Reviewed by Paul H Birch

KK’s Steel Mill is heaving. I’ve never seen it so packed. There was a queue going round the block, and I presume there still is as there’s  constant flow of people coming through the doors and it’s only 7.30ish. In need of a drink we head for the bar, the one nearest the gents loos, thinking to kill two birds with one stone. As a haughty breeze of feedback calls out to my left ear, and I heard the words “Are you ready to rock and roll?” I turn as the familiar muscular denim-clad bulk of Jared James Nichols leans into his amp on a stage far away. Two places from a pint, as the familiar guitar strains of ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’ take shape we decide to forego taking a leak, thereafter slowly edging our way to a more respectable rear view. Did I say it was packed?

It’s a Friday and everyone’s in a party mood. It’s not just a Black Country posse, there are various Midlands accents here; words and phrases being uttered only the cognoscenti understand, but probably all sound the same gibberish to the guys chatting away in what I presume to be Japanese wearing their time-worn Mr Big T-shirts – Methinks they’ve travelled far. But more of that band later, up on stage Nichols and his rhythm section are making one hell of a noise. The first number’s familiar to me but I’ve only just realised quite how cheeky-but-tortured melody line of the first number seems to mock the frustrations espouses in his lyrics, over what’s a particularly raw and rugged voiced tonight. The guitarist’s also had a haircut, it may only mean it’s now above his shoulders but in an industry where presentation can be everything these things need documenting.

‘Down The Drain’ follows and while there’s a heady stirring wall-of-sound in its buildup, there are less-heavy psychedelics  going on, and come the chorus there’s real brute force. Guitar feeding backing haughtily he begins to solo repeated licks hastening into a wailing blues rock crush as ‘Hard wired’ pummels. How familiar the crowd is with his music might be disputed, after all Mr Nicholl’s put in some hard ground work over here for a good, few years now, what’s certain is they’re getting off on his performance tonight, not just cheering when a song finishes, but when a solo takes their collective fancy too.

‘Threw Me To The Wolves’ is next, a well-crafted arrangement that bodes well for the future, while ‘Skin ‘N Bone’ is raw, its sense-of-psychedelia again just barely present, concluding as it does with his guitar playing incorporating harmonics between wilder slashed licks, then turning on a penny we get ‘Bad Roots’ performed with terse urgency by the trio, the drummer particularly kicking this one into shape. ‘Good Time Girl’ owes a debt to Warrant’s Cherry Pie but is performed like early Montrose with a hard-on, before they break away instrumentally.

He tells us he really wants to keep playing, but he’s got one more number before we can join him for a beer at the merchandise stand. His playing’s demonstrated an unfamiliar Hendrix influence tonight and it’s present in the echoed intro that greets a cover of ‘War Pigs’, the crowd singing along to every word of the anthem birthed on their soil, with particular gusto give to the “Oh, Lord, Yeah!” lines. Standing centre stage, vibrato licks clustering towards a crescendo, a series of power-kegged musical explosions leave listeners suitably wasted.

There are an awful lot of couples here tonight. Practically a lifetime ago when Mr Big toured the UK just as ‘To Be With You’ was storming the UK’s singles charts, my better-half spent the night standing on my feet trying to get a look at the band amid an even more packed-in audience, but at a smaller venue, the but recently reopened Digbeth Civic Hall, in Birmingham. We may have seen a few guitar machine heads, Billy Sheehan’s blond hair when he shook his head and it went up, and all of Eric Martin when he sat to one side during a solo section. Oh, how we laughed. Well, in the years after. Tonight, on what they’re stating is a farewell tour the band seem bigger than ever over here in the UK. Many of the females among the couples retain their former rock chick stance, as does those still (or now) wild, free and single. That many of them have subtly turned into yummy-mummies is also apparent, not least because of the number of kids here tonight. In fact, there’s a variable age range throughout. Never let them tell you rock is dead; it is here tonight.

The Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ comes over the PA as red light cast down over the stage, a massive Mr. Big logo encompassing the back screen, and as we get to “Hey. Ho, let’s go…” a guitar shreds and figures slowly take shape, first behind the drumkit.

