Mr. Big/Extreme

[CureTheSane]

06/06/2018
The Forum, Melbourne, Australia

This show started well and poorly for me.
Firstly, a friend is working on the remodel of the Forum and he manged to get my wife and I a booth and drink cards etc, which was very cool as the other option was general admission amongst 2500 other people, and while I am tall enough, my wife is average height and gets blocked a lot from seeing much.

Unfortunately, there was a stoopid rugby state of origin game on in Melbourne. Weird because it was NSW vs Qld playing (two different states) but this made finding a car park bloody hard.

We ended up walking 20 mins to the venue and arrived at 7:50. Doors opened at 7:00
Mr.big were already playing, No way I thought they'd be on before 8:00
Anyway, because we had a this booth privilege, we skipped the 200m queue and went straight in. Missed the first 2 songs but they are average for me anyway.
people outside would have missed 5 or 6 songs for sure.

Mr.Big were OK.
4 guys on stage.
It was like "yeah, here we are. We've been doing this for 40 years and this is just another show"
In the end their set was good. Many songs played weren't my faves but that happens.
Disappointed they didn't play Defying Gravity (the song).
great to see Gilbert and Sheehan do their thing. Gilbert sang pretty well. Nice tribute to Torpey.

Extreme were fucking killer.
Cherone was one of the best frontmen I've seen. He was a mix of Paul Stanley and Mick Jagger. In fact if he had the starman makeup on he would have looked just like Elder era Paul.
Nuno was on point.
One thing that became very obvious was how much of a drum driven band they are. This was a damn energetic drumming performance.
One of the best bits was that Nuno spoke to the crown as mucha s Gary did. Most bands only have the singer speak, but it really adds to the show when there are a couple of people who can talk.
Cherone was energetic as hell, jumping around, vogueing etc.
Set list was pretty good. Happy they played Tragic Comic.
At the end of the show they spent 5 minutes hugging and shaking hands with the front of the crowd.
Little things like this add to the show.

I'd say that comparing all shows I've seen that have been fairly basic - no props, just 4 guys with speakers and lights, Extreme would be the best I've seen

Set Lists

Mr. Big 
Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)
Undertow
Alive and Kickin'
Just Take My Heart
Take Cover (Dedicated to Pat Torpey)
Green Tinted Sixties Mind
Everybody Needs a Little Trouble
Price You Gotta Pay
Guitar Solo
Open Your Eyes
Wild World
Rock & Roll Over
Around the World
Bass Solo
Addicted to That Rush
To Be With You
Colorado Bulldog

Extreme
It ('s a Monster)
Li'l Jack Horny
Get the Funk Out
Rest in Peace
Hip Today
Play with Me
Tragic Comic
Hole Hearted
Midnight Express
Cupid's Dead
Am I Ever Gonna Change
Take Us Alive
More Than Words
Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee
Decadence Dance
 

[Crazysam]

Sounds like a great night outside of the parking hassles.  Thanks for sharing the photos.  I saw both bands years ago.  Even back then Mr. Big didn't do much moving around, but I remember them sounding good.  Extreme is one of my favorite bands to see live.  The first time I saw them was an all ages show at a club (Billy's Old Mill in Milwaukee) promoting their first album.  They put on a high energy performance and I recall my friends and I were so impressed that we each bought their cd the next day.   

[shamus]

How'd you like Midnight Express live? Nuno is a god!! I saw their Porno 25th anniversary tour at a club in Minneapolis and they were over the top amazing!!

 

Mr Big is on my bucket list. I'll settle for the Eric Martin Band though. Love his voice and honestly feel he is what separates that band from others.

[CureTheSane]

Yeah Midnight Express was pretty awesome.

Eric Martin's voice was in top shape, and so was Gary Cherone's. He made a couple of point of showing it off.

Missed a few notes, but nothing more than anyone else would live.

[Geoff]

How and where do you find out about bands touring in Australia? I'm missing them like it's a sport at the moment. My mate, who was a mad Mr Big fans day when we used to hang out back in the day, sent me a message on Sunday afternoon about this one. First I/we heard of it.

Anyway, I don't like either of these bands too much but would have liked to check it out if they were here. Mr Big setlist seems pretty decent actually. I don't know (or care to know) most the Extreme setlist, but I guess it would have been interesting to see.

Thanks for the write-up and pics.  

[CureTheSane]

I subscribe to Ticketmaster, Tiketek and Last tix.

Emails are usually pretty average, but they do mention these bands when they announce tours.

Melbourne Mr.Big/Extreme show was sold out.

So was Steel Panther and Europe had around 3 or 4 back rows left, so they seem to be doing ok I guess.

HArdcore Superstar are out soon, but I think you're away the same time as me so will miss it.

Gene Simmons was supposed to tour April I think, but postponed (maybe due to ticket sales) and is coming November now I think, and bringing Ace Frehley with him. Saw Ace with Alice Cooper and he was average. Typical Ace, looks like he really didn't give too much of a fuck.

Can' think of any others. LA Guns toured a month or so ago, but I think it clashed with Europe from memory.

[martinsane]

And how was the VIP box treatment?

 

What is the line up for Extreme? Is the original 4?

[KarpetRydOFunk]

6 hours ago, martinsane said:

And how was the VIP box treatment?

 

What is the line up for Extreme? Is the original 4?

No, Kevin Figueiredo is their current drummer. 

[CureTheSane]

18 hours ago, martinsane said:

And how was the VIP box treatment?

 

What is the line up for Extreme? Is the original 4?

VIP box was great.
Front and centre.
Shame I had already purchased tickets as the deal with the box included the ticket price, so I walked in with 2 tickets that were unused
But it was a last minute thing and had I relied on the box being available I know it wouldn't have been and I would have missed out all together.

Greater for my wife as she was able to clearly see the whole show. Different story on the floor with 2000 other tall sweaty drunk people.

The drummer was great. Other than him, the other 3 were original.
Same with Mr. Big. Their current drummer was drumming with Pat when he was sick (2 drummers on stage at the same time) up until he passed away and then took over full time.

A really nice story from all aspects.

Joe Elliott recently had a sook about ACDC and Brian Johnson and how he was dumped when he got the hearing issue.

Compared them to Def Lep who stuck with Rick after he lost his arm.
Fair call, and Mr. Big are more in line with Def Lep that most other bands I guess...

[phaffas]

I  saw both these bands in Sydney and i am actually going to go the other way and say i preferred Mr Big - not even sure why! I think they were just consistent through the gig, whereas Extreme just burst onto the stage and were awesome, but then at some points the show just plodded along. I was really impressed by the amount of sound and quality of the backing vocals/harmonies from both bands - singing things on the albums i didnt think they do.

The lamest part of the night was when Extreme did this big talk about learning an Australian song just for the tour and everyone will love it....and sing along etc..... and not one person in the crowd knew it. Still dont know it. Very awkward 4mins. Gary Cherone was pumping though.

Highlight of the night for me.... possibly just listening to Paul Gilbert play. Amazing.

[CureTheSane]

Yeah, the set list and shtick for the shows is the same for this tour.
Even when Pat came out with the setlist and said "we don't have time for this", before they hit Decadance Dance

Both bands did sound great, which was nice and given that they are all 60 or so.

[shamus]

Jealous.