JUNE 13th 2026
EXTREME
Review by:Dmitry Sukhinin
Photos By: Polina Kulikovskikh
Full Gallery:
http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/extreme/
If this evening does not make you want to take up a guitar, I do not think anything can. Somehow Extreme was not on my radar until just a few years ago, and this is truly bizarre.
It is a big luck to know the time the set starts, cause the doors open at seven, and some will wait for an hour and a half. Is that a sinister plan to sell more beer? I come closer to the beginning and for me, the lights get deemed relatively fast. However, there is some delay and nothing happens for a good ten minutes. Obvious tech issues.
Why have I discovered Extreme not too long ago? How could it be? Shame and I am puzzled. They started promoting their last record Six, and that’s why I saw someone commenting on the solo on Rise. And, yes, I saw their logo and Pornograffiti artwork, but never checked it.
Extreme is a whole universe - the sound takes you to some other place. I do not know anyone else who plays high gain metal stuff with such precision and dynamics. Every hit is a bump, is it fast, but has this feeling of a hard palm mute. And not much repeats - even though the feel is the same, it is always some variations that make music really tasty. I think, today Nuno is the hottest guitar player in the world among the living ones.
Back to the radar: my expectations are not too high, - for some reason, Extreme do not get stadium spots like Van Halen. So the first chords really surprise me. The production is not your average rock band - it is indeed big. The lights!! Colourful stripes and projectors.
It ('s a Monster) and Decadence Dance kick in the show. Gary Cherone simply nails is, but I also note how cool the Pat Badger’s backing vocals are. I would only wish the mix to have a bit more of low and so that Pat Badger’s bass would be more audible and not compete with Kevin Figueiredo’s drums. Nuno Bettencourt’s guitar is, of course, dominating, and I feel every hit of his pick. It is both brutal and soft, not much gain, but roaring.
The setlist choice is very good. Gary has an interesting vocal effect on Thicker Than Blood. He climbs on the 3-floor bass stack - 9 Ampegs on the left make a pyramid.
Mandatory acoustic part of the set, Nuno takes a beautiful 12 string guitar (is it for Other Side Of The Rainbow?) and some parts sound like Sepultura’s tribal stuff. So dynamic! Hole Hearted with a Stairway to Heaven quote. The concert has a lot of easter eggs.
Nuno talks a lot, and engages with the audience even more than the main frontman. “This song is for the ladies” starts with a gag - Fat Bottomed Girls from Queen as an intro to Banshee (aaaaaand it kicks ass!).
Get The Funk Out solo really gets me, and then there is a Rise with this UNREAL solo that is done flawlessly.
We have no more songs left, and the set ends with an Ozzy quote (AND SOLOS!). Ozzy’s guitar players had completely different styles, and Nuno captures it beautifully.