Mr Big Time
I went to an amazing gig last night. Mr Big having reformed with Paul Gilbert back on guitar and touring on a new album "What if...". I listen to Richie Kotzen too and I think his "Into the Black" album is stand out. If you manage to find his album "Slow", give the song "Gold Digger" a listen too. It's a real heart-felt "fuck you". I'm super glad Paul's back though. Some things were just meant to be. Call it Voodoo, call it mucka lucka honey... ;) Gig in-joke successfully deployed.
So I was waiting in the queue and heard someone ask the guy next to me if he'd heard any Mr Big stuff at all. I thought "what a crazy question". Long story short: There's another band that were named Mr Big, that only old English people have heard of. I know what you're thinking. I live in England, but I'm not that old. Really, I'm not.
We all filter in, and wait for the show to start. ETA 8:15pm, no support act. Perfect. Unless the support act was going to be Van Halen with Eddie actually being able to play the damn thing properly, I wasn't interested. A dream come true, to see Pat Torpey on drums just laying down the law. What a legend, and one of the very few drummers I aspired to being as creative as, more than a decade ago when I used to play.
Mr Gilbert was as funny as ever. His feigning ignorance when described as a phenomenon by Eric was worthy of a. Well let's just say, I've paid money to see professional actors who weren't that good. It reminded me of his guitar lesson videos and the presence / presents joke.
The band are as tight as they ever were. I was truly scarified. They even brought the drills with them! I knew they were never going to play a Racer-X tune but I found myself slipping into a hyper-speed solo trance from time to time. There was even time to say your prayers because the Church of Eric Martin was open for blessing all believers. And it seeems as though Mr Brian May of Queen is a believer. Billy Sheehan on bass was deflintely the crowd favourite when it came to introducing the band. When I see him do his crazy solos with both hands and every single finger tapping away on the fret board, I can't help but think, "somebody buy this guy some Nord gear!". I'm sure Mic Michaeli will hook you up Billy.
If you're actually here for the photography, and you haven't read my blog before, all these images were shot with my Leica D-Lux 4 and processed with Silver Efex Pro. I loved the evening and the images I was seeing on my Leica EV. Might take a few more photos in the coming weeks. Before winter comes and ruins it all again. And a last thank you to the four guys on stage for coming to England to play. It's very much appreciated. Some US bands *cough*Aerosmith*cough* just can't be arsed. Do buy these non-touring band's albums anymore? No. Oh wait, when was the last time they released a decent album? Hrmmm. Speaking of decent albums Mr Big's reunion album "What if..." has at least 4 killer singles if you ask me. How you gonna top an album like "Lean Into It"? Keep trying ;)
