Back in High School, when Spotify wasn’t a thing, discovering new music was not as simple as we have it now. I stumbled upon a metal podcast that was talking about an 80s metal band called Racer X. This was shred guitarist Paul Gilbert’s first band. I was immediately infatuated with his playing and introduced my friends to the band. My buddy Art and I scoured the web using AltaVista to learn everything we could about this phenomenal musician. This eventually led us to discovering Mr. Big, which was the more prolific band Gilbert played in. We took in every piece of media we could find for them, including some instructional guitar videos by Gilbert that literally blew our teenage brains. But, the one thing we never got to do was see them live. So, when Mr. Big announced their final tour labeled The Big Finish, there was no one I would rather see this show with than my oldest friend Art. We bought tickets the moment they went on sale and traveled down to San Juan Capistrano’s The Coach House to finally see our high school guitar hero in action.
Mr. Big decided to forgo any opener, and instead wanted to make their final farewell tour all about them for the fans. Meaning, we got two hours of just Mr. Big playing their biggest and best hits for the fans. They even played their second album Lean Into It in its entirety. But I could not have asked for a better way for the show to start than with one of their biggest shred songs, “Addicted to That Rush.” Bassist Billy Sheehan launches into a flurry of a fast paced bass intro, using all four fingers to fly across the strings, as Paul Gilbert meets his beat with a tapped guitar intro. Vocalist Eric Martin hits the stage and his high tenor voice just adds to the energy of the song. Sadly, original drummer Pat Torpey passed away in 2018, but Nick D’Virgilio is carrying his torch with pride behind the kit.
Billy Sheehan, Paul Gilbert, and Eric Martin are all performers through and through. They wanted to give fans more than just a goodbye rock show. They wanted to give us a performance worth remembering. Billy pulled out his double neck bass guitar for a few songs, letting both hands waltz across the multiple necks and strings, while still hamming it up to the crowd. Paul went the extra mile during the solo for “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy,” pulling out a drill with four picks glued to the end to shred faster than any man alive. Eric even came down into the crowd at one point, taking selfies with fans that could whip out their phones quick enough. We even got a 7 minute guitar solo from Gilbert that included aspects of his love for neoclassical guitar, shred guitar going back to his Racer X roots, and blending in the melodies that Mr. Big is renowned for. Sheehan even got his moment to shine during his solo when his wove melody and groove in between the blistering speed that his fingers can pluck his instrument.
One of the biggest highlights of the night was when everyone rotated their instruments. Eric Martin took over the bass, while Billy Sheehan handled vocal duty, Nick D’Virgilio was the man with the guitar, and Paul Gilbert banged away on the drums. This was for their cover of The Olympics song “Good Lovin’.” This was nothing but a pure joyous moment for all the fans to see the band just having fun on stage. Other songs that they played on the instruments they’re known for are “Take Cover,” “Price You Gotta Pay,” “Alive and Kickin’,” “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind,” “Voodoo Kiss,” “Just Take My Heart,” “My Kinda Woman,” “A Little Too Loose,” “Road to Ruin,” “To Be With You,” “Wild World,” “Colorado Bulldog,” “Shy boy,” “30 Days in the Hole,” and ending with a cover of the Who’s iconic “Baba O’Reilly.”
Mr. Big was able to combine shred guitar to create high intensity head banging classics, and then slow their rhythm down to craft one of the most beloved rock songs of the 90s with “To Be With You.” Art and I were just in awe the entire night. Sometimes you wait so long to experience something that you’ve only ever dreamed of, and it’s impossible for that thing to live up to your expectation. Mr. Big was not that. After two decades of being fans, and worshipping Paul Gilbert’s playing style, seeing them live took us right back to being in high school, discovering the band for the very first time, and being awestruck by the skills of these musicians.
MR. BIG – MAY 15 2024 – THE COACH HOUSE (SAN LUIS CAPISTRANO, CA)