Founding member and drummer Pat Torpey (who named the band) passed away from complications related to Parkinson’s disease in 2018.  Matt Starr appearing with the band live when Torpey was unable to, and now that place has been taken by Nick D’Virgilio, a drummer familiar to progressive rock audiences for his involvement with Big Big Train, Spock’s Beard and Genesis among others. Tonight, he’ll not overcomplicate things, and not play a solo (other standard 70s showmanship routines will be present however, but we’ll get to those several paragraphs hence), but will prove an important ingredient to the overall sound and moral, adding backing vocals, and getting the crowd to applaud when someone else concludes a solo. “Wow!” Eric Martin calls out on hearing the audience’s reception to them simply turning up. And they all look in rather good nick, for whatever middle-age they are: Martin’s come casual, a t-shirt worn under a red and black checked shirt, the guys either side of him are suited and booted; Billy Sheehan’s wearing a black leather sports jacket, his hair tied back, and his custom blue bass, across the stage Paul Gilbert looks like the much cooler  younger brother of Elvis Costello rather than the rock fiend of yesteryear – Sporting glasses, a far east-coiffured hairstyle, and a sharp black suit, with tie – Does he not expect things to get a little hot in here, tonight? All this I’m thinking as they’re buzzing on ‘Addicted To That Rush’

It’s only then, I see a guy standing behind a microphone stand, to the left of D’Virgilio drum riser. His name’s Michele Luppi, Italian, he’s listed as a co-vocalist on the internet, played a similar role with Whitsnake, but possibly offstage. My natural presumption’s s that Martin can no longer hit the high notes, but that’s not the case, not as simplistic and all power to them for having him stand on, not off stage. Indeed, the group vocals tonight are what will truly stand out, but that doesn’t stop Gilbert and Sheehan partnering each other amid super speed runs up and down their respective instruments necks for those look-at-us moments. Brief greetings made, they trundle back from the power surge, giving us the steady almost U2-chiming rock of ‘Take Cover’ and blues rocking ‘‘Price You Gotta Pay’, wherein Sheehan produces a harmonica but plays it only briefly, whereas Gilbert shreds his guitar to more lengthy exposition.

Hereafter, we get the Lean Into It album in its entirety. Once could question what tracks do they leave off on any other tour, but it’s the album that broke them, gave them a worldwide reputation, and possibly ended being both gift and curse. Amps turned back up to 11, ‘Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)’ has the audience joining in the chorus with gusto – To be honest no matter where I’m stood people are singing practically every word to every song tonight, just not as loud until the big hits. Next up, ‘Alive and Kickin’’ relates hearing the joys of hearing your favourite rock hits on the radio, as you’re cruising in your automobile, and all these decades later it’s something we in the UK can actually relate to also. It’s a sensuous backseat driven beat that’s delivered, and while there’s the obvious veneer of sound from the time it was crafted, here’s also where their massive Humble Pie influences begin to shine through.

But nothing grabs a crowd like a hit, and the shimmering curvy dancing arpeggios that lead as introduction to ‘Green-Tinted Sixties Mind’ cause a huge roar of approval, and curiously for such a pop song, many a bonce, if not headbanging, then surely nods in time. It’s worth noting how guitarist Paul Gilbert’s sound has changed; less grit and grind, more effects, added fusion elements, technically even better and fortunately not letting that get in the way of melody. Green spotlights shift over the crowd’s faces, whose expressions are often ones of rapture.

‘CDFF-Lucky This Time’ is next and I am well impressed with the most amazing pitch-perfect live a Cappello harmonies that open this number. I can’t recall the guys standing either side of Martin ever doing anything of much vocal note previously, but Sheehan in particular makes himself heard, and not just because he’s now sporting a twin neck bass guitar (both four-stringer by the look of the machine heads from my distanced view). Overall, there’s a deeper sound to the number but with six string nuances high on melody, Martin soul-pitching here and wrapping his larynx around some particularly high notes.

