As we arrive at The Piece Hall in Halifax, the West Yorkshire town is awash withlack t-shirts. It’s a warm summer evening, but at odds with the weather, fans have donned their finest vintage tour t-shirts, from a wide range of rock and metal bands. Some of the shirts pre-date some audience members. There are some young fans here who definitely were not around when Extreme dropped Pornograffiti in 1990, and there are a few vintage shirts from that tour!
Tonight is to some extent a time-travel adventure back to the 1990s, as we kick off with Terrorvision, close to home having made the short trip from Bradford. Tony Wright, splendidly attired in a checked blue suit strides on to the stage, waving and saluting the many who have come down early to catch the band having something of a resurgence recently. To say this was purely a nostalgia trip to the ’90s is to ignore the hugely well received 2024 album “We Are Not Robots: their first new music since “Super Delux” in 2011. Songs like “Shine On” and “Baby Blue” have become regulars in the set recently but it’s still the same formula that has served the Bradfordians well over the years.
During a full 17-song set, Mark moodily stalks stage right, striking classic rock guitarist poses, Leigh gurns and postures on bass on the other side, while Tony bounces between the two with an energy that matches his performances from their early days. If this was all we got to see, we would have gone home a happy crowd, but we still had the legendary US rockers Extreme to come.
As the sun begins to set over the stunning venue, a huge gorilla face fills the backdrop to the stage, pulling different expressions as the music starts to build. Nuno Bettencourt, standing in front of a wall of Marshall amps, strikes the first power chords as we are thrown into It Is A Monster)‘ which hits as hard today as it did 35 years ago. Gary Cherone leaps out and we are subject to a relentless onslaught for the next 10 minutes with old and new music – Decadence Dance runs straight into “#REBEL” from their latest record.
There are some further nailed on classics – Play With Me, complete with an intro of Queen’s We Will Rock You, Hole Hearted and the ever popular More Than Words, which gets even the meanest looking rockers singing along to their significant others.
At points, the sound mix seemed a little off, meaning Gary was very loud, coming through a little shouty. However, nothing could really overshadow the six-string prowess of Nuno. As much as people came for Extreme, they certainly stayed to be in the presence of a the guitar legend.
Along with solos within the song, pieces like Midnight Express and Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee demonstrate Nuno’s rare virtuosity, leaving many of us genuinely awestruck.
Cupid’s Dead from 1992’s III Sides To Every Story gets a huge reaction. delighting the longer standing fans, while Get The Funk Out closes out the main set with a real bang.
The band return to an encore with arguably the best song of the new album – RISE, but to close out the night we share in a poignant tribute to the late, great Ozzy Osborne. Nuno shares some heartfelt words about his influence not just on Extreme, but on the whole rock world, bands and fans alike. A medley of 3 songs pays a fitting homage to Ozzy while a beautiful slide show fills the rear of the stage with images of the great man in his prime.
It was something of a step back in time, but sometimes it pays to reminisce and realise that Extreme, and other rock bands – present and future – are all standing on the shoulder of giants.
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