Newton Theatre to welcome Mr. Big

NEWTON — The Newton Theatre welcomes hard rock’s original supergroup Mr. Big on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at 8 p.m.
Mr. Big formed in 1988 and immediately began to solidify their place in music history, with their trademark "shredding" musicianship and awesome vocal harmonies. Their hit songs range across an array of rock genres — ballads, heavy metal, and blues rock, including Alive and Kicking, Just Take My Heart and the chart-topping, smash hit To Be With You.
The real story often comes through in the music. That’s definitely the case for Mr. Big. In fact, their seventh full-length album, the appropriately titled The Stories We Could Tell (Frontiers Records), offers an unfiltered glimpse into the journey of these multi-platinum hard rock icons—Eric Martin (vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Pat Torpey (drums).
“Fans think they know their favorite band from the press, but there’s a lot they never realize,” explains Eric. “There’s always more than meets the eye. Most folks don’t know the trials and tribulations that went into the making of, survival of, demise of, and resurrection of our rock ‘n’ roll band. We want to tell them.”
It’s quite a tale too. After a highly successful ten-month tour behind 2011’s What If..., the members took a short break to pursue various endeavors. Billy rocked with The Winery Dogs, Paul released his 12th solo album Vibrato, and Eric engaged in a “never-ending”, as he affectionately refers to it, solo acoustic tour.
In 2013, the vocalist began developing some ideas in the group’s collective Dropbox aka “rock vault”. He regrouped with producer Pat Regan (Kiss, Deep Purple) and Torpey at the latter’s home studio in North Hollywood. As they began to flesh out song structures, it was clear that Torpey wasn’t himself.
“I could sense something was wrong,” sighs Eric. “One day, we sat on the couch and he just told me, ‘Hey man, I’ve got Parkinson’s Disease’. It was unbelievable. Despite it, he still pushed through all that and recorded. That shows what kind of character he is. He worked his ass off on this album, and he was fighting this huge adversity. We’re a brotherhood, and we rallied around our friend to make this work.”
For the first time since their self-titled debut, the boys wrote in the same room together live. Eric also had a certain vision for The Stories We Could Tell, and his comrades embraced it. “I was trying to get a theme going,” he says. “I picked the bluesier riffs that we had been kicking around, and everything moved in that direction. This is the first time we’ve really had a cohesive theme.”
That spirit courses through the album opener and first single Gotta Love The Ride. With a distinct groove, impressive six-string shredding, and driving beat, it ignites the roller coaster for Mr. Big. I Forget To Breathe marvels at the breadth and scope of life’s wonders, while the soulful Just Let Your Heart Decide illuminates Mr. Big’s simultaneous instrumental prowess and knack for a ballad.
The Stories We Could Tell continues certain musical traditions Mr. Big began over 25 years ago. To date, the band has played sold out songs all over the globe and released three consecutive platinum albums — Mr. Big (1989), Lean Into It (1991), and Bump Ahead (1993). They’ve been responsible for smashes including To Be With You, which spent 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and propelled the band to huge international success, and multi-platinum sales. Mr. Big continues to be a touring force with sold-out shows around the globe. Their story is only getting better with each passing year.
Tickets for Mr. Big range from $44.00 to $59.00. Purchase tickets by visiting www.thenewtontheatre.com or contact the Box Office at 973-383-3700.