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Concert Review

Artist: Big Country

Date: September 7 2025

Venue: The Egyptian Theater

City: Park City Utah

I NEVER TOOK THE SMILE AWAY FROM ANYBODY’S FACE
There are those bands that just “Appeared” in your life, and have always shown up in cycles over the years. For me, one such band is Scotland’s “Big Country”. I heard them for the first time in January 1987, in a small town in the mountains of southeastern Utah, while driving to a friend’s place in sub-zero temperatures. I just remember 9 feet of snow on the streets, and wondering how in the hell I ended up in such a miserable place, from the only real home I knew in northern Virginia just a few months earlier. My brother put in a cassette of “The Crossing,” and I pretty much fell in love with this band on that short drive across the frozen landscape. I saw the name on my brother’s tapes, but the name turned me off, as well. That town we just moved to – all they listened to was country and bad metal. Once I learned these guys were from Glasgow, just like my father’s immediate clan, and they sounded SO AMAZING, that made my night there really wonderful, and thus, a love for Big Country was born. Through the years of Mike Peters of “The Alarm” playing with them, just because HE LOVED THEM, the death of Stuart Adamson, changeovers and borrowed band members from so many other great bands, they have made history more than once.

When on my LDS Mission in Germany, they played in a venue that was in the same massive centrum as my apartment. I could go out of my apartment’s ground floor, go down a little hallway, and it was backstage to “Das Capital” in Hannover, Germany. 3 times I wandered through there when bands I liked were playing, and I met Marillion (Without FISH), then I met FISH two weeks later. Before that, I walked through the hall one afternoon, as the tour bus had parked there a few hours earlier, I was honored to meet Mark Brezicki and Bruce Watson, just coming through the hall. I got a quick 3 min chat and was thrilled to have met these guys. That was in late 1995.

Fast forward to summer 2025, and to my surprise, the local theater, in another little city up in the mountains of central Utah, was hosting Big Country for a four-night residency. Somehow it’s all coming full circle, the band had just finished 6 weeks with the “Lost 80s Live” tour, with Modern English, Josie Cotton, and some other great bands. So, for them to make a stop here, and hang out for a few days just before heading home was going to be, for me anyway, nothing short of monumental.

I had been in touch with current vocalist Simon Hough, who took the reins of the singer as the band tried to rise from the ashes of the death of Stewart Adamson. We arranged for me to shoot the gig, the day after the Billy Idol gig, yeah, this was a very busy week. I jabbed Simon about being a “Manc”, but he could prove himself playing with some “Glaswegians”.

The Egyptian Theater is on Historic Main Street, in Park City, Utah it is an old, quaint postcard town, with a couple of outdoor amphitheaters, and was home to the “Sundance Film Festival” til just recently. The Egyptian Theater is themed as just that, with the ancient Egyptian art as the motif for everything. It was built during the silver mining explosion of the great rushes in the late 1800s. This place has amazing acoustics, and you could honestly play an out of tune hurdy-gurdy here and it would sound AWESOME.

The stage was set up to make it look more like it would be a folk gig, and I was hoping it was going to be a pretty charged show, though Simon mentioned online he had a bit of a head cold earlier in the week, and was hoping it didn’t interfere with his performance.

Opening the set, Mark Brezeki the original drummer walked out to the mic, and welcomed everyone, and mentioned that they would be doing a set covering several different phases of their catalog over the years, with everyone applauding the rest of the band took the stage, and they opened the set with “Harvest Home” from their first album “The Crossing”, one of the songs that hooked me when I first heard them. With their signature guitar that sounds almost like bagpipes, and Simon singing live, his voice is not exactly like Stuart’s, but it gives a great tribute. I was taking photos, and singing along the lines “JUST AS YOU SEW SHALL YE REAP!! TO THE HARVEST HOME!!”, this was my inner 12-year-old rocking out.

Trying to just take it in that I was finally seeing Big Country live, they pulled out a wonderful, lesser-played gem “Winter Sky”, one of those “Album Cuts” that, while listening to cassettes, you wouldn’t fast forward through, a great song that never made the hit list, but just a loved piece of music.

Another few songs off the “Breakthrough” album, “Steeltown”, “Come Back To Me” then “Just A Shadow” were taking the entire venue back to some wonderful memories. This was not a “Nostalgia” show, but more a few hundred people sharing the same experiences we all once had through music in our younger days. But this time, this, at this moment, with these people in the mountains of Utah, was so powerful. There is nothing more moving than the shared experience. I’ve had them at concerts with other punters, where we all became one with something the band did. From Peter Murphy to U2, this Big Country moment was worth hugging everyone over.

