This was the last American date of the Mr. Big American tour, and they ended it in a BIG way in the BIG state of Texas ! First of all, our seats were great (second row, upper balcony) and aside from some female patronages who partook in perhaps one (or four) too many margaritas, our view was impeccable. The staff of the House of Blues was great; very helpful and courteous, even if their concession prices were ridiculous. (They even admitted so themselves)
Anyways, on to the concert: After the opening acts of Forever Falls and Gravity, who, to me, seemed like odd choices for openers. Mr. Big started off with a face melting rendition of "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy" (The Electric Drill Song) complete with electric drills, of course. Throughout the night they played an amazing set of classics and many tracks off of their new album, "What If...." Of course, Paul's solo was amazing, as was Billy's. I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't play "I Won't Get in My Way" or "All The Way Up" but these are just my personal favorites off of the new album, aside from "Undertow" which they did a rockin' job of.
My favorite part of the night, however, was when they all switched instruments not once, but twice while playing a spot-on rendition of Deep Purple's "Smoke on The Water." For the first half of the song, Paul was on Drums, Eric on Guitar, Pat on Bass and Billy sang. Then, for the solo section and rest of the song, they switched again (except Paul) with Eric going to the Bass, Billy on Guitar (and playing a note-for-note re-creation of the famous solo, all without a pick mind you!) and Pat singing. Like I said, this was my favorite part of the night. I had no idea Paul was such an amazing drummer. He absolutely owned that song! It's not bad enough that he completely blows everyone out of the water with his guitar playing, but now he has to go and make drummers feel inadequate too. ;)
After this, they played another cover to close the show. (The Who, "Baba O'Riley") I'm not a big Who fan, or a fan of this song in particular, but Mr. Big did a great job of it. I especially liked Paul playing the iconic keyboard riff. But I was also very surprised to see Eric get off the stage and go shake hands, fist bump, etc. with the crowd while singing.
Overall, it was an amazing concert put on by world class musicians who are in tip-top shape. Every single member of this band is an amazing musician, not to mention just all around great guys. There are no egos or big headed-syndrome in this band; just four guys having a good time, and I'm glad they made Texas a part of it.
I absolutely can't wait for the next Mr. Big release and subsequent tour. Hopefully they will come back to the House of Blues. But regardless of where they go, I would definitely see them again!