Mr. Big entered the stage promptly at 9:00 and started with pure rock and roll. "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy" (The Electric Drill Song) and the furious "American Beauty" set the tone for the evening.
The great thing with Mr. Big is the fact that all their musicians are the best of the best and they don't have any ego problems. They come to the stage with the mind set of making music and having fun together. Highly skilled musicians that play together as one unit - that's Mr. Big and it's highly entertaining. There is so much ease in the way they play live. Of course they have their songs, but there is still so much room for improvisation in their live music that makes it so exciting to see their shows. On drums in from the beginning was hard hitting LA based drummer Matt Starr (Ace Frehley/Burning Rain) who took the place behind the drum kit. Pat Torpey their powerhouse drummer has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease joined the show and appeared to be enjoying it immensely. It also shows one thing that the band takes care of their band mates. Respect is the one word that comes to mind. Eric Martin is still one of the most amazing vocalists of his generation and it shows on their dominant performance of the Cat Stevens classic “Wild World”. Following a killer rendition of “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind”, they gave us a new tune, “Everybody Needs a Little Trouble” from the forthcoming “Defying Gravity” CD which is slated for release in July. “Price You Gotta Pay” from the 1993 release “Bump Ahead” was followed by a spectacular guitar solo from the amazing Paul Gilbert. Billy Sheehan, for those who don’t know, is one of the most assertively innovative bassists on the planet. He has a lightning fast set of fingers and an unmistakable forceful tone. Needless to say, he is one of rock’s most important bassists ever. So, with all these accolades you can imagine that a solo from the man himself would be nothing short of spectacular. It leads into "Addicted to That Rush" which finished out the main set this evening. A four song encore then ensued and not only did we get their most recognizable hit “To Be With You” we were also treated with the just released single “1992”. They ended the night with their take on the classic Who song “Baba O’Riley”. The Mr. Big Defying Gravity Tour picks back up in August with a two week stint in South America followed by some dates in Japan. Mr. Big Setlist Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song) American Beauty Undertow Alive and Kickin' Temperamental Just Take My Heart Take Cover Green-Tinted Sixties Mind Everybody Needs a Little Trouble Price You Gotta Pay Guitar Solo Take a Walk Wild World Rock and Roll Over Around the World Bass Solo Addicted to That Rush Encore To Be With You Colorado Bulldog 1992 Baba O'Riley Official Mr. Big Website: http://www.mrbigsite.com/ You can find my Photo Album from the show here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jschaef00/albums/72157683174503541 All Images © Joe Schaeffer Photography
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Def Leppard along with Poison and Tesla performed in Ontario, CA at Citizens Business Bank Arena on 6/14/2017
The 5 piece UK band put on a stellar, fun-filled show. For ninety plus minutes, Joe Elliot (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Rick Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) brought out 35 plus years of tunes. Playing in front of a huge electronic screen, the band cruised through 17 songs. Included in the set were songs from 1981’s High 'n' Dry album ("Let It Go,” "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and “Switch 625”) and three from their 2015 self-titled album release (Show opener "Let's Go," “Dangerous” and "Man Enough".) Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell traded stunning solos all night. Joe Elliott can still hit most of his notes, and the rhythm section of drummer Rick Allen and bassist Rick Savage are both fine showmen. Their four-part harmonies remain a potent weapon as well. The crowd reacted most excitedly to Def Leppard standards like “Armageddon It,” "Foolin'," "Love Bites" and the set-closing duo of "Let's Get Rocked" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me." They ended the festivities with the encore of "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph". Supporting Def Leppard were veteran glam rockers Poison. They worked in most of their hair band-hits that included “Talk Dirty to Me,” “Fallen Angel” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”. Guitarist C.C. DeVille cruised around the stage and could not have looked happier. Bret Michaels could be seen shaking hands with the front row rockers in between singing. Bassist Bobby Doll and a fired up Rikki Rockett kept the ball rolling going with their rock solid rhythm section. Show opener Tesla was on point with their seven-song set. Listening to songs like "Edison’s Medicine" and "Modern Day Cowboy" was a sufficient reminder that Tesla had ruled the charts for a few years. Def Leppard Setlist Let's Go Animal Let It Go Dangerous Foolin' Love Bites Armageddon It Rock On Man Enough Rocket Bringin' on the Heartbreak Switch 625 Hysteria Let's Get Rocked Pour Some Sugar on Me Encore Rock of Ages Photograph Tesla Setlist Into the Now Edison's Medicine (Man Out of Time) The Way It Is Signs Love Song Little Suzi Modern Day Cowboy Poison Setlist Look What the Cat Dragged In Ride the Wind Talk Dirty to Me Cry Tough Something to Believe In Your Mama Don't Dance Fallen Angel Unskinny Bop Every Rose Has Its Thorn Nothin' but a Good Time You can find my Photo Album from the show here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jschaef00/sets All Images © Joe Schaeffer Photography Alice Cooper's guitarist Nita Strauss set up We Start Wars for the first time in Hollywood to an enthusiastic crowd at the World Famous Whisky A Go-Go on the Sunset Strip.
The band was all business for this show. The night was filled with a sense of fresh enthusiasm. The powerhouse vocals by Seana were spot on. Guitar shredding 101 was provided by Strauss and Papastavrou. The duo was augmented by classically trained keyboardist Scarlett. The rhythm section of Vigil and Martin provide a formidable backing to help bring the songs to life When asked by AXS.com about how the band got its start Nita said “I’ve wanted to start this band since I started playing guitar. Right away I saw a lack of serious musicianship represented in the majority of mainstream all female bands, and I always wanted to change that. So I started writing music with this project in mind in February of 2016, and shortly after started seeking out musicians in LA to be a part of it.” Nicole recently told Guitar World when asked about their sound, “I’d say it is super melodic metal but also has a little bit of something for everyone. We wanted to broaden our audience not do anything too aggressive, but there’s still a little bit of heaviness in there.” The band was all business for this show. The night was filled with a sense of fresh enthusiasm. The powerhouse vocals by Seana were spot on. Guitar shredding 101 was provided by Strauss and Papastavrou. The rhythm section of Vigil and Martin provide a formidable backing to help bring the songs to life. Their 50 minute set debuted new songs to be included on a full length CD to be released in the near future. A beautiful tribute to Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell was also included. They finished the night off with the recently released single “The Animal Inside”. Available at this link https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-animal-inside-single/id1230209051 Set List Light Sticks and Stones Code Blue Miss Soverign For the Killing Drum Solo Blue Pill Society Black Hole Sun (Chris Cornell Tribute) The Animal Inside Full album can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jschaef00/albums/72157684203657236 All Images © Joe Schaeffer Photography |
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