Having the first 4 songs power up the vibe, and I was thinking that this show was for the history books, we got to hear some of the later work “Fragile Thing” from 1998’s“Driving To Damascus”, an album that flew under the radar for many, but the songs were solid, and some great work. Then they played “Hold The Heart” off my fave Big Country album of all time, “The Seer”, I was getting excited about where this might go, with a specific song I had in mind.

They stopped for a bit, and Simon began talking about how they managed to get together as Big Country again. Saying that he had some big shoes to fill in Stuart’s position. He said he never could see himself even being able to fill those shoes. He said he was honored to be in this band and to continue paying tribute to Stuart Adamson, and he really wanted that legacy to live on in the fans. He then said that they were going to play a few songs that were from “The Raphaels”, the band Stuart was in during his American Country & Western phase. To be honest, I hadn’t listened to those records he made, so this was all new to me. They played “Private Battlefield”, and “Learning to Row”.These songs were powerful and beautiful. Imagine Big Country, with a noticeable Celtic influence, and just slow and easy country, more “Western” than country. They were very moving, showcasing Stuart’s later work.

Then they pulled out the most obscure song, “13 Valleys,” that I believe can only be found in the box set. Nothing about this setlist was expected so far, songs you haven’t heard for years, or even rare B-sides. They closed out this first part of the set with “Tall Ships Go”, having played most of “Steeltown” and played all of it so well, I think everyone needed a good breather, they told us they were coming back to play more of the classics.

A few minutes later, Big Country returned to the stage, and Simon said “Thank you all so much for sticking around, let’s do this”, then Mark brought his sticks down hard and the formidable bassline of the well known classic “Peace In Our Time”, had me singing along, knowing it was too loud for anyone to hear me, cause I’m sure I was out of key.

Back into familiar territory and to my fave album, they played “Look Away”, this was just as powerful as the first time I heard it in 86. One of those songs that you just can’t get over how it hits you, with the guitar lines, and the verses, the lyrics were always something wonderful from these guys.

The haunting guitar lines with the signature guitar sound mixing, and the notable bassline, we got “Lost Patrol” from the debut album “The Crossing”. This is one of the many songs where the bass line stands out, and you can hear the bassist leading the song, kind of a cool tool they used throughout so much of the catalog. “Lost Patrol” has almost the most pagan vibe to it, 2nd only to the title track of “The Seer”.

“Wonderland” was a great hit that had weaved itself into the singles collections, and lots of radio play on the alternative station in Salt Lake, carried us through. By this late in the set, Simon said, “Ok, I’m going to need your help with this one,” with instructions on how to sing the chorus with him. Again with a strong bass-line and the funky xylophone sounding guitar, we were into “Chance” from proably my 2nd song of theirs. It is about a woman who “Played chance with a lifetime’s romance, and the price was far too high”. A man who sees how the years have changed people, ripped away opportunities, made us grow old, lose our beauty, vitality, youth, and even a sense of purpose. By the 3rd chorus he asked us to sing along “Oh Lord, where did the feeling go?” then we would chant “2, 3, 4”, “Oh Lord, I never felt so low”.Powerful in its own right, with the venue chanting this between singing the lines, it all felt like we were in this together, feeling the same shame and grief as the song when it was first written.

Simon then introduced the band, with Mark Brezicki on drums (Original member), Gil Allen also from “The Skids” pre Big Country, no surprise there, but the big surprise was Ken Nicol on guitar, from “Steeleye Span”. I freaked out about that, to be honest, I am a big fan of theirs too, some real legends on the stage here, as the band’s personnel history is legendary.

They turned it up to “Eleven” now, and played “Fields of Fire”, everyone was dancing, and I am sure this was the loudest music ever played in the Egyptian Theater, that bassline, leading, with the rhythm guitar, then signature bagpipe guitar on top, Simon had all of us dancing, as he sang with all the vigor he had been saving up all week blasting it out in “ON FIELDS OF FIRE!!!”, I’m afraid for what the personnel changes over the years, songwriting masterpieces, and great live show, tonight, Big Country was telling everyone it doesn’t get better than this.

They left the stage to some roaring appreciation from the punters, who had high expectations, but never expected this. They returned a few minutes later, Mark grabbed his microphone on his drum kit and said, “Ok, everyone, we didn’t expect this, really. This is our last song tonight, but please go to the foyer after the show, we want to meet all of you”. Then they played “In A Big Country” with all the intensity they could muster, which we heard when they all sang “you can’t stay here when every single hope you had is shattered”. I think the fact that they were playing on a mountainside, out in the middle of nowhere (half an hour from Salt Lake), was what brought the rest out of those guys tonight.

