Last time Extreme visited our shores was back in 2018 when they brought along Mr. Big for the ride. This time not only do they have a wonderful new album under their belt in ‘Six’ but they have brought along Living Colour for the ride, a band like Extreme who blurred musical boundaries back in the heady days of the lates 80’s / early 90’s. It’s a match made in heaven and tonight in Perth the packed house is treated to two stunning sets by two bands very much at their live best. It’s a double bill made in funky guitar hero heaven
Tonight in Perth Living Colour put their ‘rockiest’ foot forward opening with a slice of Led Zeppelin’s immortal ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ in a set that takes in a bit of everything from outrageous Metal guitar mayhem to a slice of Hip Hop and Soul – if their set was a smorgasbord you’d be taking the plate up till you burst! And it’s an appreciative crowd to greet them to the stage on a wintry Wednesday night in Perth.
As frontmen go Corey Glover has it all – the slick moves, the patter and the vocal range that still puts the majority to shame, tonight there’s no white suit, instead a shock of white dreads as he announces “Let’s do it” and the band launches into that killer riff. It gets the crowd onside and singing from the off as he lets them fill in the gaps. And as Vernon wails away it’s Doug and Will on bass and drums that set the groove.
We get a bit of everything tonight in a hour long set that threatens to lift the roof of this grand old theatre. ‘Leave It Alone’ follows and tells the story of a set that bobs and weaves and changes tempo throughout. It’s a funky soulful number that you can’t help but move along to as Vernon Reid creates mayhem on the six string.
“This is not a sitting down show by the way” Glover announces riling the crowd to rise to their feet and indeed they stay that way for the entire set at the all seated venue. It’s some feat so early on!
The funky ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ jumps right out next to get the now standing crowd swaying “You Alright?” he asks repeatedly as the song closes. We are now! More funked up mayhem follows before the power of ‘Auslander’ pummels the crowd into submission.
“It has come to my attention that there are people still sitting down – I’m coming to you if you don’t get up” Corey threatens, to be greeted by roars of approval as he indeed enters the audience and gets the one seated person in the house to stand up!
There’s another wonderful change of pace for a gentle cover of the Prince classic ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. It’s an inspired moment and the set continues to work its sonically fluctuating magic with Glover showing his incredible range on the intro to ‘Open Letter to a Landlord’ replete with a wonderful crowd singalong that is only the first of the crowd’s great vocal moments tonight.
The remainder of the set seems to fly by and is so full of highlights it’s hard to keep track when you’re dancing so hard! ‘Love Rears It’s Ugly Head’ is spectacular and Reid’s tone is simply wonderful, whilst Glover is again off the charts. ‘Glamour Boys’ adds the calypso tinged fun and then Doug steps into the spotlight to showcase a tribute to the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop and it’s a wonderful mash of all the classics from Melle Mel, The Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash. An unexpected and rather rocked out tribute that doesn’t miss a beat and has the Rock crowd singing along with open minds and open hearts.
We’re rocking out to ‘Type’ next with Glover screaming like Steven Tyler in the breakdown and of course next comes ‘Cult of Personality’ to lift the roof. People have been calling out for it all night and at one point Glover responds to a heckler with “As if we’re not going to play that one” It’s a song that defines Living Colour for some but in truth it only scratches the surface on the musical make-up of a band that manages to meld styles at will and who have produced some of the best music of their career on their last few releases which are sadly underrepresented here. It’s still the perfect way to almost close as we go out with a crowd infused ‘What’s Your Favorite Color?’.
It looks like Extreme will have their work cut out as half the crowd retire to the bar.
LIVING COLOUR PERTH SETLIST: Rock ‘n’ Roll | Leave It Alone | Ignorance is Bliss | Auslander | Nothing Compares 2 U | Open Letter to a Landlord | Love Rears It’s Ugly Head | Glamour Boys | Hip Hop Medley featuring – White Lines / Apache / The Message | Type | Cult of Personality | What’s Your Favorite Color?
Extreme indeed have a hard act to follow and as Nuno tells us later as does he following the performance of Vernon Reid! But they rise to the occasion with huge style.
My favourite riffs in Rock would always have ‘It’s’ in there and to start off the set with what is probably still my Extreme favourite song is genius. and it immediately gets the crowd rocking again after the refreshment break. Who couldn’t be moved by that Monster riff! I remember telling Nuno that in my latest interview with him and so to get it first up leaves me completely satisfied from the off. It ends with Nuno’s first and far from last solo and it’s clear that already the crowd is in the palm of Extreme’s collective hands.
‘Decadence Dance’ follows and sees Cherone come into the spotlight, he’s one of those completely unique frontmen who has a style of his own that combines dance moves and mike stand acrobatics with a little Freddie Mercury, a touch of James Brown and the thrown shapes of a circus performer! The crowd is already belting out the words and whilst not everyone is yet on their feet, like during Living Colour’s set they soon will be!
