Big Country

Tonight’s gig with Big Country at the Flowerpot in Derby is a bit of an odd one. It is part of the band’s 40th anniversary tour for their 1983 début album ‘The Crossing’. Yet the Flowerpot is not a big venue and nor does it have a large stage so tonight’s gig is a semi-acoustic, semi-electric affair and there are chairs set up on stage for the band to rest their ageing limbs. That's a good idea. Us in the crowd could do with them too. 

There is also no support band so a pint from the Flowerpot's real ale bar does the warming up instead. 

They open with an outlier ‘King Of Emotion’ which isn’t from the record we are here to celebrate and nor is the second track which their big hit ‘Look Away’ but then we get down to it with the next five all coming from their acclaimed first album. Although I'm not been a Big Country aficionado and a lot of the album's lesser er known tracks were fairly unfamiliar to me. 

The band, who do indeed stay seated throughout the night, now consist of founding members Bruce Watson on guitar and Mark Brzezicki on drums. Simon Hough is the vocalist while Bruce's son Jamie also plays guitar. After a six year hiatus following original lead singer Stuart Adamson’s death in 2001 the band have been back on the road ever since. 

 A short thirteen song set was rounded off with three songs I was very much familiar with, the big hits that were ‘Chance’, ‘Wonderland’ and ‘Fields Of Fire’.

 They do vacate their seats to briefly leave the stage before returning to close with a rousing ‘In A Big Country’. Now I’m off for a sit down.