Big Country walked off the stage, and as we all congregated in the lobby, everyone was sacking the merch table, and we waited for the band to come meet us.

They came into the lobby, and I approached Simon and reached out to shake hands. Though we hadn’t met yet, he knew who I was. I was surprised when he just grabbed me and hugged me. Simon was so pumped, so thrilled, so proud of the show they had just given us. I realized he was so emotionally high that I don’t know what would have brought him down. He thanked me over and over for the support and had a perma smile. I told him that they had done a great set, and he just said over and over, “I know, it was fucking fantastic, wasn’t it?”. You can’t really say much more in that situation. He was floating about 10 inches off the floor; he was so happy. Frankly, if a band can deliver a set like that, with the lead singer still going through a head cold, those guys had everything in the world to be proud of.

I talked to Mark for a minute, and I told Allen that I worship Maddy Prior (singer of Steeleye Span), and he assured me she is a sweetheart. We all took selfies, and everyone was closing the night of a beaudacious set, by meeting the guys who gave us such magic.

Big Country will hopefully cross the pond and grace us again on a tour, and I hope you all get to see them should they come to a city near you. The music is timeless, and in the end, they did Stuart Adamson and everyone else right.

Thanks so much, fellas. Please, can we do that again sometime?

https://facebook.com/inabigcountry

https://www.facebook.com/simonvandownham

#bigcountry #simonhough #lost80slive

Concert Review

ACT: Alice Cooper

Supporting Act: Corrosion of Conformity

Date: October 12, 2025

Venue: Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater

City: West Valley City, Utah

Happy Halloweekend friends

A late September evening in 1987, I had just moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, less than a month earlier. I had made friends with some kids at school, a bunch of local skate punks. It was a Friday, and my friends and I had pretended to be in a punk band for a couple of hours, recording ourselves, generally just making noise out of tune from one another, and trying to keep up with the drummer, the only guy who knew his instrument at the time.
That night, I was sitting in one guy’s bedroom, playing all of this great American Hardcore Punk. I knew Generation X, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, The THE, and I had an album “This Is Oi”. Most of my punk was British, with a few German and yank bands. That night, my buddy introduced me to The Stupids, FEAR, The Burnt, The Exploited, and Corrosion of Conformity.
I fancied CoC as one of the great crossover bands of Punk/Metal, like Faith No More, and Motorhead.

Corrosion of Conformity became staples at Salt Lake punk shows, playing $5 gigs at spots like the Speedway Cafe or Alice’s. They were always a great live act and made regular stops in town. The last time I saw them was early 2001 at “The Palladium” in Worcester, Massachusetts. Having seen their name on many tour rosters from 2001 until now, I was thrilled when they were announced as the openers for Alice Cooper and Judas Priest.

Corrosion of Conformity took the stage, with as much confidence as any veterans could have taken their space on such a magnificent bill. I was getting my passes situated, so I missed the first 2 songs in the photo pit.
Opening with “Bottom Feeder” from the album “Deliverance”, it was straight out of their mid-90s playbook, slow, methodical, it just set the mood for their set (When they picked up their fusion jazz drummer). This is one of those songs that has time changes, and winds around, and dare I say it was “Jazz” drumming, the song kicked off a great mood for everyone, be it punk, or metal, or suddenly jazz, everyone was grooving, even I was from the back of the amphitheater.

They gave us “King of the Rotten” again from their powerhouse mid-’90s work, while I was walking down to get to the pit. I got into the pit for a few shots at the tail end of “Seven Days”, noting that most of this set so far was from their apocalyptic phase through the 90s. They cranked out “Vote With A Bullet” , “Who’s Got the Fire”, and then “Albatross”, which was a bit of a surprise for this set; they haven’t played that one much over the last 2 years.

They closed out “Clean My Wounds” again, not from the hardcore 80’s material, but I have to say, they still have it, mixing sounds around since 1982. Chalking up another flawless CoC gig, I was enjoying the night so far.

Now for the theatrics, ALICE COOPER
My story with Alice Cooper is as follows: I saw some great video footage in the mid-80s, and I really loved his albums “DaDa” and the album “Alice Cooper Goes to Hell,” which made me just like the guy, and I never took him seriously after that. My ultrareligious Mormon cousin swore to me up and down that Alice’s father was an LDS leader in Roy, Utah, though no one could verify it; it was the stuff of “Legend” to Mormon Rock & Roll fans. I later found out that there was a SHRED of truth to this by 6 degrees of separation. Alice’s (nee Vincent Furnier) Great Great Great Grandfather was one of the great leaders of the “Bickertonite” spinoff sect of the original Mormon Church, and his family has remained strong in that faith until Alice became a teenager obsessed with music in Detroit. Needless to say, Alice Cooper has a huge fanbase in Utah for some of the reasons stated above. Mostly, cause he makes great music with vaudevillian horror musical play theatrics. And he just totally rocks.

