Bettencourt’s guitar solos were as top notch as they ever were, especially on his solos on Midnight Express and Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee.
Malaysian rock fans, particularly fans of legendary US hard rock outfit Extreme, have waited a whole generation for their favourites to finally wing their way to our shores for a concert, certainly more than 25 years it took for them to finally get to rock with us on Sunday 10 June 2018 at KL Live, Life Centre, KL, during their Asia Tour 2018.
They were among the greats of the late 80s and early mid 90s (their peers would have been the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Faith No More, Van Halen and others). Indeed although that one anthemic ballad sticks to mind when it came to radio friendly fare, die hards will know there’s far more to the quartet than just More Than Words.
Four studio albums up to 1996, Extreme, Pornograffitti, III Sides to Every Story and Waiting for the Punchline has yielded some handy and familiar rock staples for the classic quartet of Gary Cherrone (vocals), Nuno Bettencourt (guitar/vocals), Pat Badger (bass/backing vocals) and then drummer Paul Geary(Since 2007, though, it has been Kevin Figueiredo on the sticks and backing vocals), and it was these four albums that served as the music focus for the KL concert appearance.
First up for the night’s proceedings though, local indie rock band Estranged took up the mantle of support for the local crowd, very much in the know to give them some handy support. The half hour renditions of some of their local well known repertoire certainly went down well.
Barely a quarter of an hour wait in between and Extreme came on without a fuss and immediately smashed into the first stretch – Nuno Bettencourt, Gary Cherone, Pat Badger and drummer since 2007 Kevin Figueiredo – all it took was these four on stage … clean and simple.
Perhaps it was kind of the same tour programme as their now well-documented European and World tour late last year trailing through a greatest hits package through served the audience best.
Tracks like It’s A Monster, Li’l Jack Horny, Get The Funk Out, Rest In Peace, Hip Today, Play With Me served up the first stretch for the band.
The so called acoustic-ish part (or at least partly so) with Tragic Comic and Hole Hearted, Midnight Express (a Nuno guitar solo), Cupid’s Dead, Am I Ever Gonna Change, Take Us Alive and the singalong session with More than Words made the middle section of the performance.
And then there was the climactic end with Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee (another Nuno guitar effort) and He-Man Woman Hater, Decadence Dance, with an encore tribute to Queen in We Are The Champions thrown in past the end.
Photo credit IMC Live Group Malaysia
All pretty much nicely done in about 100 minutes, the energy level from the band was what you would expect, Cherrone’s stage prancing and antics and strident vocals belying his long years in the scene (which included a stint fronting Van Halen in the mid late 90s), well supported by Badger on bass and backing vocals, as well as Bettencourt on vocals and Figueiredo on drums.
Bettencourt’s guitar solos were as top notch as they ever were, especially on his solos on Midnight Express and Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee.
The crowd of some 1,000 (give or take) pretty obviously had a good night out. Singalongs were frequent … and the number of thank you’s from the band throughout the night to the audience was keen indication that the band were suitably somewhat surprised and very pleased with the healthy support our local fans gave them that night, even throughout their career, as they found out.
Photo credit IMC Live Group Malaysia
Indeed, it was a good night out for everyone, and for sure, a good sign from concert promoters that more good music is in the offing, albeit maybe not quite so soon from Extreme, who did at least announce that hopefully it won’t be another 25 years before they return to our shores for another concert.
Extreme Asia Tour 2018 – Malaysia is proudly organised by IMC Live Group Malaysia. And next up for them – Daughtry Live in KL.
