In August and September 2023, Norwegian rock quintet Dim Gray toured the UK and Europe, playing 15 dates across nine countries as special guests of Big Big Train. Each show was recorded and now we have a six-song 28-minute-long EP which for me is a great introduction to the band as I have somehow missed out on both their albums to date. They were formed in Oslo by Oskar Holldorff (keyboards, vocals), Håkon Høiberg (guitar, vocals) and Tom Ian Klungland (drums), with Milad Amouzegar (guitar, keyboards) and Kristian Kvaksrud (bass) becoming permanent members in 2023 and that is the line-up on this set.
Given there are two songs from London, and then one each from Oslo, Stuttgart, Veruno and Pratteln, I am guessing they took the best performance of each song on the tour and there are no overdubs. I don’t know if this is the complete set they played each night or not, but unless they screwed the same song up every night, I would imagine this is it. Oskar Holldorff was on heavy duties given he was also a member of the headline band as well, but it obviously suited him as he has a wonderfully delicate touch on piano and somehow there is a lightness within the arrangements with loads of space. I can see why they were asked to play with BBT as in some ways they are quite similar, with some wonderfully clear and pure vocals from Holldorff, yet they are also different in that they layer their music more simply so there is a contrast as well. Given what I am hearing here it is not going to be long before the band are not playing supports, as this is a headline act in waiting if I have ever heard one. If, like me, you have not previously come across Dim Gray then I highly recommend this as it is soaring prog with hints of Neo and Symphonic which is a delight from beginning to end.
