THE BEST OF BIG COUNTRY

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The band will be performing all their great hits

along with live favourites.

RETURN TO STEELTOWN TOUR 1984 - 2019

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The band will be performing a large selection from this classic album along with all their great hits and live favourites.

BIG COUNTRY

Big Country Legendary Scottish Celtic Rock band still featuring two of the original founding members Bruce Watson and Mark Brzezicki.

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BIOGRAPHY/TOUR

 

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Big Country was originally formed in 1981 by guitar playing founder members Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson both native of the band's hometown Dunfermline in Scotland.

 

Initially driven by a shared vision of widescreen guitar melody, harmony and lyric, the classic Big Country sound was further enhanced later that summer by the arrival of  drummer Mark Brzezicki and bass player Tony Butler. This is the Big Country that (with producer Steve Lillywhite), recorded the classic debut album 'The Crossing' in 1983.

 

The band broke massively worldwide with the release of the album's classic singles 'Fields Of Fire', 'Chance' and signature song 'In A Big Country', which went on to become massive worldwide hits, selling over 2 million copies and driving 'The Crossing' to 3 prestigious Grammy nominations in the USA.

 

The run of success continued throughout the 1980's with the release of the anthemic single 'Wonderland' and the second album 'Steeltown' (1984), which debuted at Number  1 in the UK and contained the hit singles 'East Of Eden', 'Just a Shadow' and 'Where The Rose Is Sown' . In 1985, Big Country appeared at Live Aid in London followed  by further successful album releases 'The Seer' (1986, which included the bands  biggest UK hit 'Look Away', which also reached Number 1 in the Irish Singles chart) and 'Peace In Our Time' (1988), which saw the band playing the first ever privately promoted gig in Russia at the Moscow Sports Stadium.

 

At the start of the 90's 'Through A Big Country', featuring all the bands classic hits was released, followed by the fifth studio album 'No Place Like Home' (1991) taking the band's total record sales to well over five million copies.

 

Further studio albums 'Buffalo Skinners' (1993) and 'Why The Long Face' (1995) followed,which saw Big Country landing the special guest slot on the Rolling Stones 'Voodoo Lounge' European tour and several shows in the UK and Ireland with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in 1995.

 

In August 1998 they were once again invited to open for the Rolling Stones on their 'Bridges To Babylon' tour of Europe prompting Mick Jagger to say that Big Country were "one of the best opening bands we ever had".

 

Two songs written at that time ('Somebody Else' and 'Devil In The Eye') were co-written with Ray Davies of The Kinks who invited the band to back him on the main stage at Glastonbury to perform a storming set in the rain.

 

By now singer Stuart Adamson had relocated to Nashville, Tennessee and so his fellow bandmates decamped to America to join him in writing and recording the album 'Driving To Damascus'. It would be the last album they recorded together. With Stuart at the helm, Big Country, scored 17 top 30 UK singles achieving 5 gold and platinum status albums along the way. Stuart and Big Country would tour Europe one final time in 2000 and on the closing night at their beloved Barrowlands in Glasgow the band were fatefully joined on  stage for one last song by Alarm singer Mike Peters and Bruce Watson's son Jamie on guitar.

 

Tony Butler, Mark Brzezicki and Bruce Watson re-united in 2007 to celebrate the band's Twenty-fifth anniversary. "It wasn't a come-back... it was just the three of us having fun, as friends and as a band, and hoping to give the fans some enjoyment by playing our songs live, to celebrate 25 years" - Bruce Watson

 

In the summer of 2010, Bruce Watson picked up the phone and asked Mike Peters to sing with Big Country. The first gig was in Glasgow on New Years Eve 2010 and the  second in the band's hometown of Dunfermline. The rest as they say is history.

 

The band have performed at many of the UK and Europe's most famous festivals, including Isle Of Wight (Twice), V Festival, T In The Park, Oxegen, Pink Pop and Cropredy creating a new generation of fans and renewing the passion for diehards with the introduction of new original songs such as 'Another Country' and 'The Journey' which encapsulate not only the sound but the heart and soul of Big Country past, present and future.

 

With the promise of a new era dawning for the band and the realisation that Big Country now have the platform to once again record and tour on a world wide scale, bassist Tony Butler has decided that his time in Big Country has come to a close and so he has retired gracefully from the stage. The band now welcomes Scott Whitley on bass.

 

In April 2013, Big Country released ‘The Journey’ and toured across the globe in support of this highly acclaimed album throughout the year.

 

Coming into 2014, new challenges arose for Big Country. With Mike Peters dedicating his efforts full-time towards the support of the 30th Anniversary of The Alarm’s Declaration, Big Country have been joined by Simon Hough to perform vocal duties. He has fitted in perfectly. As the band continues its touring throughout the year that Big Country celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the release of the album, ‘Steeltown’. 2015 sees a massive Best Of (and more) tour of the UK and Europe, during which, Scott Whitley  joined the band on bass, following Derek’s departure after 3 years.

 

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Big Country just gets Bigger.

