Malden Musings – Extreme at Fenway Park

  In case you haven’t already heard, Malden’s own heavy-metal heroes, the mighty Extreme, opened for Aerosmith at the ballpark that Captain Carl made famous, Fenway Park. Contrary to popular belief, Extreme are still a working band – haven’t stopped since their conception in the mid ’80’s – from international tours to monster metal mashups to the Indian Ranch in Webster to the Love Boat. Call them, they’ll play. They just aren’t as visible as in their “More Than Words” days and haven’t released new material since the good old days of Barack Obama presidency when 2008’s “Saudades de Rock” (I don’t know what that means either) was released. Fast forward to 2022 and Extreme are excited to play Fenway with their childhood idols, Aerosmith. But first, a short detour.

  Before we talk about the actual show, I need to mention that (said in my best Rodney Dangerfield voice) Extreme, they get no respect. Never have in Boston. They made their bones in Providence, R.I., and in the suburbs of Boston before the snobbishly insular college rock radio crowd in Beantown even acknowledged they existed. Appears not much has changed since their 1989 self-titled debut album was launched by A&M Records. Example: The next day’s Boston Globe review, by Maura Johnston, screamed, “A fiery 50th for Aerosmith at Fenway.” Maura acknowledged the “spirited set” from fellow hard rockers Extreme then continued gushing on about Aerosmith. Finis. Aerosmith defied age and put on a show for the ages. Without doubt. Praise be unto you greatest American rock band of all-time. I get it. This was Aerosmith’s night. But Extreme deserved more than passing praise on one of the biggest nights in their career. Whatever. I ain’t saying they outperformed Aerosmith, but much like Ali and Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle,” Gary and the boys went 15 rounds and were still standing tall with the greatest American hard rock band of all time. Extreme don’t care. Never have. They just go out and perform. But I digress. What a show!

  There have been many, many highlights in the long career of Extreme – from signing a record deal with Herb Alpert’s A&M Records to stealing the show at the Freddie Mercury Tribute to meeting former Beatle George Harrison as well as becoming fast friends with the likes of childhood idols Roger Daltrey, Brian May and Alice Cooper. This show “thunderclapped” to the top of the list after a three-year Covid-delayed wait. Well worth the wait. At Fenway, like a kid in the proverbial candy store, Gary quickly made himself at home, doing exactly what any of us would do given access to America’s greatest ballpark. Explore the Green Monsta. Check. Picture in front of Green Monsta. Check. Walk the same hallowed halls as Yaz, Teddy Ballgame, Jim Ed, Dewey, El Tiante, Malzone and Pumpsie Green. Check! A dream come true for this hard-core Boston boy. But I digress, once again…

  Oh yeah, the music…must be something in the Boston water! What is it with age defying performers who call Boston home? Guys like Willie Alexander, Peter Wolf, Tyler & Perry, Johnny A, Sal Baglio and Rick Berlin – who started out in the once fertile Boston music scene decades ago and are still at it. Amazing. Count Gary, Nuno and Patrick amongst Boston rockers who survived and continue to enrich our lives with their gift of music. Their set was one of the best I’ve seen in years. Granted, I don’t go to many shows anymore (comfortable recliners will do that), but given the times and the venue (and the length of the set – brief), the selection was nothing short of exceptional. Nuno (solo) took center stage electric and grabbed us by the throat with a passionate nod to our hardball environs with a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that Jimi would have been proud of. Then came old faves (best as I can remember) “Decadence Dance,” “‘Li’l Jack Horny” (Yes, they still perform this – hey, it’s a fun song!), then “It’s a Monster.” People danced (well, some did), people drank more (most did) and the band started to pick up steam. I am into my third 16 ounce $17 Sam Adams at this point, so the band is starting to sound like Led Zeppelin to me. My favorite Extreme song, “Am I Ever Gonna Change?” is next followed by my least favorite, “Play with Me.” The 60-something crowd is still puzzling over the first line of “Play with Me” (“Ring around the rosie, hopscotch, monopoly, red light, green light, G. I. Joes and Barbies, hide and seek, kick the can”) when suddenly, blam, Extreme throw a delightful “Hole Hearted” at us. The fans he lost during “Play with Me” are back! Then not a dry eye amongst those of us who knew where Gary’s heart was when he went into an abbreviated version of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” – a loving nod to his late mom, Josephine, who adored Neil (but adored her five boys even more). Then Nuno took center stage yet again (oh vey!), dazzling the crowd with another sweet instrumental, “Midnight Express,” followed by the song most likely to be heard while at Market Basket, earworm heaven (with a “Stairway to Heaven” intro tease), “More Than Words.” Closing out was “Cupid’s Dead” (a highlight), but it just didn’t punch back hard enough without the rap section that was performed on the 1992 recorded version by “Jawn P” Preziosa from the seminal Boston rap crew, Top Choice Clique. Nuno showcased on “Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee” before they finished with the funk-metal crowd pleaser, “Get the Funk Out.”

  Disclaimer: I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this show (“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”) but gotta admit out loud that this was one of the best nights, like evah! Fenway Park lived up to its reputation as a first-class music venue with great sight lines, pristine sound and over-accommodating personnel working the aisles. Aerosmith just killed it. Extreme realized yet another dream. And I got off my recliner for a night contributing to the local economy with each $27 two beer rounds. Insert smiley face.

  As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character “Columbo” would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – let’s wrap this up: This past summer marked the 31st anniversary of the Malden/Medford based hard rock outfit Extreme’s number one Billboard hit, the acoustic ballad heard round the world, “More Than Words.” To put that into perspective, the legendary British rock band The Who never had a number one hit! Written on Gary’s front porch at his childhood home on Highland Avenue with partner in crime Nuno (Bettencourt), the song was often referred to by the band as “a blessing and a curse.” Gary recalled this in an interview with Los Angeles radio station KNAC: “That song gave us the freedom to make the record we really wanted to make when we started recording our third disc…It got us doing huge tours all over the states and around the world. As the nineties went on, however, we really started to resent the song. We were tagged ‘the More Than Words guys.’ We didn’t like the perception the song created about the band. I remember being on tour with Aerosmith in Poland, it was on that tour we decided we would not play the song. We just didn’t do it. A couple nights into the tour, Steven Tyler writes in big letters on our dressing room door, ‘play the (expletive deleted) song!’ His attitude was almost father-like. He was like, ‘look, this is your first time in Poland. When do you think you will be back? They want to hear it, so play it!’”

  Postscript 1: Words from on high! Thank you, Steven Tyler, for sage advice when Extreme needed you most!

  Postscript 2: I never said I was a huge Aerosmith fan: So, we are a couple songs into Aerosmith’s set, the big screen looming over our heads zooms in on all the players on stage. I say to myself I am loving Joey Kramer’s new moss. He’s grown it out long and he seems to have an extra bounce behind the kit. Show ends, Tyler is introducing the boys in the band when he gets to John Douglas on drums. Seems John is filling in for Kramer, who is not on tour with them this year. What are ya gonna do!?

  Postscript 3: This gem appeared in the Boston Herald back in ’09 titled “Not quite Van Halen”: “With all due respect to Gary Cherone, having Gary in Van Halen is like having Joe DeRita as the third Stooge. You can call them ‘The Three Stooges,’ but it ain’t ‘The Three Stooges.’ Bring back David Lee ‘Curley’ Roth.”