Zaandam is a town in Holland where in 2002 Big Country held a Fan Gathering event where Mike Peters joined the band as lead vocalist for the final set of the event. The gig was held at De Kade, Zaandam (nr Amsterdam) Holland on 14th December 2002.

The Journey is a mission statement song. It encourages fans to give the new band a chance – to join them on their new adventure. The song stands for rebirth and rejuvenation – not just for the band, but for its many fans as well. It is a song born out of a series of very positive circumstances

Unfortunately, the start of the story that led to that song is the exact opposite. In order to have a rebirth something must first end, and everybody thought it would be the end of Big Country when their co-founder, lead guitarist, vocalist, front-man, and main songwriter Stuart Adamson died on 16 December 2001

The news shook band mates, friends, family, fans, and everybody who had known Adamson to the core. At that point, there was no way onward for Big Country. The band was over

The fact that Big Country eventually found a way to continue in spite of this was very much a gradual process, and far from an obvious or logical conclusion. It took a while before it even was a thought that people would entertain, and many things had to happen before it was even possible to consider the notion

The amazing thing is that these things did happen

Some level of closure came at a memorial concert in May 2002. In spite of its name, the event was less a memorial and more of a musical celebration of Stuart’s life by those who had been closest to him. It included a host of guest artists, including all members of Big Country performing in various constellations with the other musical guests. It was felt to be a very positive experience, especially in light of the massively negative thing that led to it

Even so, nobody expected to see what happen next: a full-fledged Big Country convention, featuring all surviving members alongside The Alarm’s Mike Peters and keyboardist Josh Phillips. It happened in Zaandam, the Netherlands, on 14 December 2002. This is very close to the one-year anniversary of Stuart’s death, which must have been on everybody’s mind that day

The notion of having anyone take Stuart Adamson’s place was simply unthinkable, yet at the same time, few people had an issue with Peters standing in on this occasion. The fact that the other Big Country guys played together again was too paramount a thing to even think of anything else, and Peters was frankly the one who helped make it happen. Big Country and The Alarm had been peers and musically likeminded in the 1980s, and had continued to forge bonds in the years since. Mike Peters was already more or less one of the Big Country family

At the time, most people were not aware of just how close Mike Peters had come to literally becoming part of that family – even while Adamson was still alive

In the latter half of the 1990s, Stuart moved to America to start anew. He was recently divorced and was looking for a new start, including new musical inspiration and possibly new collaborations. This factored into the band’s eventual split after their Final Fling tour in 2000. Big Country was over, but Bruce Watson revealed on the Big Country podcast The Great Divide that Stuart did not want his bandmates to feel stranded. In fact, he was happy for them to continue working as Big Country without him, and he even had his replacement in mind

Bruce said, “I’ll always remember when Stuart was still alive and had moved out to America. The band had split up at the time. Stuart was happy for Mike to join Big Country even at that time, because he was out doing his Raphaels stuff, and obviously there were other things happening in his life at the time. Mike actually came down and rehearsed with us. It wasn’t that it didn’t work out, but it was just obviously a strange time, and then Stuart passed away. We never did do anything until Mike came out with us to Zaandam to do the Big Country convention. But by then Mike had put The Alarm back together again anyway, and things were looking good for him. So nothing materialized then.”

The links between Mike Peters and Big Country already ran deep. In 1983, Adamson and Peters had joined U2 on stage at the Hammersmith Palais on 29 March 1983, on the last night of the UK War tour for a rendition of Knocking On Heavens Door. They all represented the new movement of bands that played big music that mattered, and there was a brotherhood of sorts even then

For Mike Peters, that evening is one he will never forget. “My first encounter with Stuart was a U2 show at the Hammersmith Palais,” he told Classic Rock. “Big Country were supporting and I had been invited on as a guest. In the weeks leading up to the show I’d taught U2 to play Knocking On Heaven’s Door – we used to play it in our set and Bono would come on and sing it with us. At Hammersmith, Bono introduced me to the stage and then he also invited Stuart Adamson up. Stuart was in the crowd, and he came over the heads of the crowd and over the barrier, and I helped pull him up and that was the first time I shook his hand. Bono introduced us then as being ‘the new breed’.” There definitely seemed to be a special feeling amongst the bands that were coming up at the time – Big Country, U2, The Alarm, Simple Minds, the Waterboys etc – bands with big-sounding songs about things that mattered

Peters’ and Big Country’s paths kept crossing over the years. When Big Country went out on their Final Fling tour, they ended up bringing along Peters as their opening act. An already good relationship between all of them would become a solid friendship at the end

