Watch: MR. BIG Plays Last Concert Of Farewell Tour…

MR. BIG played the last show of its “The BIG Finish” farewell tour on Friday, August 23 at the Way Too Far Rock Festival 2024. Bistrița, Romania.

After the concert, MR. BIG bassist Billy Sheehan took to his social media to share a picture from the gig and he included the following message: “Romania!!! Crowd was a little bit light, but they made up for it in enthusiasm! The last MR. BIG show (not MY last show, goddammit!!)

“What a great run we’ve had since 1988. We made Great memories and millions (literally) of friends all around the world. My unlimited love and respect to all who listened, watched, purchased records, tickets and T -shirts. — without you we would have been nothing. Fact. Moving on now to other adventures, but never forgetting this amazing experience.”

Guitarist Paul Gilbert added: “What an adventure! MR. BIG wraps up over a year of touring! Many thanks to ALL! I’ll get home just in time for my son’s 10th birthday. I hope he remembers who I am! And special thanks to Ibanez guitars for getting beautiful instruments to me after my touring guitars were stolen.”

Drummer Nick D’Virgilio, who joined MR. BIG in 2023 as the replacement for the late Pat Torpey, commented: “It has been an amazing run with @billysheehanonbass @paulgilbert_official and @iamericmartin I’ve been able to rock n roll all over the world with the guys and I will be forever thankful. Big Love for MR. BIG!”

In a recent interview with Joe Rock of Long Island’s rock station 102.3 WBAB, MR. BIG frontman Eric Martin admitted that he was “second guessing” the announcement that that the group’s “The BIG Finish” farewell tour would in fact mark the last time he and his bandmates hit the road together. He said: “Now since we’re all getting along perfectly and the band’s so super tight, I’m thinking, why are we dissolving our partnership? I’m second guessing now. I hope we do more records, but I get it. Paul probably doesn’t want to tour as much, just like I don’t. We’ve been on this road trip for a year. I don’t wanna do the really lengthy tours. I’m not 30 years old anymore. I’m not even 40. I’m not even 50 anymore.”

Eric continued: “I love people when they go, ‘Oh, what about THE ROLLING STONES? Yeah, what about THE ROLLING STONES? They’re super butt rich. They play one gig a week and they fly in, in a jet and five-star hotels. They’re a little older now and they still rock out, but I’m thinking Mick Jagger gets carried to the stage. Come on.”

Asked if he and his MR. BIG bandmates have considered the idea of doing a residency type of thing somewhere in the future, Eric said: “Well, I would. I would. I know that we’ve all agreed that — I hope there’s a one-off here and there, but after August 23rd, that’s all she wrote. And we’re gonna stick to our guns — try to stick to our guns. I hope that we do one or two more shows. It’s funny that you say residency because our drummer, our new drummer, Nick D’Virgilio, that’s his idea lately, going we should do a residency — in Japan, for God’s sake. We could do that. Las Vegas, move over Elton [John] and Celine Dion, and we could just maybe get in on the off strip and do a month or do a couple of weeks a year. That would be — in the immortal words of my father — that would be swell.”

MR. BIG‘s tenth studio album, “Ten”, was released on July 12 via Frontiers Music Srl. The LP features 11 new original tracks written by Martin and Gilbert, along with André Pessis and Tony Fanucchi. “Ten” was produced by Jay Ruston and MR. BIG.

D’Virgilio missed most of the final European leg of MR. BIG‘s “The BIG Finish” tour due to his commitments with his band BIG BIG TRAIN. He was temporarily replaced on the trek by Edu Cominato, an experienced drummer from São Paulo, Brazil who has previously played with Sheehan and Martin, Jeff Scott Soto and Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE),among others.

MR. BIG recently completed the European leg of “The BIG Finish”, which saw the veteran band performing MR. BIG‘s 1991 album, “Lean Into It”, in full, along with other cuts from the group’s history.

When MR. BIG announced “The BIG Finish” tour last year, the bandmembers said that it was “time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy” after drummer Pat Torpey lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2018. The first leg kicked off in Japan and Southeast Asia in July and August 2023, where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows including Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

MR. BIG‘s last-ever live album release will be “The BIG Finish Live”, which is due out September 6 via the Evolution Music Group.

“The BIG Finish Live” is a brand-new live album and concert film of MR. BIG‘s “The BIG Finish” farewell tour, where the band played their million-selling “Lean Into It” album in its entirety, plus additional MR. BIG classics.