For the love of rock

LAST Saturday night, American hard rock band Mr Big took to the stage at the Mega Star Arena in Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian leg of its Defying Gravity World Tour.
The band was in its element performing some of its classic rock hits as well as brand-new songs from its latest album, Defying Gravity.
The five rockers – lead vocalist Eric Martin, bassist Billy Sheehan, guitarist Paul Gilbert, drummer and percussionist Pat Torpey, and fellow drummer Matt Star, who is currently supporting Torpey on the tour due to the latter's Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 2014 – wowed the enthusiastic crowd of some 2,000 die-hard fans.
The concert, organised by Plan 7 Production, saw fans walking down memory lane with Mr Big's gentler hits like Just Take My Heart, Promise Her the Moon, and the song that gave rise to the band's mega success, To Be with You.
Experiencing the American rock band live resulted in an intense urge to cuddle with a loved one, and many concert-goers did just that, seemingly disappearing into an affectionate world, lulled by the music.
Forever and Back and Damn I'm in Love Again, both from the band's latest album, added to the innocent, lovey-dovey vibe, an unexpected sentimental facet to the stereotypical tough image of hard rock.
Of course, things were not all laid-back, as there were some overzealous fans clad in tour T-shirts who were making familiar 'sign of the horns' hand gestures, and the crowd soon got to their feet upon hearing the drumbeats of the upbeat Take Cover.
An intermission with just Gilbert under the spotlight kept the crowd in awe, as the guitarist showed off his mad shredding skills on a white Ibanez guitar, accompanied by amusing facial expressions, obviously revelling in the moment.
Later, Martin whipped out an acoustic guitar for one of the band's more popular 90s hits – a cover of Cat Stevens' cautionary ballad Wild World.
The guitar was also put to good use for the melodies to Damn I'm in Love Again and Promise Her the Moon.
Concert-goers were also quietly mesmerised by Sheehan's swift fingers during the second pause of the show, with all eyes on the pony-tailed bassist, their awe broken only by intervals of spontaneous clapping.
After having the crowd bopping along to 1992, one of the songs from Defying Gravity, the band left the stage, prompting chants of "We want more!" from the crowd.
Of course, the members returned, but instead of resuming their roles, they switched instruments, with Torpey singing lead to a cover of the iconic rock classic by Three Dog Night, Joy to the World.
They ended the night on a high note with Defying Gravity from their namesake album, which got fans hyped and jumping off their seats again.
While the nostalgia factor drew in the fans, the band also had the chance to introduce its new music. Coupled with its powerful performance, the concert was indeed an entertaining one for its fans.
Here's hoping that the show managed to inspire another generation of Mr Big fans.