Alice began his theatrics by complete accident. He was playing a very early gig in Detroit (almost a neighbor to our chief Editor, Ken) and somehow a chicken ended up on the stage. Alice had NO idea about chickens, and that they couldn’t fly. He kicked the poor bird out into the audience, and the audience thought it was part of the show, so they tore the chicken apart. The media had a complete frenzy, and Alice was devastated about what it was doing to his image. Frank Zappa was his mentor, and told Alice over a phone call, “DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS!!!! Let the story work its magic.” So Alice said nothing, and people started coming to his shows for the blood and guts. Alice Cooper’s sage persona was solidified as he borrowed ideas from the campy horror films we all grew up watching.

With a stage setup that I will leave you to enjoy in the photos, the intro track “Alice’s Attic played, and they came out and opened with a Judy Collins cover “Hello, Hooray” as an intro and the band took the stage. A bassist that looks like Lemmy from Motorhead, and on guitar the bad ass Nita Strauss (of Iron Maidens fame), and another guitarist that looked like Stevie Ray Vaughn. The concert actually started out like a play, with a well-built set and great lighting. Alice fired off with “Who Do You Think We Are”, walking around in a top hat and a long cane. He made “Spark in the Dark” so theatrical, I was in sheer awe of being so close to someone who has been doing this kind of thing for 50 years (He is 77 now BTW). So many of the songs at first blended together. The first full-length one was “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, as he walked around, waiving a foil (dueling sword), and long tuxedo jacket. Alice thanked everyone for coming and said something about sharing a nightmare together.

I got back to my seat, and Alice rocked his way through “House of Fire”, and a campy fun “I’m Eighteen”. They gave us the “Wayne’s World” fave “Feed My Frankenstein”, but through this performance, they had a faux killing of an annoying
photographer (wasn’t me this time) where Alice impaled this guy with a lance. It was impressive theatrics, and still singing away. He sang “Dirty Diamonds,” and his voice was, well, smooth, not as raspy as I am used to it. This is going to sound weird, yes, Alice was still singing his high-pitched, sinister vocals, but his voice sounds like it has aged, and aged well. It just seemed weird to hear his vocals sounding like this. Like a “mature” version of Alice. He was singing and sounding like he LOVED what he was singing, but still sounding a thousand times better than most guys his age, still trying to sing. Alice Cooper has clearly taken care of his voice.
In the middle of the set, we were treated to an amazing guitar solo from Nita Straus, seeing a badass woman out there playing rocking guitar is a total thrill, I am being honest, but when she is doing it cause she is in the band of such a legend takes everything just a few notches cooler.

Through Alice being put in a straitjacket, and wearing it through several songs, getting electrocuted, whipped, and all kinds of methods of abuse and torture. Somehow it flowed into him stabbing a woman (Who was kind of burlesque dancing) during the song “Cold Ethyl” and fake blood spurting everywhere, then she in turn comes back and puts Alice’s head in a guillotine, and drops the blade. (Fair is fair, right?) The guillotine was so iconic over the years, it was all just awesome to see this done on stage.
Alice then played a song I wasn’t expecting to hear, he paid tribute to women, just to women in general, how they put up with men, even when they shouldn’t, with the song “Only Women Bleed”. I have always loved this song, and he used it to bring the tone down for a while; it somehow seemed to fit perfectly in this part of the show.

As the set was starting to wind down, they started playing “Second Coming”, then it seamlessly went into “Going Home” from the colossal classic album “Alice Cooper Goes To Hell”. Then it was time for the one song we were all waiting for, “School’s Out”, with a small clip from “Another Brick in the Wall” to make the introductions of the band members. It was time to dance along and laugh with Alice and the band, and 15k other fans in the cold. This whole set, theatrics and all, gives credit to the creativity of Alice Cooper, and his art/production people; they gave us an entertaining show we would never forget.
When the song was over, and we finished applauding, Alice Cooper took his curtain call with the band, all waving and cheering us on. Alice gave one final line, “Thank you so much for coming, AND, may all your nightmares…… COME TRUE!!!!!” with all of the fanfare and confetti blasting everywhere.

Looking back on so much of the dark horror music we love, so much was inspired by Alice Cooper; every industrial gig I go to with blood, every goth gig with skulls, decapitations, whatever to stir the macabre, we all have one guy to thank for it; he showed the bands we love today how it’s done.