Mr. Big said farewell with its The Big Finish tour, which wrapped up Aug. 23 at Romania’s Way Too Far Rock festival and is documented on The Big Finish Live album and DVD coming out Friday, Sept. 6. The group plans to make an actual finish next February, with a couple of shows in Japan. But if frontman Eric Martin has his way, the “To Be With You” quartet may well be with us again in the future. Talking to Billboard via Zoom from his home in San Rafael, CA, Martin admits to having second thoughts about packing the band in 35 years after its debut album.
That’s the plan, however, after what are being billed as the final two shows – Feb. 22 in Osaka and Feb. 25 at the Budokan in Tokyo, where The Big Finish Live was recorded last July 26. But Martin says that if Mr. Big’s days as a touring or even a live act are indeed over, he doesn’t think the band has to stop completely. He is open to having Zoom calls to write songs and release them. Martin formed Mr. Big in Los Angeles during 1988 with bassist Billy Sheehan, adding guitarist Paul Gilbert, his chief songwriting partner, and drummer Pat Torpey.
The group broke big with its second album, 1991’s platinum Lean Into it — which Mr. Big performed in its entirety throughout the farewell tour; it contained Mr. Big’s biggest single, the chart topping ballad “To Be With You.” The band went through some lineup changes before breaking up in 2002, resuming seven years later and working sporadically since. Torpey, who Martin calls “the band’s referee,” passed away in 2018 of complications from Parkinson’s disease; Nick D’Virgilio from Spock’s Beard, and other bands was Mr. Big’s final drummer. Martin says he was gratified that Mr. Big recorded the Ten album — which was also a contractual obligation — even if it doesn’t rock quite as hard as he or Sheehan might have preferred.
The Big Finish Live album and film, meanwhile, was decided upon not too long before last summer’s Budokan shows — just six days after the 13-month tour began. The 26 songs include the entirety of the Lean Into It album, as well as covers of Humble Pie’s “30 Days in the Hole,” the Olympics’ “Good Lovin’” with the band members on different instruments and the Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” It also features a five-song acoustic section capped by Cat Stevens’ “Wild World.”
Martin doesn’t have too much time to spend mourning Mr. Big’s conclusion, however. He, along with Night Ranger’s Jack Blades, is about to head back to Japan to tour with the Tak Matsumoto Group, which he started with 20 years ago and which reformed and released a new album earlier this year. He’s anticipating some solo shows after that, on his own acoustically and possibly with a backing band.