This would come to the fore on the final Barrowlands show of the Final Fling tour, which was recorded for a DVD release. The first thing of note is that Stuart Adamson wore a Mike Peters t-shirt for this show. This was not a random thing, but a conscious tribute and even endorsement. Peters would also join the band onstage for the encores, performing a long and rousing version of Rocking In the Free World – a song that Peters had also done with The Alarm. Alas, this song is not included on the DVD release of that show, but a clip of the track from the unedited version of the show can be found on YouTube. You’ll see nothing but good vibes and mutual admiration and respect in that clip, as well as an amazing version of a great song


This brings us back to the Big Country convention at De Kade in Zaandam on 14 December 2002. Times were different and things had changed massively, but given all the back story between the band and Mike Peters, it clearly wasn’t much of a stretch for the band to think of Peters to perform with them at the Zaandam convention. He was probably the only choice the band would have considered at the time. Fortunately, Peters probably did not need much prodding

The fact that a Big Country convention was taking place at that time was not just unlikely, but downright bizarre. It was not even (but nearly) a year since Stuart’s death, and… a convention?!! They were always such positive events, celebrating the bond between the band and the fans. At that stage, it was still hard for the majority of fans to even contemplate listening to Big Country music. For me personally, that took nearly ten years. Was it even possible to celebrate anything at that stage? How to avoid it becoming a communal wake?

As it turned out, it became a different celebration – an acknowledgement of how much the band had meant and continued to mean to people. Crucially, in spite of initial scepticism, it also gave people a chance to communally grieve the loss of Stuart. It turned out that there was a real need amongst several fans to get together and process things, and as the band had stopped, the usual get-together’s were no longer happening. While it did not feel that way at the time, Zaandam showed the way forward

The event was the brainchild of the late Peter Hornberg, a local, devoted, and much missed Big Country fan. Who knows how he managed to pull it off, but he managed to get a yes from everybody and get them there for a day of music and – as much as they could muster – fun activities. There was a mastermind competition. Mark Brzezicki hosted a drumming clinic which also included a Q&A session. Tony Butler and Mike Peters played solo sets. The main attraction was a Big Country reunion of sorts, where Bruce Watson, Tony Butler, and Mark Brzezicki were joined by Mike Peters and Josh Phillips

Mike Peters Set List
Free Inside
Rain Down
The Normal Rules Do Not Apply
Close
The Stand*
Sixty Eight Guns*
*Joined by Bruce, Tony, Mark and Josh on these songs

All of this had come together if not at the last minute, at least with minimal time for rehearsal, but they had assembled a nine-track setlist and got through it just fine. Never mind that feelings were still raw. The show didn’t have to be perfect. The fact that they did it at all meant the world to people. It was a highly emotional experience

Big Country Set List
Eastworld
Driving To Damascas
Spirit of ’76
Fragile Thing
Never Take Your Place
Normal
Perfect World
Knockin’ On Heavens Door
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

The full video of the Big Country with Mike Peters performance can be viewed by clicking the image below


Fan Jeroen Zuiderhoek was in attendance on that day, and later commented “Obviously it was a very emotional evening for both the band and audience. We had so much fun and many tears were shed at the same time.”

But how did the band feel? Tony Butler revealed on the Big Country podcast The Great Divide that he had big reservations about attending. He said, “Initially, I refused to do anything. I didn’t see the point. I was very, very blinkered in my thoughts. Obviously, it was still very raw, and nothing made sense at all. And it wasn’t a very good time in life for me either on a personal level, because not only did I lose Stuart, but I also lost my mother and mother-in-law. Death befell me big-time and I had a lot of sorting out in my own head to do. So something like a convention just didn’t seem appropriate to me at all initially. But I got out of my selfish thoughts… probably through talking to Ian [Grant, manager]. He’s been my guiding light, and I listen to him. So by the time I got out there I stopped being sorry for myself and decided to give everybody else a chance to do what they needed to do in that kind of situation. I don’t have a lot of memories to be honest. I even had to be reminded that that’s where Mike Peters came on board as well, to do some singing. But I don’t remember much because my blinkers were down, and I was there because I was asked to be there. I was going to share the evening, and then get home again, to be honest.”

If people had hope that the convention signaled continued collaboration between the band members, they would be disappointed. Bruce Watson was asked if he thought Big Country would reform. His answer was a clear no, and he added that the band was “too emotionally and spiritually unrewarding for me right now.”

Details around the Zaandam event are taken from a larger article about The Journey from 2001 to the release of the first album of new material by Big Country in 2013 https://norselandsrock.com/the-journey-big-country/

(Page updated 20/10/2025)