I was just checking out CD Japan and I came across these links to buy the DVD, Blu Ray and CD of Mr Big’s current reunion tour. Cool! It seems the release date is September 16. I’m not sure if/when these will be available in other countries but I’m not waiting to find out!
MR.BIG Budokan-Reunion Tour 2009 / MR.BIG
MR.BIG Budokan-Reunion Tour 2009 [Blu-ray] / MR.BIG
MR.BIG Budokan-Reunion Tour 2009 [HQCD] / MR.BIG
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Just found this awesome video of Paul Gilbert rocking his new Ibanez Kikusui Ginjo Junmai Fireman guitar (the one he wrote about for I Heart Guitar in his guest post HERE). The song is ‘Addicted To That Rush.’
Awesome.
CLICK HERE to buy Next Time Around – Best Of MR.BIG from CDJapan. Warner Japan is also re-releasing four Mr. Big DVDs: Lean Into It, Live And Kickin’, Live and Big. Bigger. Biggest! The Best Of MR.BIG. Click any of the titles to buy the DVDs from CDJapan.
I saw this photo over at Paul Gilbert’s site today and I thought, what kind of investigative guitar journalist would I be if I didn’t try to find out some info about that cool new custom Ibanez Fireman? So I asked Paul if he’d contribute a few words about the guitar for I Heart Guitar, and here’s what he said:
I was thinking about Michael Anthony’s Jack Daniels bass guitar, and I thought, “Why don’t I have a guitar with MY favorite drink?”
My favorite Japanese sake is Kikusui Ginjo Junmai:
http://www.kikusui-sake.com/home/english_9.html
I took the color of the bottle and the designs on the label and designed a guitar around it. The knobs for the volume and tone are two bottle caps from the sake!
The guitar is STUNNING in-person. Ibanez did such a beautiful job making my idea into reality. And it sounds and plays great too. Of course, I played it on the MR. BIG reunion tour of Japan.
UPDATE: When I had a lesson with Paul in January 2010, I got to check out this guitar in person. See?
Jenn from Random Chatter Music has the scoop! Mr. Big European tour dates in September! Here are a few to get you started but there are many more including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark and more so go HERE to see the rest!
2009/9/4 20:00 Rock Cafe Tallinn, Estonia
2009/9/6 20:00 Nosturi Helsinki, Finland
2009/9/7 20:00 Berns Stockholm, Sweden
2009/9/9 20:00 Train Aarhus, Denmark
2009/9/10 20:00 Essigfabrik Koln, Germany
2009/9/12 20:00 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK
CLICK HERE to buy Next Time Around – Best Of MR.BIG from CDJapan. Warner Japan is also re-releasing four Mr. Big DVDs: Lean Into It, Live And Kickin’, Live and Big. Bigger. Biggest! The Best Of MR.BIG. Click any of the titles to buy the DVDs from CDJapan.
Hell yeah! Check it out! Here’s the new Mr. Big song, ‘Next Time Around. Wadda you think?
CLICK HERE to buy Next Time Around – Best Of MR.BIG from CDJapan.
For more Mr. Big and Paul Gilbert news, check out Random Chatter Music.
Finally confirming the rumors that have been circulating the internet for weeks, all four original members of the popular 90’s rock supergroup, Mr. Big, are taking to the stage together for the first time in 13 years for a reunion tour of Japan.
The Japanese run will bring back the magic of the original chart-busting foursome: vocalist / frontman Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, guitar, Billy Sheehan, bass, and Pat Torpey, drums.
The tour takes off in Sapporo on June 5 and culminates June 20 in Tokyo with a feature concert at Budokan the famous Japanese venue known for its rich history of legendary performances by rock’s elite. The band will record a live CD / DVD during the Budokan show that will also mark the band’s 20 year anniversary!
Formed in 1988, Mr. Big forged its place in hard rock history combining trademark “shredding” mucicianship with awesome vocal harmonies and signed a record deal in 1989 with Atlantic Records. The self-titled album. Mr. Big, received critical and commercial success in the US and Japan but it was the band’s second album, Lean Into It, that provided the major breakthrough. Lean Into It, featured two ballads that established the band as a commercial success, To Be With You and Just Take My Heart, propelling the band the band to huge international success and record sales in the multi-millions.
Gilbert left the band in 1996 to pursue a solo career and the original members had not shared a stage together until late 2008 at Gilbert solo show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Paul was joined onstage by Sheehan and Torpey to perform a couple of covers songs and the three had such a good time together, they contacted Martin a few days later and the reunion was put into motion.
While no concert dates beyond Japan have been announced as yet, the band is looking at possible dates in Southeast Asia and America later in the year.
CLICK HERE to buy Billy Sheehan’s new album ‘Holy Cow’ from CDJapan.co.jp
Here are the dates for Mr. Big’s reunion tour of Japan, courtesy of Burrn! Magazine (although Jenn from Random Chatter Music emailed them to me too, but I saw these first – man, information about this tour’s flying about like picks at an Yngwie concert).
June 05 – Zepp, Sapporo
June 07 – Zepp, Sendai
June 09 – Kouseinenkin Hall, Kanazawa
June 10 – Zepp, Nagoya
June 12 – Zepp, Fukuoka
June 15 – Grand Cube, Osaka
June 17 – Alsok Hall, Hiroshima
June 18 – Kouseinenkin Hall, Osaka
June 20 – Budokan, Tokyo
CLICK HERE to buy Paul Gilbert’s Guitars From Mars 1 DVD or CLICK HERE to buy the Guitars From Mars 2 DVD from CDJapan.co.jp.
Joe Bosso (one of my guitar journalism heroes) from MusicRadar recently spoke with Billy Sheehan about the Mr. Big reunion.
“We got together last fall” says Sheehan. “It was just one of those things, the timing was right. We played a gig at the House Of Blues in LA and we smoked the joint. Afterwards, we all kind of looked at one another and were like, ‘OK, that was cool…Now what?”
“The way I look at it is, it’s like getting back with an old girlfriend,” says Sheehan. “But because you want to, not because you have to. All of us are doing fine in our solo careers. This is something that felt right, and after that one gig we were like, ‘We should do more of these. This was fun!'”
As for the animosity that tore the original lineup apart, Sheehan laughs and says, “You know what? I can’t honestly remember who was mad at who. That’s the great thing about getting older: you forget the bad times and remember the good times. And hopefully, this band will have a lot more of the latter.”
CLICK HERE to read the full interview.
CLICK HERE to buy Billy Sheehan’s new album ‘Holy Cow’ from CDJapan.co.jp