Big Country bring the big Celtic guitar sound for a packed Tuning Fork crowd, enough to warm the hearts on a rainy cold night.
It is the right weather to appreciate this band. Storms, wind and rain are dominant atmospherics on the best material from their initial three or four albums.
Stuart Adamson was the original linchpin when he started with the Skids in 1977. A Punk or post-Punk band he formed in Dunfermline, Scotland with Richard Jobson. Their one major hit Into the Valley was already on the way to the classic Big Country sound.
Adamson teamed up with Bruce Watson, (the only original member of the band remaining tonight), and after several different combinations of rhythm sections, they got the classic iconic sound with Tony Butler bass, and Martin Brzezicki drums.
Tuning the guitars heavily laden with special effects processors to sound like skirling bagpipes, and their first single released, Harvest Home, was an immediate hit. There was also the use of an e-bow, a device emulating a synthesiser sound
On stage tonight and the present-day band invest the song with devastating Celtic firepower.
Along with Watson are Tommie Paxton lead vocals and lead guitar, Chris Stone bass, Reece Dobbin drums, and Jamie Watson rhythm guitar.
The show starts with some pummelling noisy Rock which becomes recognisable as Driving to Damascus eventually. This was the title track of the last album of original material recorded with Adamson.
He died in tragic circumstances in 2001. His presence is acknowledged by the band tonight on several numbers.
Material is weighted heavily in favour of debut album The Crossing, and rightly so.
Porrohman starts with distinctive chimes to herald the meshed guitars, and it becomes an epic extended workout.
Lost Patrol is introduced by the distinctive Celtic yodels, before the relentless chugging rhythm riffs kick in.
Just as good was the follow-up album Steeltown, and the relentless guitar-as-bagpipes drone is perfected.
That piping in the Highlands sound is present on Tall Ships Go. Big Country approached their own distinctive version of Blues rooted in traditional Folk music.
They have been compared to U2 in the early days of both bands. There is a case to be made that Adamson was the Scottish Springsteen with some of the vocal style details that were present on the second album.
Lead singer Paxton has his own distinctive big voice and is not trying to mimic Adamson.
Where The Rose Is Sown has patriotic warrior bombast cut through with sorrow. If I die and still come home/ Lay me where the rose is sown.
Another one called Ships (from the album No Place Like Home) turns down the intensity with a quieter melodic intro and is the closest to a genuine ballad tonight. The studio recording is dominated by a sympathetic piano. The three guitars lift this beautifully tonight.
Two more classic tracks off The Crossing is a signal that we are coming to the close.
Chance and In a Big Country. Full of rain and tempest. Relentless and inexorable rolling thunder momentum. The crowd take over the choruses. The band is big enough to ride over the top.
Mercifully they dispense the encore ritual, and Big Country bless us with the benediction of two more classic inspirational bangers, Wonderland and Fields of Fire.
We could always to with more, of course.
Rev. Orange Peel
Photos by Michal Jeong
