Mr Big – The Big Finish // Live Review // Scarlet Rebels // The Limelight // Belfast
This time last week we were in the company of Mr Big guitarist, Richie Kotzen, this week we are back at The Limelight, Belfast, for potentially one of the gigs of the year (in this little ladies eyes) as Mr Big FINALLY play Belfast on their farewell tour to complete that Big Finish!
I have said numerous times that the forefathers of shred raised me, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Nuno Bettencourt and of course the one, the only, Paul Gilbert! I have been lucky enough to see Paul a few times over the years, here in Belfast playing here at the old Spring & Airbrake, this very building actually before its rebirth as The Limelight, and once in Dublin with Mr Big many years ago, most recently at Bloodstock Festival in England where they looked out of place on the bill, but when interviewed many’s an artist that weekend when asked who they were looking forward to seeing at the Festival, Mr Big came up time and time again.
It’s no surprise, this supergroup was the supergroup to beat all supergroups if shred, melodic rock and great vocals were your bag! So this honestly is a bucket list gig for me, here in my hometown in an intimate enough venue Mr Big will sign off to their Irish fans having played Dublin’s Academy just last night. Let’s see how Belfast fairs tonight. In tow, they have brought along Welsh rockers The Scarlet Rebels who are currently making waves of their own, with a new album “Where The Colours Meet” due to drop on August 16th courtesy of Earache Records this will be my first time catching the guys live, but I have known of them by reputation via their UK PR and press releases we have shared of late and by their continuing grafting up and down the UK playing shows where people have been raving about their live performances, so I am looking forward to seeing what they’re all about in the flesh!
The Scarlet Rebels take to the stage nice and early just after doors open here in Belfast, at first glance it looks pretty quiet but by the time our 1st 3 songs are over in the pit the room is pretty full and Belfast has turned up in their droves to show their love for the support. The band themselves are a glorious live entity, with soaring vocals with huge anthemic songs worthy of a stadium, I can see why so many call on parallels with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and The Stereophonics but Scarlet Rebels have their own thing going on, of course, they pull their inspiration from the hay days of classic rock and beyond, but their souls is a lot more nuanced than that, frontman Wayne Doyle has a killer voice, never wavering he just belts out powerhouse vocals from start to finish, the band are right and right on the money delivering a set worthy of a headline slot themselves. Guitarist Chris Jones lays down some tasty riffs and blistering solos packed with a beautiful tone and touch that turns more than a few heads, the band as a whole just nailed their set, as previously mentioned I’ve known of the band by reputation from their UK exploits, everyone I have spoken to have spoke highly of this Welsh crew and it’s understandable, quality from start to finish they have the audience in the palmOf their hands following every move, singing along at will and rocking out to their stellar soundtrack. Their new album “Where The Colours Meet” arrives August 16th and I for one am looking forward to hearing it!
Album Pre-orders are now open at earache.com/scarletrebels.
It Was Beautiful is out now on all digital platforms HERE
As I previously mentioned Mr Big are no strangers to me, they were a huge part of the soundtrack to my youth growing up here in Belfast, my bedroom on Stockmans Lane covered in posters of guitar gods, the hi-fi blaring out “Lean Into It” on repeat, could life honestly get any better for a wannabe guitar god like myself? I had just popped my rock cherry with the likes of Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Extreme and Whitesnake all dropping killer rock albums, the hair was big and the tunes were even bigger! It was a magical time indeed, the genre may have shifted over the next few years with more extreme metal taking to the fore, grunge came and went, the birth of Nu-Metal etc but all the way I was faithful to what pulled me up outta bed every morning, good old fashioned shredding! Regardless of genre, if they didn’t shred I didn’t wanna know!
So tonight, with my band of brothers we are gathered here at the holiest of sights The Limelight 1 to worship these mighty rock gods for one last time! Remember kids, No Sleep Till Bedtime! Let’s do this !!!
8pm sharp and Mr Big takes the stage to rapturous applause! The place goes wild as they break into ‘Addicted To That Rush’, it’s going to be a night packed with a majestic set list covering 3 plus decades of one of rock’s finest AOR shred machines! We can barely catch our breath as they lash through their opener before playing ‘Take Cover’ and then ‘Price You Gotta Pay’ just before Eric’s mic fails and he tosses it off stage for the tech to hastily sort out the issue, Weic entertains us a Capella whilst Paul looks on bemused! Then it’s ’Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy’ time and the place goes ape shit! Two more classics ‘Alive And Kicking’ and ‘Green Tinted Sixties Mind’ has Belfast in fine voice singing alone with every word!
Billy by this stage has his double neck Yamaha bass slamming out those effortless runs, Paul so far has been playing his signature hardtail RG before ‘Lucky This Time’ when he picks up his Fireman Before going back to his RG for ‘Voodoo Kiss’ by this stage the. Ensue is handing out water to people in the front row, the band are on fire but it’s warm as hell too in here and the eclectic mix of people needs to cool down pronto! As they run through their set I span the room whilst Just Take My Heart’ plays and there are dudes out there with beards Moses would have been proud of singing their wee hearts out! You’d never expect it, hardcore metal heads all love romantic tunes! Somebody’s getting some tonight! Ya know what I’m saying! The screams of approval as the track ends means. Belfast is all in for Mr Big!
It wouldn’t be Belfast if someone hadn’t proposed during ‘To Be With You’, I must admit thats a first for me at a Limelight gig, #memories The night and the set is flying by, and we are treated to the obligatory stunning guitar solos by messers Gilbert and Sheehan, both oddly coming in around 6mins 30secs long! #mindblown and we are treated to ‘Shy Boy’ Billy’s classic track from his Dave Lee Roth days, the encores roll in we are treated to 30 Days In The Hole, Good Lovin’ – for Good Lovin the tables are turned as Billy takes over vocals, Paul on Drums and Eric on bass and of course Drummer Edo? on Guitar, the world is under upside down! But great fun! closing off the night the guys go back to their live rendition of The Who classic Baba O’Reilly before they all take to the stage and take a final bow in Belfast and Ireland as a whole. Billy makes one final passionate speech about his family’s Irish roots, the journey from Ireland to Ellis Island and the legacy that has been left on him which is a nice touch, the Belfast crowd just can’t get enough and can barely believe it’s all over. But alas it is, as I said at the start of this somewhat biased review, this was one of the gigs of the year for me, Scarlet Rebels were amazing live, a band of real quality and one to watch for sure! Mr Big up close and personal was just a joy to behold, I think as the years fly by I, like many in the room appreciate these gigs more and more, the soundtracks to our youth, the memories of old friends, years gone by and the joy shared with these tunes in our heads just can’t be erased.
Thanks once again lads for a perfect evening’s entertainment.
Order “Ten” out NOW — https://ffm.to/mrbigten
Order a copy of Mr. Big “Ten” out NOW —https://bio.to/MrBigTen
Pre-Order the live album and concert film “The BIG Finish” out Sept 6th —
https://bio.to/MrBigTheBigFinishLive
Photography: Mark McGrogan
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