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AUGUST 2020 

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​Saturday 22nd City Parks Festival, Stirling, Special Guests to Skipinnish Afternoon Show

​Sunday 30th Skids A New Day Festival, Mt Ephraim Gardens, Hernhill, Faversham, Kent, 

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SEPTEMBER 2020

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​Friday 4th Stormin The Castle Festival - Bishop Auckland

Wednesday 9th Travel to USA

Thursday 10th Milwaukee Summerfest

Friday 11th Travel back to UK

​Saturday 12th The Engine Shed Lincoln (AGMP)

​Thursday 17th The Phoenix, Exeter (Ayers)

​Friday 18th The Cheese and Grain, Frome (Ayers)

​Saturday 19th The Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford (AGMP)

​Friday 25th Colchester Arts Centre

Saturday 26th Harpenden Public Halls (AGMP)

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OCTOBER 2020

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Thursday 1st The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (AGMP)

​Friday 2nd The Foundry, Sheffield. (AGMP)

​Saturday 3rd Portland House, Cardiff (AGMP)

Thursday 8th The Live Rooms, Chester (AYERS)

​Friday 9th Beckett University, Leeds. (AGMP)

​Saturday 10th The Empire, Middlesbrough. (AGMP)

​Sunday 11th Victoria Hall, Settle. (Up Close and Personal)

​Friday 16th Skids Manchester 

Saturday 17th Skids London 

​Friday 23rd Skids Wolverhampton 

​Saturday 24th Skids Brighton 

​Saturday 31st The Phoenix Blyth

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NOVEMBER 2020

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Friday 6th Skids Edinburgh 

​​Saturday 7th Skids Aberdeen

​Friday 13th Skids Nottingham

​Saturday 14th Skids Leeds

​Thursday 19th Skids to be advised

​Friday 20th Skids Kendal

​Saturday 21st Skids Newcastle

​Thursday 26th The Flowerpot Derby, Acoustic Show

​Friday 27th The Butter market, Shrewsbury (AGMP)

​Saturday 28th Skids Musselbrough

​Sunday 29th Troon Concert Hall with The Skids

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DECEMBER 2020

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Thursday 3rd The Halls, Dorking (AGMP)

​Friday 4th Trinity, Bristol (AGMP)

​Saturday 5th Islington Academy, London. (AGMP)

​Thursday 10th The Junction, Cambridge (AGMP)

​Friday 11th Roadmenders, Northampton (AGMP)

​Saturday 12th Epic Studios, Norwich (AGMP)

​Sunday 13th Newcastle Rocks Festival (Newcastle Legends) Reshed from July

Thursday 17th The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen (AGMP)

​Friday 18th Glen Pavilion, Dunfermline (Callum) with The Skids

​Saturday 19th ​Glasgow TBC (DF Concerts) with The Skids

​Sunday 27th Mareel, Lerwick, Shetland rescheduled from July

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JANUARY 2021

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Thursday 14th Town Hall Gloucester (Ayers) tbc

Friday 15th The Academy Manchester (AGMP)

​Saturday 16th Grand Central Hall, Liverpool (AGMP)

​Thursday 21st Southend, Chinnerys (AGMP)

​Friday 22nd Brighton, Concorde 2 (AGMP)

​Saturday 23rd Southampton, The Brook (AGMP)

Thursday 28th The Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot

​Friday 29th Newcastle, The Boiler Shop (AGMP)

​Saturday 30th Blackburn, King Georges Hall (AGMP)

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FEBRUARY 2021

 

Friday 5th  La Belle Angele Edinburgh - Skids Unplugged

Saturday 6th Oran Mor Glasgow - Skids Unplugged

Thursday 11th Barnoldswick Music and Arts Centre - Skids Unplugged

Friday 12th The Cluny, Newcastle - Skids Unplugged

Saturday 13th The Public Halls Harpendon. - Skids Unplugged

​Sunday 14th Shoreditch Town Hall, London - Skids Unplugged

M​onday 15th TBC - Skids Unplugged

​Tuesday 16th The Cheeses and Grain, Frome - Skids Unplugged

​Wednesday 17th Portland House, Cardiff - Skids Unplugged

​Thursday 18th King Georges Hall, Blackburn - Skids Unplugged

​Friday 19th Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline - Skids Unplugged

​Saturday 20th The Caves, Edinburgh - Skids Unplugged

Friday 26th Roermond - ECI Cultuurfabriek Holland

Saturday 27 - Hoofddorp - Duycker Holland

Sunday 28 - Rotterdam - Baroeg Holland

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MARCH 2021

 

Monday 1st - Hengelo - Cactus Holland

Thursday 4th The Georgian Theatre, Stockton (Jon Connor)

Friday 5th Motherwell Concert Hall CH, Scotland (Craig Smart) Reshed from April 2020

Saturday 6th Cottingham Civic Centre (Martyn Rudd) Reshed from 2020

​Tuesday 9th to Wednesday 24th Australia (Metropolis)

​Friday 26th The Skids Cottingham Reshed from 2020

Saturday 27th The Skids Scarborough Punk Festival Rescheduled from 2020)

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APRIL 2021

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Thursday 1st Nantwich Civic Hall, Nantwich Jazz and Blues festival reshed

Friday 2nd De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, East Sussex (East Coast Events)

​Saturday 3rd The Dome, Doncaster (Solid Ents) Reshed from 2020

​Saturday 10th The Picture Dome, Holmfirth (Barney) Rescheduled from 2020

Thusday 22nd Denmark details Tbc Reshed from 2020

Friday 23rd Denmark details Tbc Reshed from 2020

Saturday 24th Denmark details Tbc Reshed from 2020

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MAY 2021

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Sunday 2nd Under the Castle, Carr Vale FC football Ground, Bolsover, Derbyshire

​​Saturday 8th Food in the Park Blair Athol Reshed from 2020

Saturday 17th The Pavillion Whitby Reshed from 2020

Friday 28th Northern Kin Festival, Stanhope (JC) Resched from 2020

Saturday 29th Stone Valley South (JC) Resched from 20201

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JULY 2021

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Saturday 3rd Bught Park, Inverness Festival with Skipinnish Rescheduled from 2020

​Friday 23rd Tan Hill Festival Richmond Rescheduled from 2020

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AUGUST 2021

Friday 13th W Fest Belgium (Bart) Reshed from 2020

Saturday 21st Crieff Highland Games, Scotland reshed from 2020

Friday 27th Thunder in the Glens Aviemore with The Skids