Big Big Train

Title: Big Big Train – Empire (Live At The Hackney Empire)
Release Date: 220
Genre: Rock, Prog Rock, Art Rock, Symphonic Prog

Production/Label: Big Big Train
Duration: 01:52:46
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: DTS, PCM
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 35993 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio#2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 5146 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Size: 36.09 GB

BIG BIG TRAIN, London Hackney Empire 02/11/19.Seldom does a show generate such a high level of expectation an audio/visual adventure into the unknown. Such was the sense of wonderment as the rarely-seen live cadre of core and contributing musicians entered to enthusiastic applause. This final performance on a UK mini-tour fitted perfectly into the purview of the group’s cultural preservation of all things British. In retrospect, it was made the more poignant as I took my seat next to original Fairport Convention singer, Judy Dyble, who’d just completed an album with (lead singer, front man) David Longdon. Chatting with them both at the after-show is now even more memorable, given Judy’s passing. The show itself was magnificent tour de force of progressive movements and moments. Many rate and treasured memories were captured in one magical evening. –Paul Davis – Record Collector – Top 16 gigs in the last 16 years

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Title: Big Big Train – Stone & Steel
Release Date: 2016
Genre: Rock, Prog Rock, Art Rock, Symphonic Prog
Artist: David Longdon – lead vocals, flute, mandolin and percussion; Rachel Hall – violin and backing vocals; Dave Gregory – guitars, piano and backing vocals; Rikard Sjöblom – guitars, keyboards and backing vocals; Danny Manners – keyboards, double bass and backing vocals; Andy Poole – keyboards, guitars, mandolin and backing vocals; Greg Spawton – bass guitar, bass pedals, acoustic guitar and backing vocals; Nick D’Virgilio – drums and backing vocals; Dave Desmond – trombone; Ben Godfrey – trumpet and cornet; Nick Stones – French horn; John Storey – euphonium; Jon Truscott, Mike Poyser – tuba; Emily Yarrow – backing vocals

Production/Label: English Electric Recordings
Duration: 02:44:50
Quality: Blu-ray
Container: BDMV
Video codec: AVC
Audio codec: DTS, PCM
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 13814 kbps / 1920*1080i / 25 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: English LPCM 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 27.8 GB

Stone and Steel documents Big Big Train’s return to live performance after many years as a writing and recording band. Released on Blu-Ray and high-definition download, Stone and Steel features performances of nine songs recorded live at Real World studios in August 2014 and four songs recorded live at the band’s London gigs in August 2015 alongside interview and documentary footage. All live performances are presented in 5.1 and stereo. Running time approximately three hours. The Blu-Ray release includes a 64 page booklet. Big Big Train is an English progressive rock band, founded in 1990 based in Bournemouth, England. Having released eight studio albums and three EPs, they were an independent band for most of their career distributing releases through their own website. Up to 2009, Big Big Train worked mostly as a studio project band headed by Spawton and Poole with changing line-ups and guest musicians. Since their sixth album The Underfall Yard, which received critical acclaim from the progressive rock community, a more stable lineup has been established, and the band performed their first live concerts in seventeen years at Kings Place, London, in August 2015. The gigs were voted Event Of The Year by the readers of Prog magazine. Stone & Steel, a Blu-ray featuring the 2014 rehearsals at Real World Studios and four of the songs performed at Kings Place, was released on 21 March 2016. Big Big Train were the winners of the Breakthrough Award at the Progressive Music Awards held at Kew Gardens, London on 3 September 2013, and have been nominated in several other categories in recent years. Continue reading…