Acts: Mr. Big / Jared James Nichols (support act)
Date: Thursday, 4 April 2024
Venue: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Mr. Big, a band that fused two seemingly incompatible musical trends of the eighties — melodic hard rock with infectious choruses and the enviable technical mastery of every single instrumentalist, returned to Kino Šiška, which they last played on 1 August 2018. For many fans of quality hard rock with formidable technical chops, the cult hard-rockers’ show had left a fond memory. Mr. Big fans were also saddened by the news that this was the band’s farewell tour — a band that first hit the road back in 1988 — which drove interest in the show even higher than usual. Accordingly, even more people turned up to their latest Ljubljana performance than had come nearly six years earlier. The concert was completely sold out and plenty of hopefuls were left without tickets.
It promised to be a hugely entertaining evening — not just for melodic hard rock fans but for music lovers of all stripes, because with Mr. Big, between their technical pyrotechnics, instrument solo spotlights, inventive covers, and of course the original material topped by some beloved hits, there is never a dull moment.
Opening for the headliners this time was Jared James Nichols, a gifted guitarist and vocalist who has sold his soul to the blues (as his former ‘mentor’ Glenn Hughes might put it). Nichols first played Kino Šiška way back on 6 June 2016, when he opened for the starry Black Label Society. More than a few people in the crowd didn’t recognize him at first when he stepped onstage with his bassist and drummer — such was his physical transformation since then.
‘Leslie West on steroids’ would be the best way to describe his new, bulked-up look. But it wasn’t just his physique doing the heavy lifting — the guy plays classic Mississippi Delta blues rock and peppers it with virtuosic lead flourishes. Even those who aren’t the biggest fans of blues or blues rock, and came that evening primarily to bask in hard rock anthems and the individual members of Mr. Big’s instrumental wizardry, had to admit that Nichols has a genuine handle on a genre that often feels oversaturated thanks to a legion of hungry newcomers, ambitious revivalists, and slick imitators.
To close his set, Nichols — fittingly, given the earlier Leslie West comparison — played ” Mississippi Queen”, the legendary Mountain track. We got off easy: at some shows Nichols closes with a cover of the Black Sabbath classic “War Pigs”, which over the decades has been done so many different ways that plenty of people are flat-out done with it and have zero interest in hearing yet another blues take on that metal standard.
While waiting for Mr. Big, even the thoroughly superfluous playing of “Blitzkrieg Bop” between sets couldn’t dampen the mood — you can’t say anything bad about the Ramones, of course. Anyone’s guess whose idea that was, since you can’t really picture any member of Mr. Big as a die-hard Ramones fan.
The headliners arrived onstage in a slightly changed configuration: joining charismatic vocalist Eric Martin, guitar guru Paul Gilbert, and bass wizard Billy Sheehan was new drummer Nick D’Virgilio. D’Virgilio was, in fact, the main reason that more than a few prog rock fans had also bought tickets that evening. As a former and current member of prog rock titans Spock’s Beard and Big Big Train, Nick has long been celebrated not only as a world-class drummer but also as an excellent vocalist. As a guest drummer he has lent his sticks to names such as Genesis, Tears For Fears, Fates Warning, Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears), Neal Morse, and Steve Hackett, while his solo career deserves its own round of applause (just as with every other member of Mr. Big). With Nick on board — for whom playing hard rock is a genuine holiday compared to what he normally does with Big Big Train — Mr. Big truly became a superstar collective (with all due respect to founding drummer Pat Torpey, rest in peace, and his successor Matt Starr). His contribution this evening was felt not only in his phenomenal drumming but also in noticeably stronger backing vocal harmonies.
Mr. Big opened their set with “Addicted to That Rush”, the most celebrated track from their self-titled debut, which got the crowd thoroughly warmed up — the people in the front rows were going absolutely mental, as if the Second Coming had arrived, except the two archangels bearing the news were none other than virtuoso giants Gilbert and Sheehan. Mr. Big — who played the entirety of “Lean Into It”, their breakthrough second studio album from 1991, over the course of the evening — were in phenomenal spirits throughout. Hard rock anthems rolled in one after another. The first true peak of the night came with the performance of “Just Take My Heart”, which wrapped the room in a very welcome wave of nostalgia.
