MR. BIG: Japanese Reunion Dates Announced

February 4, 2009

According to the March 2009 issue of Burrn! magazine, the original lineup of the acclaimed American hard rock supergroup MR. BIG — Eric Martin (vocals),Billy Sheehan (bass),Paul Gilbert (guitar) and Pat Torpey (drums) — will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of its debut album by reuniting for the following Japanese dates in June:

June 05 - Zepp, Sapporo
June 07 - Zepp, Sendai
June 09 - Kouseinenkin Hall, Kanazawa
June 10 - Zepp, Nagoya
June 12 - Zepp, Fukuoka
June 15 - Grand Cube, Osaka
June 17 - Alsok Hall, Hiroshima
June 18 - Kouseinenkin Hall, Osaka
June 20 - Budokan, Tokyo

Billy Sheehan told MusicRadar about MR. BIG's decision to reunite for a tour of Japan, "We got together last fall. It was just one of those things, the timing was right. We played a gig at the House Of Blues in L.A. and we smoked the joint. Afterwards, we all kind of looked at one another and were like, 'OK, that was cool...Now what?'"

He continued, "The way I look at it is, it's like getting back with an old girlfriend. But because you want to, not because you have to. All of us are doing fine in our solo careers. This is something that felt right, and after that one gig we were like, 'We should do more of these. This was fun!'

"We're in this to play and have a good time. When you consider the amount of rehearsals you have to have with a band, how much time you have to spend together, how many hours you have to sit on planes and backstage and whatever, there's no amount of money that can make it worthwhile unless you really want to do it."

A couple of new band photos can be viewed below.

Formed in 1988, MR. BIG is probably best known for its 1991 rock hit "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" as well as the 1992 acoustic smash "To Be With You".

Paul Gilbert left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career and eventually reform RACER X. Richie Kotzen, another Shrapnel artist and former guitarist for POISON, was brought in to take on guitar duties, also contributing occasional vocals. Two studio albums were released by this lineup — "Get Over It" in 2000 and "Actual Size" in 2001, which featured the single "Shine", used as the ending theme in the animation series of "Hellsing".

(Thanks: Metal Zone / Random Chatter Music)

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