The stories Mr. Big could tell Manila

MANILA, Philippines - As Mr. Big lead vocalist Eric Martin mentioned in a recent interview with United Rock Nations about its  latest album The Stories We Could Tell, “That title is Billy (Sheehan, the bassist) saying that people just don’t know how we started, how we survived in Mr. Big, how we broke up and even how we resurrected and got back together. He goes ‘Oh man, the stories we could tell…’ When he said that we all looked at each other and had a light bulb moment. Boom, that was it man…”

Tomorrow, Oct. 31, Martin and the rest of Mr. Big — bassist Billy, guitarist Paul Gilbert and drummer Pat Torpey (who, despite his documented fight with Parkinson’s Disease will still be present) — will be rocking Manila once again after their sensational first show in Manila held last May 10, 2011. This time, they’ll be doing it in a bigger stage — the MOA Arena, Pasay City. And boy, do they have stories to tell, old and new, as they perform hits classics such as Take Cover, their cover of the Cat Stevens classic Wild World, Green Tinted Sixties Mind, Just Take My Heart and To Be with You, among many others alongside songs from their new album which is being hailed by critics for injecting more of their blues and classic rock influences without losing that Mr. Big flavor. The show is produced by PULP Live World and presented by 28 Black.

“We wrote songs individually and collectively on this new record,” Martin said in a recent interview with PULP Magazine. “To me, this is the album that we threatened to make decades ago. A classic, groovin’, blues rock record with the spirit and spark of our rock and soul idols from the ‘70s.”

Mr. Big formed in 1988 and gained a worldwide following for its brand of pop-rock music and impressive musicianship. The sophomore album Lean Into It was its commercial breakthrough, with the aforementioned To Be With You, hitting No. 1 in 14 countries and Just Take My Heart charting worldwide as well. When asked by Uber Rock about being pigeonholed for its hit single, Sheehan said, “(I feel stereotyped) only in a good way. (I don’t understand how) people would always come to me saying ‘Oh, that must have been terrible’ when it was such a huge hit. We were popping corks. We were so happy; we were No. 1 in 14 countries. We almost got killed, literally on three different occasions with crowds going out of control… but what a way to die. All on its own without any record label (support), our second album just started to take off. It’s a great song and I still love playing it to this day.”

There is no doubt that Mr. Big has a soft spot for the Philippines. “In the Philippines, they did a petition to make sure Mr. Big would play there on our last tour. They got thousands of signatures that urged us to come to the Philippines,” Sheehan narrated in an interview with www.guitar.com.

Being a band for over two decades is no small feat, especially after having survived the drastic changes in musical trends, a break-up in 2002 and its drummer’s bout with a serious disease. Mr. Big is definitely one of the very few bands that are fortunate enough to continue telling their stories through great music, so it would be a shame for Filipino Mr. Big fans to miss out on its return this Halloween.

(Tickets are priced at P4,000 [VIP 1 and 2]; P3,500 [Patron], P2,500 [Lower Box A]; P1,800 [Lower Box B]; and P1,200 [Lower Box C]. They can be purchased at all SM Tickets outlets nationwide and www.smtickets.com. For PULP Royalty inquiries that offer special and exclusive fan privileges, e-mail at [email protected] or call 727-4957. The official residence of Mr. Big in Manila is Midas Hotel & Casino. The show is presented by MYX, The Philippine STAR, Monster Radio RX 93.1, Astroplus and Odyssey Music & Video.)