Mr. Big - Wolverhampton Review

This week is rather a crazy one gig-wise. After one trip to the Midlands earlier in the week to catch Judas Priest, Saxon, and Uriah Heep in Birmingham on Tuesday; I headed home for one working day before returning to the Midlands, this time Wolverhampton, for a double bill of live rock. In recent years, Wolverhampton has become a real hot-bed of live music again. This followed a few fallow years, with the 'temporary' closure of the Civic Hall complex for refurbishment essentially leaving the city without a decent music venue. The Civic Hall has now re-opened, though, and the relatively new KK's Steel Mill has also become a go-to venue in the city for rock and metal bands. I first went to the venue in 2019, when it was still fairly new I think, and I have returned a number of times since. It has become one of my favourite venues in the country. Every show I have attended there has had a great atmosphere and a strong turnout; and the sound system is great - meaning that every band sounds their best when playing in Wolverhampton. Despite having no connection to the city, either, I always enjoy visiting Wolverhampton. It retains its honest, working class core which a lot of cities have lost over the years due to various gentrification and redevelopment projects - with Wolverhampton a bit of a relic of the industrial Midlands of the past. There are more glamourous places to go, but I tend to visit a handful of times a year now - and it has become one of my favourite gigging destinations in general. As such, tying two gigs in the city together made for a relatively lengthy trip away, for me. My next post here will discuss The Gaslight Anthem and my first ever visit the main Civic Hall - but here I will talk about last night's trip to the Steel Mill to catch the American hard rockers Mr. Big. Mr. Big are winding down, and are currently on their lengthy farewell tour. Following the death of their founding drummer Pat Torpey in 2018, and the finishing up of the touring commitments booked at the time, it did seem like Mr. Big were done. I saw what could have ended up being the band's last show at the 2018 iteration of Bloodstock Open Air, and interviews with frontman Eric Martin suggested that maybe Mr. Big were no more. Clearly not wanting to end in such a low key manner, though, a few years later the band announced The Big Finish Tour - a lengthy farewell tour taking in much of the world which will allow the band to bow out on a high and also feature full performances of their 1991 best-selling album Lean into It. The tour also marks a change in the band's line-up, as drummer Matt Starr, who had been playing live with the band since Torpey's Parkinson's diagnosis in 2014, was not brought back this time - with Big Big Train and former Spock's Beard drummer Nick D'Virgilio instead stepping into Torpey's shoes. The prog drummer's looser feel certainly seems a better fit for Mr. Big's quirky sound than the more traditional hard rock grit of Starr. Mr. Big have toured the UK fairly often over the years but, apart from the aforementioned Bloodstock set, this was my first time seeing them properly - so it was a date on the calendar which I was really looking forward it.

The show was popular and drew a big crowd, but whilst the crowd was gathering the evening's sole support act Jared James Nichols did his thing for around 45 minutes. The bluesy singer and guitarist was someone I had been familiar with in name-only for years, but I had never previously checked him out or seen him live. I was not sure what to expect, but I ended up enjoying his set quite a bit - with his muscular guitar playing and gritty voice making for an enjoyable set. His sound is certainly at the rock end of blues rock and, despite a few slower moments, the set was one which very much roared out of the venue's PA. It is hard to know exactly who to compare Nichols to, but there were moments which reminded me of the bluesy end of Ted Nugent's classic 1970s output. He certainly had the riffing and attitude to match Nugent's energy, but there was generally more of a blues finesse throughout. Nichols' USP is the fact that he never plays with a plectrum. This is not necessary unusual in a more delicate guitar playing context, but it is quite rare for someone as hard rocking and riffy as Nichols - and it was impressive to watch him work. As such, then, the best parts of the set were Nichols' guitar explosions. All of his songs featured lengthy and dynamic guitar solos which set the Steel Mill alight - and his tight rhythm section backing gave the set plenty of punch. As is sometimes the case with bluesy power-trios, though, I did not always think that the songwriting was a tight as it could have been. I do not tend to find this sort of music to be that hooky, and I do not tend to listen to such acts at home that often, as generally as the songs are written to be vehicles for high-octane guitar playing rather than tight songs in their own right. That being said, though, some of Nichols' songs did seem a bit tighter than some of his peers' efforts - but there were some which definitely focused on guitar pyrotechnics over hooks. This should take nothing away from the impressive nature of Nichols' set, though. Whilst his music is not wholly my thing, he is certainly a great guitar player and I enjoyed seeing him and his unique guitar playing style deliver such a strong set. For the reasons mentioned I cannot see myself really listening to him much in my own time, but as a live act, particularly during a relatively tight 45 minutes set, Nichols was a lot of fun. The crowd generally seemed to enjoy his set quite a bit, too, and he warmed up those gathered for Mr. Big nicely. Given the West Midlands location, too, he ended his set with a rollocking and bluesy version of Black Sabbath's War Pigs - which conjured up some singing along as Nichols' 45 minutes came to a close.

