Mr. Big Reunion 2009 and Beyond
A near Mr. Big "one-off" reunion took place on May 13, 2008, in Los Angeles at the House Of Blues when Paul Gilbert was joined onstage by Pat Torpey, Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan for renditions of Humble Pie's '30 Days In The Hole' and original Mr. Big composition 'Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy'. Reportedly, the three had such an amazing time that they decided to contact Eric Martin a few days later, and a reunion of the four original members (Paul, Eric, Pat, and Billy) was put into motion.
The reunion was first officially announced on February 1, 2009, in a Japanese radio program called "Heavy Metal Syndicate by Koh Sakai". The interviews and press conferences that followed short within the first two weeks of February revealed plans of the band to tour Japan in June 2009 and to release new albums. A world tour followed suit, with two date all across Europe, and several gigs in South East Asia, particularly in India, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea.
In 2010, Eric participated in a tribute album titled Mister Bolin’s Late Night Revival, a compilation of 17 previously unreleased tracks written by guitar legend Tommy Bolin prior to his death in 1976. The CD includes other artists such as HiFi Superstar, Doogie White, Troy Luccketta, Jeff Pilson, Randy Jackson, Rachel Barton, Rex Carroll, Derek St. Holmes, Kimberley Dahme, and The 77’s. A percentage of the proceeds from this project will benefit the Jackson Recovery Centers.
Mr. Big recorded in 2010 a new album called What If... produced by Kevin Shirley and released early 2011.
On May 10, 2011, after almost two decades, Mr. Big stepped on-stage at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines. The band performed most of the songs from "Lean Into It", with the crowd singing along. The band also introduced a couple of new songs from "What If". It was an amazing night in Manila and they promised to come back sooner, with Eric Martin citing the how long it took for the band before they came back. A standing ovation after the performance was hailed by screaming Filipinos fans "We want more" resulting to two more encores.
The band recently embarked on a very successful South American tour that ended with two dates in Brazil, the last of which in the city of Porto Alegre on July 10, where, according to Eric Martin himself, Mr. Big had a great "end of the tour party" live in front of over 2,000 wildly cheering fans who jam-packed the local rock venue Bar Opinião. Tickets were sold out several days in advance. Martin referred to the crowd's reaction as "phenomenal", and promised the band would be back in town in the future.
Read more about this topic: Eric Martin (musician)
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