Gig review: Mr Big + Jared James Nichols at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

Live review: Mr Big and Jared James Nichols at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Saturday, March 23 2024

By STEVE MASCORD

“THROUGH the years we’ve been here many times and it’s always been a thrill and a joy and an honour to be in one of the greatest cities in all of civilisation.”

In retrospect, your reviewer probably went one review early in attempting to explain what is different about attending concerTs in London. This was the story in which to make the point, given that Mr Big’s Billy Sheehan said this after the band’s last ever show here.

“Thank you very much for your kindness,” he said at the end of a magnificent night at a packed Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

“London is a very important town for all American musicians because we all – of our generation, OK my generation – grew up with the British Invasion rock and it’s so important for us to come here and make so many great, wonderful, important friends in the city that gave us so much.

“We will never forget your kindness.”

Mr Big were at the forefront of the post-Van Halen wave of commercial rock technicians, although they are best known for their 1991 megahit “To Be With You”, which went to number one in 12 countries including Australia and New Zealand.

The song is 14th a set that focuses on the 1991 album Lean Into It being playing in its entirety and the opening bars are performed light-heartedly, even jokingly. These people aren’t here for “To Be With You”.

This might be an important show to the core members bassist Sheehan, singer Eric Martin and guitarist Paul Gilbert but the set-list is very similar to others on The Big Finish Tour, even down to the members swapping instruments for “Good Love” plus “Baba O’Reilly”wrapping things up, preceded by covers “30 Days In The Hole’ and “Shy Boy”.

The late Pat Torpey is replaced on drums by Nick D’Virgilio while Michele Luppi – who helped David Coverdale with support vocals in Whitesnake – is also on stage. No backing tapes here.

Nothing can quite match the first time your reviewer saw Mr Big live. The marriage of virtuosity and songcraft will throw you back on your heels if you get to see it before it’s gone forever (hurry!). It’s a force of nature.

Before I sum up: a word about the support, Blues guitarist Jared James Nichols. The 35-year-old blues rock guitarist and his band were warmly embraced by the audience. When we talk about his rig, we may well be addressing the one he got in the gym rather than the music store – also very impressive.

Mostly, perhaps, he is the beneficiary of being an age where the pressure of standing out from the crowd playing this sort of music is less intense. He’s had 20 fewer years than me of hearing others do it.

Thoroughly recommended, in any case.

What Mr Big do, when they started doing it, was much fresher that what Nichols is attempting maybe 80 years after the fact. Only Van Halen were as supernaturally talented and capable of writing such accessible songs – although Extreme would match them for it. Gilbert and Sheehan can only be described as freaks.

It is indeed a shame The Big Finish tour does not appear to be heading to Australasia.

“Tonight is a very special night and it will live in our hearts forever,” Sheehan concluded. “Thank you all.”