By the time 9pm rolled around it was time for Mr. Big - and for the next two hours the Steel Mill crowd enjoyed a set of quirky, bluesy, melodic rock from some of the best musicians in the business. This was a slightly different show from the norm by the band, too, as they were augmented by Whitesnake's keyboard player Michele Luppi - who added some additional vocals throughout. Since the start of the band's European tour, Martin has been suffering with throat issues - so he brought Luppi along to help him out somewhat. Martin still sang the whole set, but Luppi often harmonised with him and took over during some of the bigger choruses. I had therefore expected Martin's voice to sound worse than it did, although he definitely struggled during some of the songs, but he did his best and sounded fairly close to his usual self in spots. Having Luppi there likely allowed him to pull back somewhat, though, and I do not think that the show suffered in any way due to this make-shift arrangement. No songs were cut as a result, either, and the band gave it their all for two hours. Everything played came from their first four albums, with a few choice covers thrown in at the end which harked back to the sort of sets the band played during their initial years. When the lights went down a cacophony of notes from guitarist Paul Gilbert and bassist Billy Sheehan heralded the start of Addicted to That Rush - with the anthemic rocker kicking off the set in fine fashion. Not wanting to take anything away from Martin, a big part of Mr. Big's appeal has always been the musical interplay between Gilbert and Sheehan. They are both masters of their craft, and the set was propelled by the former's soloing and the latter's impressive grooves and occasional lead lines. The riffy Price You Gotta Pay really showcased this, but before that a subtle drum groove from D'Virgilio led the smoother Take Cover - a piece which showcased the band's occasional AOR-esque approach. These first three songs got the show off to a fine start, setting the tone nicely, but it was arguably the full performance of Lean into It which was the real meat on the bone. Whilst some of the album's songs are setlist staples, it also contains a few which have not been played live that often over the years - so it was a great opportunity for some deep cuts. The first three tracks played, though, are setlist staples, with the groovy Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song) kicking off this portion of the show - with Gilbert and Sheehan doing their traditional drill solos part way through. Alive and Kickin' and the poppier Green-Tinted Sixties Mind, with the excellent Gilbert intro, followed, keeping the hits coming. By this point, too, Martin seemed more at home after struggling a bit early on. His voice grew into the set I thought, and he sounded pretty powerful during the bluesy and boisterous Voodoo Kiss - one of the overall highlights of the set for me.

Mr. Big have always done ballads well, and another big highlight for me was a powerful rendition of Just Take My Heart. It was one that saw plenty of singing from those around me, and Martin gave it his all despite struggling a bit during the chorus. I really felt for him during the set. His voice has got rougher over the years anyway, but he was definitely not feeling his best. His effort was the same as ever, though, and I do think that Luppi helped him out quite a bit even if the latter was quite low in the mix overall. Another favourite of the night for me was a rare outing for My Kinda Woman - not a song I have ever paid that much attention to on the album, but live it came across well. It is not one that the band have played all that often over the years, so it is great that it is getting a chance to shine on this tour. I also enjoyed the slower, tougher blues of A Little Too Loose more live than I ever have on the album. The track is similar in style to the sort of material the band have done more recently, but it came across well live - with some more bluesy soloing from Gilbert rather than something more shred-happy as is more typical. It was, of course, left to the big hit ballad To Be with You to round out the full rendition of Lean into It - and the crowd helped Martin out by singing the choruses loudly. There was still quite a bit of the set to go at this point, although I think that the Lean into It portion of the night was the best. I enjoyed the rest of the night but it did get a bit bogged down with extended soloing for a while - which is to be expected but those moments did drag a bit. Another acoustic song in Wild World kicked the final portion of the set off, though, which saw plenty more singing - but this was following by a very lengthy solo from Gilbert which did outstay its welcome a bit I thought. I enjoyed the first few minutes - but a tighter solo spot would have been welcome, with the rollocking Colorado Bulldog getting things back on track. This was then followed by another lengthy solo, this time from Sheehan. Again, though it outstayed its welcome a bit, and I was glad when it came to an end and the band went back into Sheehan's past for a rendition of the old Talas track Shy Boy - which Sheehan also famously recorded with David Lee Roth. It was then left to three cover songs to finish things up, with the bluesy 30 Days in the Hole revisiting the version from the band's debut album and Good Lovin' seeing the band members swapping instruments - with Gilbert giving the drums a good pounding during the pop classic. The two hour set then came to an end with The Who's Baba O'Riley - a song which the band used to cover a lot in the early days. The hard rocking rendition of the anthemic piece ended the set on a high and it was greeted by huge cheers from the crowd - with the band lapping up the love following the song as they took their bows. The setlist was:

Addicted to That Rush

Take Cover

Price You Gotta Pay

Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)

Alive and Kickin'

Green-Tinted Sixties Mind

CDFF-Lucky This Time [Jeff Paris cover]

Voodoo Kiss

Never Say Never

Just Take My Heart

My Kinda Woman

A Little Too Loose

Road to Ruin

To Be with You

Wild World [Cat Stevens cover]

Guitar solo

Colorado Bulldog

Bass solo

Shy Boy [Talas cover]

30 Days in the Hole [Humble Pie cover]

Good Lovin' [The Olympics cover]

Baba O'Riley [The Who cover]

Given that Mr. Big are currently on their farewell tour I imagine that I will not get another opportunity to see them live, which is a shame, but this set contained a lot of the band's best work and the performance overall was strong despite Martin's vocal issues. As much as I enjoyed seeing them at Bloodstock, I am glad that I got to see them properly at least once - and with talk of perhaps one final album to come it seems there is still a little more life in the band yet.