After waiting 15 very long years for Extreme to take to the road again, we are getting our fix any opportunity we can.
Living Colour is one very busy band at the moment. In between dates opening for Extreme, they are also performing their own headlining shows. The way they came out rocking, you’d have thought this was one of their own shows. For 45 minutes straight, they had the Silver Creek Event Center crowd on their feet and fully engaged throughout. This is one of those bands where you’ll know more songs than you realize.
Corey Glover is everything a frontman should be and he brought 120% to his performance. It’s unusual to see an audience interact with an opener as much they do for Living Colour, but with their performance, it’s impossible not to. If you’re heading to any of the future dates on this tour, you have to get yourself there in time for these guys kicking off the evening. To say they warm the crowd up is an understatement.
Last June, the long-awaited release of SIX finally happened. 15 whole years had passed since their last album so fans were nearly rubbing their eyes in disbelief. It can’t be? New music? Hell yeah! With the new album came the announcement of an accompanying tour and the fans were all up for it. After such a long time between tours and new music (and let’s face it, this was a rather lengthy gap), you’d be excused for thinking that was the last we were going to see of them. But alas, the music gods listened and the mighty Extreme returned to the recording studio and tour bus.
While the setlist was very similar to the first half of the tour, there were some changes. Since SIX is that little bit older now, and more people have had a chance to familiarize themselves with it, a good chunk of the night’s set was made up of songs from it. The two new additions were “Hurricane” and “Thicker Than Blood” – the latter of which makes sense since it’s the name of the tour. A good portion of any Extreme show has to be made up of songs from Pornograffitti, with “It(‘s a Monster)” and “Decadence Dance” being the two opening numbers for the evening. Taking it way back for the old school fans, they performed a medley of songs from their first album – “Teacher’s Pet,” “Flesh ‘n’ Blood,” “Wind Me Up,” and “Kid Ego” – as Nuno asked the crowd where they all were when they were starting out and performing to empty music clubs. But never underestimate these fans! They knew every word of every song!
When you go to see bands that have been around for a long time, you can obviously expect to see a more mature age range of fans in attendance. What was particularly refreshing to see at this show was that there were also a good number of really young kids. Unexpected but certainly nice to see. Despite what we are told, rock isn’t dead!! There’s definitely some hope for the younger generations out there.
It’s great to see the camaraderie between band members who have been together for a long time. It was fun to watch how they joked and interacted with each other throughout the set. Gary proved once again he’s ever the frontman as he worked every inch of the stage. It was incredible hearing him sing like he did in the 90s, all the while spinning around and pacing the width of the stage continuously. There was barely a moment that he stood still. The were shout-outs from the crowd of “Nuno’s a God!” and we’re not going to argue with that one. Regardless of how many times you see him play, it is still incredulous. The speed and accuracy are impressive, without the musical element being jeopardized. “Play With Me” is always a fun one to see performed live, especially when he pulls out his yawning while playing with one hand trick. Pat Badger is also a pleasure to see upfront with his longtime bandmates. Whether he was providing the fun bass tones, getting to sing as Gary would thrust the microphone into his face, or the fun interactions with Nuno, he truly looked like he was enjoying every moment of being back on the stage again. Kevin Figueiredo certainly made his presence known and felt from behind his drum kit, but it was fun to see him join his bandmates up front for a few numbers.
Extreme is certainly making up for being absent from touring for so long as the Thicker Than Blood Tour, which began in August last year, continues on throughout 2024. The North American tour dates run through until mid-March before heading to Europe. Be sure to get your fix in while you can!
