Big Big Train vocalist David Longdon is back on the podcast to talk about the group’s recent changes, the new live album Empire, as well as his recent Dyble Longdon release with Judy Dyble.
Read our review of Empire here.
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Big Big Train recently announced the release of Empire, a live Blu-ray film/2 CD set recorded on November 2nd, 2019 at the Hackney Empire in London. The 12 song set runs to just under 2 hours and includes material from the English Electric, Folklore, Grimspound and Grand Tour studio albums. It was directed and edited by Tim Sidwell of Toward Infinity (who has previously worked with Marillion, Status Quo, Thunder, Magnum, Lisa Stansfield and Steps), with audio mixed by BBT’s sound engineer Rob Aubrey.
Empire is available as a Blu-ray/2CD set and is available for pre-order here:
https://burningshed.com/big-big-train_empire_2cd_blu-ray
Tracklisting:
Blu-ray
1) Novum Organum
2) Alive
3) Hedgerow
4) Theodora in Green and Gold
5) Winkie
6) The Florentine
7) Brave Captain
8) Voyager
9) Homesong
10) Wassail
11) Engines and Men
12) East Coast Racer
CD 1
1) Novum Organum
2) Alive
3) Hedgerow
4) Theodora in Green and Gold
5) Winkie
6) The Florentine
7) Brave Captain
CD 2
1) Voyager
2) Homesong
3) Wassail
4) Engines and Men
5) East Coast Racer
Unknown to the band at the time, Empire also memorialises the last Big Big Train concert to feature guitarist Dave Gregory, violinist Rachel Hall and keyboardist Danny Manners. While Dave Gregory’s departure from Big Big Train was announced in March this year, Rachel Hall and Danny Manners have also recently decided the leave the band.
“Every night of our first ever UK tour was special, but playing the Hackney Empire was particularly memorable. It is now additionally poignant as our last full show with Dave, Danny and Rachel,” BBT bassist Gregory Spawton comments. “We’re thrilled by the work that Tim Sidwell and his team and Rob Aubrey have done. We remain proud of our two previous concert films, but visually and sonically Empire represents another step forward and is a great way to mark the end of a particular era for BBT.”
“Over the three decades of the band’s existence, Big Big Train’s line-up has seen plenty of comings and goings,” Gregory Spawton continues. “We fully respect the decisions that Danny and Rachel have reached. While we will miss them personally, equally we are intrigued about how BBT will evolve further as we enter a new phase in our career. David, our drummer Nick D’Virgilio, our guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom and I have already written a new BBT studio album and will be going into the studio later in the autumn with as a core quartet to record it. We’re aiming to release it before next summer in time for our next live shows.”
