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PHOTOS + REVIEW β€” Mr Big at Capitol Theater in Clearwater 2024

Mr. Big β€’ June 4, 2024 β€’ Capitol Theater β€” Clearwater, FL β€’ Photos by Randy Cook β€” instagram.com/horns_raised

REVIEW β€” Mr. Big

Mr. Big | June 2, 2024 | Capitol Theater, Clearwater, FL

Sometimes the best thing about a tour rolling into your town is the crew that the band brings along. As excited I am for the excellent musicianship ahead of me for the Mr. Big show in Clearwater, I am equally excited to see my friend Sydney who is working this tour as the band’s merchandise coordinator. Mr. Big’s β€œThe Big Finish” tour stop in Clearwater was originally scheduled for late January, but several dates had to be rescheduled due to an illness in the band’s camp at the time. This Clearwater show, as far as I can tell based on current scheduled dates for the band is the third to last US show, which for me gives it an even greater meaning as once this tour concludes the band is disbanding. β€œSince the band’s original drummer and co-founder Pat Torpey lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2018, the band now feels it’s time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy…” and scheduled this tour to salute their fans by playing their breakthrough 1991 release “Lean Into It” from start to finish.

In early 2023 I met Sydney on the 2023 On the Blue Cruise and have stayed in touch with her and followed her travels with multiple artists spanning the globe. She is a distinguished music photo/journalist in her own right and is also a featured writer for Lowdwire. The last time she was on a tour that came through my area was with The Winery Dogs and that was only a couple of months after the 2023 cruise. We have since seen each other on this year’s Monsters of Rock Cruise and both had this rescheduled show date circled.
I arrived at the venue just as the doors opened and made my way over to the merch area to say hi to Sydney. I knew she would be busy pre-show so I just said hi real quick and then found my favorite spot in the lobby area to people watch. As with all of the Shows I Go To, I am interested in the crowd’s demographics and as expected this evening was skewed male, the ladies were well represented and I only noticed one youngster in the crowd. I ran into a ton of familiar faces between the large group of photographers and the general audience. This was the largest group of photographers I have ever been shoulder to shoulder with at this venue which only magnifies the few remaining performances of this band.

Opening the show was Robin Taylor Zander, an accomplished musician in his own right trying to distinguish himself from his famous father, the lead singer of Cheap Trick. He played an acoustic set, of which I was only in there for my three songs behind the lens. This was my second time seeing Robin Taylor Zander perform and the talent just oozes out of him. He played a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s β€˜Hungry Heart’ to open his set and rarely moved away from the microphone stand in the three songs I was in there for. I could hear the crowd’s approval from out in the mezzanine as his seven song, thirty minute set came to an end. I took this time as an opportunity to spend time and chat with Sydney as she has her hands full before and after the show.

The sold out crowd was on their feet the moment the lights went out for the members of Mr. Big walked onto the stage and started the show with β€˜Addicted to that Rush’. It was a very simple stage setup which focused on the band members and their instruments rather than elaborate props or effects. This can be a difficult venue to photo from seeing as how we photographer are always positioned at the soundboard and when the whole crowd is up on their feet there are heads, hands and phones to have to shoot around. As much as I was hoping for the crowd to sit after the first song, I do not think a single person sat in their seat the entire night. One of my photographer friends turned to me mid-way through the second song β€˜Take Cover’, and expressed how β€œf*cking much” he loved this band! I was quick to agree.

Their song construction just pulls me in and seeing these musical virtuosos perform their art in front of my eyes and ears just adds to my profession of how phenomenal of musicians each member of this band is. Technical proficiency comes to mind if I were to be asked to describe this band in a few words. Mr. Big is Eric Martin on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Billy Sheehan playing bass, Paul Gilbert as the axeman and Nick D’Virgilio playing drums with everyone contributing backing vocals. I counted just under ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY years of rock history for this quartet on stage and I even heard the term β€˜rock royalty’ used a couple of times in the crowd in between bands.

As the set list progressed, I noticed a good portion of the crowd singing along to every word of every song and there was quite a bit of air drum and guitar action in the rows. This was the first time at this venue that my seat was in the mezzanine and honestly, it was the best view I have ever had here. When the acoustic guitars came out, the show hit the moment I think we were all waiting for, the tale of desired affection that never comes true, “To Be with You” is the quintessential ballad of hope. While I prefer the studio to the live version of this song, it is still a stroll down memory lane and it was obvious I was not alone in the audience as I saw several couples slow dancing in their aisles to this.

Paul Gilbert’s guitar solo included the theme to the Rocky movies and when Billy Sheehan had his turn to solo, he made that bass make sounds so high pitched you would never expect that sound from a bass guitar. To show the musicianship on display, the band swapped instruments for a cover of The Olympics’ β€˜Good Lovin’’ and I could not have been the only one amazed at how easily the transition was made with Eric on bass, Paul on drums, Nick on guitar, and Billy handling the vocals. To close out the show the band covered The Who’s β€˜Baba O’Riley’ and closed to a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes. The band members took to the front of the stage and offered sincere words about how much their fans and this tour mean to them, with Billy saying something to the tune of how we fans will see them again, he was not sure when, or where which seem to contradict the whole idea of them shutting down the band. In an unusual move, they are on the verge of releasing their tenth, and final studio release, but if the band’s demise is true…I am going to stop that thought there in the hopes of.

The Mr. Big set lasted close to two full hours and adding in the after show meet and greet, this Chief Metal Officer was tired for work on an early Monday morning before dawn after the show, but this is what I am trained for and I relished every moment of music and good friends close by. It was great to see and catch up with Sydney and I look forward to reading about her next set of world travels. Sadly, there are only two more dates on this tour in the United States, before the tour resumes in mid-July in the United Kingdom and across Europe until late August with the band’s final performance scheduled in Romania at the Way Too Far Rock Festival 2024.

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Mr. Big set list for June 2, 2024:
Addicted to That Rush
Take Cover
Price You Gotta Pay
Lean Into It:
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) (The band members swapped instruments. Eric on bass, Paul on drums, Nick on guitar, Billy on vocals)
Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)


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