By Clarence Yu

MR. Big, the hard rock supergroup that formed in the 1980’s and yielded the hits “To Be With You” and “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” has reunited.

The band is comprised of bassist Billy Sheehan (of Talas and David Lee Roth Band fame), guitarist Paul Gilbert (formerly Racer X), drummer Pat Torpey (formerly of The Knack) and singer Eric Martin.

The group debuted with their eponymous album in 1989. This album laid the groundwork for their distinct sound: crunching, shredding guitars, precision-pounded drums, booming bass and raspy melodic vocals. Soaring choruses combined with crunch delighted fans of the band the world over.

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I WAS probably the only person in the room who could not understand a thing… but man, these Japanese bands know how to rock! Two hours of walking aimlessly in the cold, cold Tokyo night (”Lost in Translation,” literally) before I managed to find a gig in this club called Motion in Shinju-ku district.

Apparently, the Japanese are sticklers for time so the gig really started around 7 o’clock as mentioned in the gig listings I got a day earlier. I got in more than two hours later, with three bands left. This band — whose name the lady at the bar pronounced Suppa Maikuro Panchop — came on and struck me as quite an acoustic, experimental type.

The song started somewhat acoustic all right — until much later on the entire band went helter-skelter.

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