So, this isn't going to be an in-depth review I'm afraid, because I'm writing it 4 weeks after
the gig (sorry, been busy...). All in all though, it was a night of extremes (pardon the pun) for the
former guitar virtuoso of Extreme. I've always been a massive fan of Nuno, especially his solo
work, so I was really keen to see him live (finally). It was a fairly underadvertised show - I found
out from a friend of a friend. But it was cheap! $25, tickets on the door only. Anyway, a sample of the
setlist:
- Gravity (always a good opener)
- Cupid's Dead
- Midnight Express (Nuno joked "I'm getting paid by the note for this gig, so this song is
to pay the bills")
- Play With Me
- My Charona
- Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee
- He-Man Woman Hater
- Get The Funk Out (complete with audience participation part - where 2 guys got up on stage and had
a play along. First one was pretty good, second guy was a complete tool, just a real knob)
- More Than Words
- Probably another 6 or so songs, 3 of them completely new.
In summary, here's the good and the bad of the gig...
Good:
- The songs: I didn't realise how much I liked Nuno's songwriting. I got a new appreciation for his
tunes (solo stuff and Extreme)
- Position: was basically front row (one guy in front of me, but he moved to the side), directly
in front of Nuno. Saw all the fretboard wizardry about a metre away from me. That was indescribably
cool.
- Midnight Express: pulled off to perfection
- Nuno's singing was really good (always a worry for a guitarist)
- The showoff stuff - solo's, Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee, etc. This is what I came to see, and
there was plenty of it.
- Nuno's sense of humour - hecklers, shit going wrong, corny song intros - that was all very funny.
And now the bad:
- Being told the gig was on at 7:30pm, then finding out that Nuno would be on stage at 8:45pm (or something like that),
to be kept waiting listening to Led Zeppelin a half hour after the show was supposed to start. Not happy about that.
- Technical difficulties (causing about 5 minutes of screwing around with guitar cables to get Nuno's acoustic up
and running for Midnight Express)
- Hecklers - yep, there was a few drunken idiots in there, and some not-drunk dipshits there as well, yelling out
to Nuno to play shit he was never going to play. Why do people think bands will change their setlist on a whim, just
because you're yelling out the name of one of their songs?
- Camera phones. I actually got really pissed at how many people were taking pictures and the ensuing pushing and
shoving to get a picture - a new phenomenon which if not addressed is really gonna start to make me mad. It's just so
invasive to your experience when someone shoves their arm out in front of your face to take a picture of the band.
But all in all I had a good time - and was stoked to see him in that intimate arena, the good and the bad.
Inspirational stuff for a guitarist, really cool to listen to.
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