Posted by On July 15th, 2023 I drove myself to St. John’s through an uncharacteristically gorgeous Newfoundland Saturday afternoon. I was travelling solo and I spent the hour-long drive revelling in the beautiful scenery available from the highway between here and there, familiar as it is. I was headed into Town to see a free show courtesy of a series called Music @, some unknown entity who presented free concert-in-the-park shows all over St. John’s throughout the summer (Music @ Harbourside Park, Music @ Bowring Park, etcetera). This was my first time seeing a Music @ concert, which in this case would be featuring Big Space playing in Bannerman Park.
Big Space was my new favourite local band, a monstrously talented instrumental improvisational prog-jazz trio who had released their debut album just a week before in an under-attended record-release show at the Black Sheep up on George Street. When I arrived at Bannerman Park I headed straight to a large, conspicuous gazebo near the bathroom kiosks and was surprised to find the stage empty, save one slumbering “outdoorsman” who was surrounded by empty cans of Molson Canadian.
Well, this can’t be it. I kept walking.
And lo, around the side of the bathrooms beyond a line of trees I found the band setting up underneath a small makeshift shelter while a soundman ran around running mic cables and such. Perfect! The weather was so unseasonably seasonal that I forced myself into a tract of shade a bit off to the left. I sat on the grass and surveyed the crowd of a dozen or so, all of which had found shady spots of their own. By the end of the show the crowd wouldn’t swell past thirty, which is a shame.
Shortly before the music started my friend Jason showed up with his wife. Jason and I play in a band together and he’s a heck of a bass player. He had joined me at the Big Space record release party the week before where he had been understandably impressed with the band. I was happy to see him make the effort to see them again.
Soon an MC took the mic and introduced the opening act, a young fiddler named Olive Eve Fortune who filled her fifteen-minute slot with a handful of traditional jigs and reels. This seemed to be one of her first gigs and I thought it was quite awesome of these Music @ people to give kids like Olive an opportunity for some real live gig experience. Good on ‘em. Good on Olive.
And then Big Space! I tell you, all three players are just so shockingly good…their shows can’t help but to start off with a sonic suckerpunch of joy as super-solid chops instantly coalesce into heart-bursting grooves. And it isn’t just me…Jason gets it too. As usual they began their set with a straight-up improv, and as usual I was hooked in from the get go. Then it was stuff from their newly released album, all material that I’d heard the week before and all of it played with a freshness that made it feel brand new again. My gawd Big Space is a such a good band.
I was already familiar with the self-promotional void that shrouds Big Space and helps to keep them so relentlessly secret, so I wasn’t at all surprised that they didn’t once mention their new album nor did they bring any copies to sell.
Ah well, what do I care? I already have a copy.
(Just kidding: I care a lot. Aside from just generally wanting the world to hear as much good music as possible, I also hope that Big Space will start drawing bigger crowds so that they will make more records, play more shows, and keep on gigging together for a long, long time.)
Todd Man Out 