Naturally, solo spots from both virtuosic giants were also on the menu — that’s Gilbert, a guitar virtuoso who is the living embodiment of the fine line between genius and madman, and Sheehan, who in the opinion of many music critics is simply the greatest (rock) bassist on the planet. During his solo, Gilbert wove in three songs: “Gonna Fly Now” (the Rocky theme, composed by Bill Conti), “The Whole World’s Gonna Know” (from Mr. Big’s third album “Bump Ahead”, 1993), and “Nothing But Love” (also from “Bump Ahead”, 1993). For the romantics in the room — and the female contingent of the audience was very well represented this evening — the undisputed peak of the night was the performance of Mr. Big’s biggest hit, the love ballad “To Be With You”. Of the generous number of covers sprinkled through Mr. Big’s Kino Šiška set, “Wild World” — originally by Cat Stevens — got one of the warmest receptions.
It’s worth noting that Martin’s vocal interpretations of the Mr. Big catalogue came across as somewhat more convincing than at our previous encounter with the band at Kino Šiška — everything he sang was at least solid, if not outright excellent. At the same time, the man is sharp as a tack and knows exactly when it’s time to spare the vocal cords and let the backing vocalists and crowd share the load. Gilbert has always been a weak link as a vocalist, and that didn’t change this evening — but Sheehan, and especially D’Virgilio, are genuinely strong singers who gave Eric excellent support with their backing harmonies.
Another fun highlight was “Shy Boy”, a cover of the track from Sheehan’s ‘home’ band Talas, which he still reactivates from time to time. Hands-down the most entertaining moment of the night, though, was the cover of “Good Lovin'” — originally by The Olympics — because before playing it the band swapped instruments among themselves. Paul took the drum kit, Eric grabbed the bass guitar, Nick picked up the guitar, while the 71-year-old but remarkably well-preserved Billy took the mic and stepped into the singer role. The role-swap came off brilliantly, which isn’t all that surprising given the multi-instrumental skills each member brings to the table. For the final treat, Mr. Big brought the crowd back to their feet with a stunning cover of The Who classic “Baba O’Riley”, complete with the track’s signature Eastern-flavored motif.
Mr. Big in their latest incarnation, with D’Virgilio behind the kit, were absolutely worth seeing again in a sold-out, packed Kino Šiška. Their show — which can be declared a resounding success — managed to pull a wonderfully eclectic crowd together under one roof: nostalgics for the golden age of guitar shredding, melodic hard rock devotees, fans of love ballads, and technically obsessed music ‘connoisseurs’. Ironically, it’s precisely now, as they bow out, that they’ve become more deserving of the supergroup label than ever before. If this really is their farewell tour and not just a marketing stunt, they can leave with their heads held high — while every member has more than enough bands and side projects to keep them musically busy for years to come.
Text: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Jared James Nichols setlist:
1. Easy Come, Easy Go
2. Down the Drain
3. Hard Wired
4. Threw Me to the Wolves
5. Skin ‘n Bone
6. Good Time Girl
7. Mississippi Queen (orig. Mountain)
Mr. Big setlist:
1. Blitzkrieg Bop (orig. Ramones – pre-recorded intro)
2. Addicted to That Rush
3. Take Cover
4. Price You Gotta Pay
5. Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)
6. Alive and Kickin’
7. Green-Tinted Sixties Mind
8. CDFF-Lucky This Time (orig. Jeff Paris)
9. Voodoo Kiss
10. Never Say Never
11. Just Take My Heart
12. My Kinda Woman
13. A Little Too Loose
14. Road to Ruin
15. To Be With You
16. Wild World (orig. Cat Stevens)
17. Guitar Solo
18. Colorado Bulldog
19. Bass Solo
19. Shy Boy (orig. Talas)
20. 30 Days in the Hole (orig. Humble Pie)
21. Good Lovin’ (orig. The Olympics)
22. Baba O’Riley (orig. The Who)
