Lincs: Big Country in town for Steeltown 30th anniversary tour

The tour is to mark the 30th anniversary of the realse of their classic 1984 album Steeltown, which helped make the band a global success.

Formed in 1981, Big Country’s first big hit was Fields Of Fire (400 Miles) in 1982, whihc reached the top 10 in the UK and was followed by thwe album The Crossing.

In a Big Country was another hit single from the album, which sold more than a million copies in the UK.

Another top 10 single, Wonderland, came in 1984 before the release of the classic Steeltown, which went straight to the top of the UK album charts.

The album featured three UK top 30 hit singles, and received considerable critical acclaim in both the UK and the USA.

Big Country also contributed to the 1984 Band Aid charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? and toured with the likes of Queen and The Who’s Roger Daltrey.

The band’s third album was The Seer in 1986, which reached number two in the UK album charts.

The Seer also produced the band’s biggest UK hit single, Look Away, which reached number seven in Britain and topped the Irish charts.

Kate Bush also provided backing vocals on the album’s title track,.

The band’s last big hit album, was Peace in Our Time in 1988, which reached number nine on the UK album charts.

U2 guitarist The Edge said at the funeral of former Big Country frontman Stuart Adamson in 2001 that Big Country wrote the songs he wished U2 could write.

But the popularity of their 1980s fame and albums like Steeltown has not diminished and has grown with time to an extent that, 30 years on, Big Country and Steeltown remain hugely significant and a major live draw.

One of the support acts will be talented Retford musician, Emma Thorpe.

Asinger, songwriter, music promoter and recording studio manager, this will be one of the biggest gigs of her career.

As well as being singer songwriter in Retford group The Listeners, Emma is also manager of The Swanyard Recording Studios, and co-founder of Reverb Project, which promotes live concerts in Retford and helps encourage and develop song writing skills.

Emma will be performing tracks from The Listeners forthcoming album, which is currently being recorded.

The concert takes place next Thursday (20th November) at 8pm.

Tickets priced £18 in advance or £20 on the door are available on 01522 873894 or www.lincolndrillhall.com