HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (Feb. 18, 2009) — Yamaha Guitars is happy to announce Yamaha bassist
Billy Sheehan will be reuniting with the American hard rock supergroup Mr. Big, and they will be touring Japan in honor of their 20th Anniversary. The original lineup – featuring Eric Martin (vocals),
Sheehan (bass), Paul Gilbert (guitar) and Pat Torpey (drums) – held a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, Feb. 9 to answer questions about their upcoming tour and other future activities.
During this press conference, the group also performed a short set (with Billy Sheehan playing his Yamaha
ATT LTD II signature bass) consisting of "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy," "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind," "Wild World," and "Alive And Kickin'"
The following tour dates have been announced:
June 05 - Zepp, Sapporo
June 07 - Zepp, Sendai
June 09 - Kouseinenkin Hall, Kanazawa
June 10 - Zepp, Nagoya
June 12 - Zepp, Fukuoka
June 15 - Grand Cube, Osaka
June 17 - Alsok Hall, Hiroshima
June 18 - Kouseinenkin Hall, Osaka
June 20 - Budokan, Tokyo
Mr. Big's concert at Budokan in Tokyo on June 20 will be filmed and recorded for an upcoming DVD and CD.
Formed in 1988, Mr. Big is best known for its 1991 rock hit "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" as well as the 1992 acoustic smash "To Be With You."
In a recent interview, Sheehan told MusicRadar, "We got together last fall. It was just one of those things, the timing was right. We played a gig at the House of Blues in L.A. and we smoked the joint. Afterwards, we all kind of looked at one another and were like, 'OK, that was cool…Now what?'"
He continued, "The way I look at it is, it's like getting back with an old girlfriend. But because you want to, not because you have to. All of us are doing fine in our solo careers. This is something that felt right, and after that one gig we were like, 'We should do more of these. This was fun!'
"We're in this to play and have a good time. When you consider the amount of rehearsals you have to have with a band, how much time you have to spend together, how many hours you have to sit on planes and backstage and whatever, there's no amount of money that can make it worthwhile unless you really want to do it."
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www.yamahaartists.com.
