location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
date: 01.08.2018
This time Kino Šiška played host to famed American hard rockers Mr. Big, who had their biggest commercial successes in the early nineties with a handful of hits, among which »To Be With You« and »Just Take My Heart« ruled the radio stations of the day most often. It was shaping up to be a hot night for everyone who loves quality vocal harmonies, scorching hard rock riffs, melodic tunes, and worshippers of guitar and bass virtuosity. There was something in it for everybody, so the crowd was pretty motley too, made up of listeners from all kinds of genres and age groups, which doesn’t happen all that often at gigs by acts that are almost three decades old.
Before Mr. Big hit the stage, we were first entertained by a Croatian hard rock trio led by the energetic guitarist and singer Alen Brentini, with a decent set and a big dose of heart. Their rather basic hard rock proved a good choice for an early warm-up, and they made pretty good use of the chance to introduce their music to the Slovenian audience, even though plenty of the people there were music fans from Italy, Austria and Croatia, who solved the usual problem of filling the Šiška hall whenever big foreign names from the rock world come to town. Attendance during Brentini’s set was pretty sad, though, but that soon changed.
Much more interest from the crowd was sparked by the next support act, American heavy metallers Fozzy, led by the notorious Canadian singer and pro wrestler Christopher Irvine, better known as Chris Jericho. Having learned a thing or two from far better-known and more influential metal frontmen, he won the crowd over mostly with a big dose of charisma, energy, and a knack for picking up Slovenian fast. What impressed a lot less was that Fozzy, who were presenting their current album »Judas« (2017), leaned heavily on backing tracks and recorded backing vocals, which certainly does them no credit. A shame, because their classic metal with occasional power metal and hard rock touches, which, let’s be honest, offers nothing new, went down well with plenty of people in the crowd and earned a loud response several times. What stuck in the memory most were a pretty fun cover of the ABBA evergreen »SOS« and the anti-war song »Do You Want to Start a War«, where Jericho armed himself with a gas sprayer. Fozzy proved they’ve solved the metal mascot problem, since Jericho himself fills in, briefly reviving his wrestling persona with glam coats decked out with lights that make him glow like a Christmas tree. Sadly, that wasn’t enough: after a pretty charged and noisy show, a bitter aftertaste remained, also because the PA was way too loud.
Surprising but true, plenty of women came out to see Mr. Big that night, including quite a few who weren’t even born yet when the band released their first record in 1989. The obvious showmanship and charm of the often physically ‘touched-up’ Mr. Big singer Eric Martin, who can boast a well-preserved voice, still work their magic. It’s hard to explain otherwise how this is one of the few bands of the genre that still enjoys considerable popularity, even though stylistically and lyrically they remain rooted deep in the late eighties and early nineties. A big chunk of the male crowd came to see Mr. Big mainly to witness the feats of the virtuoso duo of genius bassist Billy Sheehan and guitar wizard Paul Gilbert. The two stick around in Mr. Big rather than throwing themselves into more experimental projects, where their talents could shine much more, mostly for the sake of the cash, of course. That night they fully lived up to their reputation, right from the first song, »Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)«, where they worked the strings of their instruments for a short while with electric drills, though that was only the warm-up for more pompous virtuoso exploits.
Sadly, the late original drummer Pat Torpey is no longer in the band, but he was more than worthily replaced by Matt Star, who is still a ‘small fish’ for now and can’t yet claim a solo spot next to Gilbert and Sheehan. The set was nicely balanced between newer material from the last three studio albums, led by the current effort »Defying Gravity« (2017), and long-time standards led by »Alive and Kickin’«, »Green-Tinted Sixties Mind«, »Rock & Roll Over«, all played and sung just as they should be. First up for a solo spot was the ever good-humored beanpole Gilbert, who with his technically demanding moves and fast-fingered grips showed vividly why so many rank him among the very top of the greatest guitar virtuosos, and it was also the first highlight of the night.
The unbearable heat, which made the hall feel like the middle of the Amazon rainforest, gave the band a hard time too: all four members were sweating buckets and used every break to cool down, and Martin didn’t even hide that some A/C would have come in very handy. The singer, slathered in countless winks and showman poses, still knows how to work the heartstrings of the women in the crowd, and vocally he held up pretty well through most of the set. After the new song »Open Your Eyes« from »Defying Gravity«, many were surprised by the minor hit, a cover of »Wild World«, which originally belongs to Cat Stevens and which sparked plenty of conflicting reactions back when it came out. Sheehan’s solo spot, which you have to see and hear with your own eyes to believe that anything like that is even possible on a bass guitar, was the second highlight of Mr. Big’s show.
For those who came to the gig mainly for a good time and a hard rock ‘party’, the highlight of the night was definitely the biggest Mr. Big hit, »To Be With You«. With its love lyrics it warmed up mostly the female half of the crowd, and for the finale they played »Colorado Bulldog«, shifting one last time into a somewhat punchier show. Despite loud calls, they didn’t come back out for an encore with at least one more song, say »Just Take My Heart«, which they unexpectedly skipped. Together with the unbearable heat in the hall, that irritated some in the audience even more, and before they filed out through the exit doors, loud whistles of disapproval rang out.
Mr. Big delivered a very solid and professional show at Kino Šiška, with the peaks being the solo spots of the two virtuosos, though many of the more devoted fans expected at least a song or two more. In their favor, despite Martin’s occasionally kitschy stage mimicry, they didn’t act too starry and managed to build real communication between stage and crowd. Even though the sound was pretty decent by the usual Kino Šiška standards and the famous band confirmed its reputation, many of us left the gig with mixed feelings. The fact remains that Mr. Big are prisoners of a bygone era and, as songwriters, have long been rather ossified, new material included, not to mention the lyrics, so fans of more eclectic sonic adventures are hard to impress with what their live shows currently offer.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
setlist:
MR. BIG
1. Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)
2. Undertow
3. Alive And Kickin’
4. Take Cover
5. Green Tinted Sixties Mind
6. Everybody Needs A Little Trouble
7. Price You Gotta Pay
8. Paul Gilbert solo
9. Open Your Eyes
10. Wild World (orig. Cat Stevens)
11. Rock And Roll Over
12. Around the World
13. Billy Sheehan solo
14. Addicted To That Rush
15. To Be With You
—encore—
16. Colorado Bulldog
