train sketch list![]() ![]() And Rikard, when given free reign (as any Beardfish fans will know) is a force of nature, his additions of keyboard and guitar, including some soloing in his own inimitable style, were the icing on a very rich cake – and I know a thing or two about cake. NDV drives everything along with a sharpness and vigour that other notable drummers could learn much from whilst Dave’s contributions (including the pithy “I’m working” when asked to say hello whilst tuning!) cut through to dynamically evidence what a wonderful player he is. The sound levels were good from where I was, not too loud and very clear although David Longdon’s voice appeared slightly swamped at times, but given the amount of instrumentation to cater for that’s not overly surprising.Īll of the band performances were noteworthy and the whole beautifully incorporated the unique musical voices of Dave Gregory, Rikard Sjöblom and Nick D’Virgilio. They did a brilliant job and were wonderfully integrated despite their isolated position. The brass section, hidden in the balcony and all but invisible from my seat, just magically appeared during these tracks, the job they did all evening perfectly capturing the nuances and emotion of the material. Hairs on the back of the neck standing to attention at the climax of that. Of the rest of the first set, the pair of tracks from The Underfall Yard were just wonderful, particularly the magnificent Victorian Brickwork that ended the first set. But each to his or her own and there was certainly something akin to a party atmosphere with much willingness for joining in. It is the band’s performance that I enjoy taking it all in, watching the moves and absorbing the music. I enjoyed everything played and am not yet such a curmudgeonly old git that I don’t want people to have a good time but I don’t enjoy or feel comfortable with such things. From personal preference there seemed to be a slight overbalance towards numbers that encouraged audience participation. The band kicked into the appropriate opener that is Make Some Noise which settled them in nicely and probably took the edge off some of the nerves, and then we’re off into a wonderful first set.įrom such a large catalogue of great material the setlist was always going to leave out some favourites and the celebratory element of the evening probably suggested some of the selections. Anticipation is almost bursting the place. Just in time as at 7:30 the band drift onto the stage, which is unsurprisingly pretty cramped, to a rapturous reception, the room full to the roof with love and appreciation for what these guys and gal do. Due to a dismal journey and frenetic chase around London I got into the hall at 7:27 – phew! (Apologies for the disruption to the couple on the end of Row G!) After such a long wait for this to actually happen, with much discussion about the ‘hows’ and ‘wheres’, here we are at the wonderful Kings Place in London (no apostrophe, apparently – please check the website before writing in!), fittingly just next door to King’s Cross railway station. Rather than a normal gig review we’d just each add to a collection of personal thoughts and observations from a particularly enjoyable evening. The TPA Massive were out in force for this highly anticipated event so we thought we’d do something a little different. ![]()
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