When I told friends I was covering Extreme’s February 14 show at the Ogden, they joked that seeing a “90’s heavy metal hair band” on Valentine’s Day seemed like an oxymoron. I reminded them that the band’s biggest hits – songs that peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at positions 1 and 4, respectively – were the acoustic love songs “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted”. Mic drop.
That’s not to say that an evening with Extreme is akin to an evening with Barry Manilow (who, I am not ashamed to admit, I’ve also seen perform live). What it is to say is that if your understanding of what an evening with Extreme is going to be like is based on the hair metal image presented on the cover of the band’s 1989 self-titled debut album, you would be dead wrong.
Extreme could just as easily be called Enigma because that’s exactly what they can be. This band has layers, my friends. They can, and do, rock with the best of them. But they also possess finely tuned softer sensibilities. One minute their vocal arrangements are down and dirty, and the next they hit us with soaring harmonies. They can get funky, inserting scene stealing horn arrangements when you least expect them. And guitarist Nuno Bettencourt is a bona fide virtuoso. (And I do not throw that term around loosely.)
They brought all of that to their show at the Ogden last night, delivering a twenty-two song set (I’m counting the four-song medley from their debut album as one), with a running time of just over two hours, to an exceptionally raucous, sold-out school night crowd.
In addition to the previously mentioned Bettencourt, Extreme is made up of original members Gary Cherone on lead vocals and Pat Badger on bass, plus Kevin Figueiredo (who joined the band in 2007) on drums. After releasing four albums between 1989 and 1995, they disbanded in 1996. They reformed in 2004, releasing their fifth album, Saudades de Rock, in 2008. (If you’re not counting, that’s a gap of 13 years.)
It would be another fifteen years before the band would release their sixth/current album, 2023’s aptly titled Six. In the ensuing years each of the members pursued their own solo and group projects, including Cherone’s short stint as lead vocalist with Van Halen, and Bettencourt’s time as touring guitarist for Rihanna.
After fifteen years apart, you might wonder whether the reformed band would still “have it.” I’m sure if you asked that question of any of the members of last night’s crowd, you’d get a rousing response of something like “damn straight”. (Okay, I cleaned that up a LOT.)
The first seven songs of the set were full tilt rockers, from the opening “It (‘s a Monster),” the first of six songs from the new album, “#REBEL,” and concluding with “Play With Me,” the song that was used in the mall chase scene from the film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Included in that opening assault was the previously mentioned four-song medley of “Teacher’s Pet”, ”Flesh ‘n’ Blood”, ”Wind Me Up”, and ”Kid Ego.”
Following that extended warm-up, it was time for the first of three softer interludes. This one included “OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW” (from Six) followed by “Hole Hearted.” For these two songs drummer Figueiredo stepped forward to play a stand-up drum kit… a genuinely nice touch that brought all four members of the band front and center.
Figueiredo returned to his regular kit to kick off a short drum solo, before being joined by Cherone singing excerpts from “Shake Your Money Maker” and Sam Cooke’s “Cupid,” the latter serving as an apt intro for the funk rocker “Cupid’s Dead”, from the band’s 1992 album III Sides To Every Story.
The second slow-down interlude of the evening followed two songs later, with everyone except Bettencourt exiting the stage. Picking up an acoustic and telling the crowd that this was his favorite part of the set because he finally got a chance to sit down, Nuno blazed through the instrumental “Midnight Express.” If you’re not familiar with that tune, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Once you hear it, you’ll fully understand my earlier reference to Bettencourt as a virtuoso.
Cherone returned to the stage to join Bettencourt for “Hurricane” and “More Than Words,” after which Bettencourt noted that it was time to return to rock and roll. With Badger and Figueiredo returning to the stage, the band tore into “BANSHEE” from the new album, which they introduced by singing the chorus from Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.”
The regular set concluded with a rousing version of “Take Us Alive,” followed by Bettencourt’s signature instrumental “Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee” and concluding with a dazzling version of “Get The Funk Out.”
Following a brief exit, the band returned to the stage for a three-song encore that began mellow, then ended blazing. “SMALL TOWN BEAUTIFUL” led directly into “Song For Love,” before the band brought the house down with “RISE,” from Six.
While the song selection was terrific, what really made last night’s show memorable was (a) the extraordinary musical and vocal talent on display, and (b) Bettencourt’s interactions with the crowd. Beyond Bettencourt’s already established virtuosity, every member of the band is at the top of their class when it comes to talent. Cherone’s vocal range is incredible. The harmonies between Cherone, Badger and Bettencourt are stunning. Badger’s bass lines are highlight material. And Figueiredo was simply spectacular behind both kits.
Bettencourt takes most of the bows as the band’s frontman. Early in the set, after asking for a show of hands for people seeing the band for the first time, he quipped, “What took you so long… it’s only been like 38 years”, before expressing his gratitude to the newbies for joining in the fun. Later, when semi-joking about the extended time between the release of their fourth, fifth and sixth albums, he noted that from the beginning the band had committed to not releasing material simply for the sake of doing so… that they wouldn’t release anything that wasn’t meaningful to them, and that they weren’t completely proud of, regardless of how long that took.
That’s understandable, and admirable. And given the quality of the new album, as well as the quality of last night’s live show, it could be argued that it was worth the wait. But here’s to hoping we don’t have to wait anywhere near that long for the next album, or to get a chance to see them perform live once again.
Story and photos by Rick Witt www.rickwittphotography.com