Gilbert’s guitar squeaks, chucks out a surplus of riffs, homes in on a more rhythmic blues grind, integrates the merest hint of jazz, and they all ply in as if they’re opting toward some heavy fusion rock, but settle for the more familiar in the heavy blues thud of ‘Voodoo Kiss’ albeit there are some complex rhythms, extended lines and vocals going on. It’s followed, in more earnest fashion by ‘Never Say Never’, some fine harmony backing vocals with Martin imploring with passion over the top.  Time for some romance, echoed arpeggios and some classical touches pitch out from an effects riven guitar and we’re into the ballad ‘Just Take My Heart’, the only thing spoiling it being the congregation about me singing every syllable passionately, and far too out-of-tune.

I don’t quite catch what Martin’s saying about the next song due, the general impression is it’s a lesser-known track, but one they like to play. It turns out to be my favourite by the band, ‘My Kinda Woman’ – It opens with a long fiery solo that crescendos in torturous shriek and a frenzied run across the fretboard, into what’s a powerful atmospheric rock number full of dynamics, coarser pitched lyrics than their norm being a tale of sexual desire. Martin introduces “the professor” as Gilbert sings into his mic eliciting wiry blues phrases on guitar, drums punctuate and the singer himself screams out.  This then is ‘A Little Too Loose’ to be followed by ‘Road to Ruin’ where yet again one’s impressed by the mass vocals, the pairing the most significant examples of their classic Humble Pie influences.

Band introductions are made for all on stage, Gilbert and Martin are sporting acoustic guitars, Sheehan’s back on a single bass (though he may have changed back to that a few numbers gone), and we’re informed that 35 years have passed and as every which way you look mobile phones go up, held by gruff middle-aged men. We get the inevitable ‘To Be With You’, the audience all-but drowning out the band, save for the last verse where bass and drums kick in. Martin dispenses with his acoustic as they play their semi-hit cover of Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’, and those harmonies are delightful while there’s some tasteful understated growling from Sheehan’s bass.

An extensive guitar solo follows. To be frank, while I am amazed by Gilbert’s ability to effortlessly move the length of his guitar with constant imaginative lines, it goes on too long. If only because songs are this band’s strength, not that they’re top notch musicians, which no-one can dispute. It’s followed by ‘Colorado Bulldog’, a cluster-buck of extended shredding rock lines counterpointed by cool and snazzy jazz rhythms, yet somehow I can already see where this is leading and it does as Sheehan takes his own lengthy solo – Sheehan’s playing tonight has been commendable, he’s played the song adding complex textures without gratuitous grandstanding, but soloing that all comes to the fore, whereas he could have played a dazzling melody with intricacies along the way, we tend to get highly impressive speedy trills and righthanded smashes effecting musical booms, before shifting into ‘Shy Boy’ the number he wrote for Talas, but most of us became more familiar with during his time with the Dave Lee Roth Band.

What set Mr Big apart from the big hair bands of the 80s was that we knew they could play their instruments but tended to rein them in for the sake of a good song. Live, they fall back on that 70s penchant for long solos. That might’ve worked in stadiums where the dope smoke meant everyone was already high, these days far less so. As proof of this, they cover Humble Pie’s ‘30 Days in the Hole’, from the Smokin’ album, where that band learnt to put aside their own excesses and score their biggest hit.  They deliver a superb concise rendition of the number that feels contemporary despite its vintage.

Next up, in an act of intended good humour they swap instruments: Martin on bass, D’Virgilio on guitar, Gilbert on drums and Sheehan on lead vocals. ‘Good Lovin’’ is the number and it’s a power pop shuffle performed well, but tends to lower the audience’s adrenalin rush. Fortunately, they redeem themselves with their final number, an empirical reading of The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’ – Sheehan’s dextrous bass powerfully performing the synthesiser’s role, Gilbert cranking out those power chords and taking on the violin solo on guitar, while Martin gives it his all. That final lasting memory is what one needs to take from all this, shorn as we are of actual encores.

A great band, performing their greatest hits, and now even better musicians, despite some very minor excesses. Is it truly their last curtain call? There’s apparently a new album in development. Time will tell.