extreme seoul

Extreme Promises to Return to Seoul

A reunited Extreme performed for the first time in Seoul at the Melon-AX, Saturday evening. / Courtesy of Yellow Entertainment
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

American rock band Extreme played their first concert in Seoul, Saturday night, and were blown away by the enthusiastic reception from Korean fans.

Extreme performed non-stop rock music for more than two hours at the Melon-AX, as part of their ``Take Us Alive World Tour.'' The band reunited in late 2007, more than 10 years after the members went their separate ways.

Starting the concert with ``Decadence Dance," and ``Comfortably Dumb," Extreme's music had fans pumped up with energy.

``Annyonghaseyo Korea! Are you ready to rock and roll," vocalist Gary Cherone shouted. The crowd responded by chanting ``Gary, Gary Gary,'' as Cherone excitedly jumped around the stage.

Extreme played a mix of songs from their albums ``Extreme II: Pornograffiti," ``III Sides to Every Story" and the latest ``Saudades de Rock." The band played 19 songs such as ``Kid Eagle," ``Get The Funk Out," ``Take Us Alive," ``Ghost," and the Queen-sounding ``Star."

Lead guitarist Nuno Bettencourt took center stage with an electrifying guitar solo that impressed the audience. The crowd made a big impression on Bettencourt, who remarked: ``We're all in shock. You guys are all amazing… It's like we're in a big football stadium."

All fans were waiting for the band to play their smash hit song ``More Than Words," which reached number one in charts around the world in 1990.

``This is a song we've always turned into a duet with me and the audience," Cherone said.

Accompanied by Bettencourt on acoustic guitar, Cherone started singing but also turned the microphone over to the audience who sang along without missing a beat. After the song, Cherone simply said, ``perfect."

Bassist Pat Badger and drummer Kevin Figueiredo kept the audience rocking throughout the concert, with thrilling guitar riffs and pounding drum beats.

Obviously elated by the crowd's passionate response, Extreme promised to return to Seoul for another concert.

``I think this is one of the best audiences we have ever played. I'm sorry it took us 19 years before coming here. But I promise we'll be back soon," Bettencourt said.

After more than two hours, Extreme ended the concert with crowd favorite ``Hole Hearted," ``Warheads" and ``Mutha (Don't want to go to school today)."

``We don't know what to say. This is our first concert in your country, and we just fell in love with Korea. You have been an incredible audience tonight," Cherone said.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr