Extreme at Bristol 02 Academy Review
Posted on: 2017-12-19
Our rating:
It didn’t take long before the mic was being held out to the audience and front man Gary Cherone said: “Bristol – I can’t hear you! Are you ready to rock?”. The response was of course, a very hearty, enthusiastic and loud yes!
Bristol’s 02 Academy was rammed with a sold out appreciative crowd when American rockers Extreme put on an extremely high-energy, blood pumping performance on Monday night (18th December).
Reaching the height of their fame in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, this band have enjoyed worldwide success and sold out arenas; I was acutely aware of how special this gig was to everyone who was there as the majority of people sang along to most of the songs as they punched the air with their fists. The Extreme t-shirts were out in full force and you could hear people relaying tales of when they last saw them before the gig started.
Everyone looked genuinely over the moon to be at this performance and when Extreme first burst onto the stage with ‘It’s a Monster’, the crowd roared with excitement for what was to come. It didn’t take long before the mic was being held out to the audience and front man Gary Cherone said: “Bristol – I can’t hear you! Are you ready to rock?”. The response was of course, a very hearty, enthusiastic and loud yes!
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a band work up this much of a sweat and look like they are genuinely enjoying it at the same time; you wouldn’t believe that these guys are in their 50s by the way they were throwing themselves around as they rocked out. At one stage during the set, Gary even climbed the light apparatus to the left hand side of the stage – causing a couple of people separate from the band to rush in and hold it steady. That’s what people expected and wanted to see and they got it with gusto!
It was fantastic the way they got the crowd going and their interaction with us was constant; during the song ‘Get the Funk Out’ – they got us waving our hands from side to side and they got such a massive applause at the end of this tune that my eardrums literally wobbled in my ears.
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Original Extreme member Nuno Bettencourt stole our attention consistently as he played his guitar with enough passion to light up the whole of Bristol and it was virtually impossible to pull your eyes away from him. His guitar solos were mesmerising and unbelievably fast; he is truly one of the best out there in the industry.
We got new songs, we got some older hits and as Gary said: “On this tour, we’ve dusted off some songs that we haven’t done in 25 years!” before they then launched into their 1992 track ‘Tragic Comic’. By hearing a back catalogue of their music, it reminded me how amazing they must be because to survive in this business that long – you’ve got to have that special something. They clearly have a loyal fanbase around the world and their sold out shows everywhere speaks volumes.
The Bristol crowd really enjoyed the banter Extreme had with us and they erupted with happiness when Gary said: “There’s too many people in here – it’s hot and sweaty! Are you enjoying the show? The UK is kicking Europe’s ass on this tour and they were pretty good.”
After most of the room helped them sing their 1990 song ‘Hole Hearted’, they thanked us after they got another huge round of claps: “We think you’re singing better than we are! You should all get together after this gig and start a band together. It will be hard to start with though. We love you for coming tonight and we don’t take you for granted at all.”
Having Extreme back in Bristol after so many years was such a special occasion and their set didn’t have one down moment where people got bored; after performing 17 songs – they came back on to an encore of four more and people went crazy when the opening of their 1990 hit ‘More than Words’ struck up. They ended on a Queen cover of ‘We are the Champions’ and I don’t think anyone in the audience would have disagreed with that statement in any way.
Article by:
Kelly worked as a journalist for the BBC for 12 years before she changed careers and went into the field of marketing. Having worked at BBC 6 Music for several years, she is passionate about many different genres of sound. Her other interests include theatre, comedy, books, food and days out with the family (she has a young daughter who she describes as a "whirlwind of fun.") Kelly is married to Vik who is a true Bristolian to the core! She is also studying nutritional therapy.