Despite an earlier muddy bass sound that is rectified after a few songs it’s all energy to kick things off: and of course Nuno is everywhere! But let’s give a nod first to the rhythm section – tonight Kevin Figueiredo on drums and Pat Badger on bass are on fire!
‘Rebel’ from the latest record comes next, unannounced, and it fits the tempo perfectly. When we last spoke Nuno talked about curating a setlist and the dynamics at play and the harmonies and sublime solo of ‘Rest In Peace’ rip it up next before the hypnotic refrain of the bass driven ‘Hip Today’.
Now we all of course know the band’s reverence for Queen and we are soon treated to a snatch of ‘We Will Rock You’ as an introduction to the classic ‘Play With Me’ – it’s guitar heaven! As the songs nears an end Gary shouts “There is only one Nuno” as the guitar blazes before Nuno adds “You guys feeling OK” to roars of approval before adding “That’s great because it’s 7 in the morning for us and we’re feeling pretty fucked right now!” to laughter.
After joking that he never knows what to expect after Extreme puts out a new album “every 300 years” Nuno thanks the crowd telling them about the band’s commitment and talking down a rowdy interrupter before joking that he just got cancelled again! You can feel both the respect and the passion as he speaks and thanks the audience for welcoming the new record. Then jokes about missing his wardrobe change as a roadie brings out a hat he “overpaid for in Nashville.” It’s a nice moment as he asks permission to play something off of ‘Six’.
‘Other Side of the Rainbow’ is actually my favourite track from the new record and as Nuno takes to the acoustic the crowd immediately take to the song and sing along. It’s a beautiful moment to see a crowd for a band of a certain vintage to react so well to a new song and live it sounds absolutely wonderful.
“We need your voices for this one” Nuno tells the crowd as he launches into ‘Hole Hearted’ – it’s at this point you realise after your decades of concert going you might just be listening to the most vocally talented crowd you’ve ever been part of! (my not singing may have added to that quality). It’s the biggest applause of the night so far and even Nuno tells us “You guys can sing! You really can – you should all start a band!”
There’s a demi-drum solo that introduces a take on James Brown’s ‘Sex Machine’ and Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid’ before we segue into an intensely funky and immensely satisfying version of ‘Cupid’s Dead’. It’s spotlight on Nuno again then for another, this time resonant, solo that builds and ebbs and flows wonderfully and leads into ‘Am I Ever Gonna Change’.
There’s a wonderful change of pace again as Nuno announces “This is my favourite part of the show now, I get to sit down. “When you hit 55 sitting down is like having an orgasm” The crowd seems split on that one for a second but laugh along! “Let’s all sit down and have an orgasm together! How good does that feel” Nuno asks before thanking Living Colour to huge applause.
It’s a huge moment as Nuno launches into a wonderfully evocative acoustic solo before Gary joins him on a freshly placed stool to break into an extended ‘More Than Words’ that is yet another indication of how great the crowd is at holding a tune! It’s sublime. The applause is deafening!
We’re electrified again for a ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ led ‘Banshee’ another new track that goes down remarkably well proving that the majority of the crowd have definitely sunk their teeth into ‘Six’. We’re then introduced to a “Good old West Australian hoe-down” as we get all countrified with ‘Saudades De Rock’s’ ‘Take Us Alive’ coupled with a take on Elvis’ ‘That’s All Right’. It’s another stroke of Extreme genius.
Before he can launch into ‘Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee’ Nuno is pestered for an autograph from the front row “Don’t ask me for a fucking autograph now I’m working!” he laughs “I’m doing complicate shit up here” he tells them before working that guitar magic yet again. It’s party time again as the set proper ends with the crowd on their feet and dancing for ‘Get the Funk Out’.
It’s a confident band that can come out for an encore with two new songs, but also a band who knows their audience. We close a wonderful night with two more songs from Extreme’s latest album ‘Six’ that really showcase the diversity of the band and the album – first the delicate ‘Small Town Beautiful’ drenched in melodies and subtlety before the riff monster that is ‘Rise’ – the song with ‘that’ guitar solo. It’s the perfect way to close and shows that Extreme, even if they have left it a while between albums, have this time hit the nail right on the head.
What a night in Perth! Two bands at the top of their game mixing it up and making up one of the most memorable double bills of recent years. You cannot miss this.
EXTREME SETLSIT PERTH: It (‘s a Monster) | Decadence Dance | #REBEL | Rest in Peace | Hip Today | Play with Me (with We Will Rock You intro) | Other Side of the Rainbow | Hole Hearted | Cupid’s Dead (with Sex Machine and Cupid intro) | Am I Ever Gonna Change | Midnight Express | More Than Words | Banshee (with ‘at Bottom Girls intro) | Take Us Alive / That’s All Right | Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee | Get the Funk Out
ENCORES: Small Town Beautiful | Rise
