At the most recent record show here in Charlotte, I found a couple bootleg CDs that I snagged up for a real cheap $5 each. Gotta love that. The first one I grabbed was from the band Extreme. The bootleg was called ‘Hollywood Rock 1992’ which was recorded from the rock festival Hollywood Rock down in Rio de Janeiro Brazil on January 26, 1992. The CD says it was a Freddie Mercury Tribute, but the band only played one Queen cover so not much of a tribute.

What I love about Bootlegs are the errors. Yes, they have errors. The reason why is the people that make bootlegs don’t give a crap about editing and making things perfect and accurate. They only care about getting out product. The first major error is where it was made. The album was made in Italy…however, the back cover says it was made in Itary. I have been looking at a globe for about 10 hours now and I can’t find Itary anywhere on it. Then it is the song titles…”Pornograffitti” is spelled as “Pornographiti” and what should be a Nuno acoustic guitar solo actually says that he sold his acoustic guitar.

What makes it even better is that they spelled everything correctly on the actual CD, but they used the wrong words at times. One error on the CD is on “Suzi” they called it “Suzi (Wants Her All Day Want?)” and it should be (Wants Her All Day What?). Then for “Decadence Dance” there is a drum solo and they list it as Pat but Pat plays bass. Paul is on drums.

The sound isn’t bad, I can hear the bass, the drums and the guitar equally. Gary Cherone’s voice might be loudest in the mix. I can hear the crowd, but it is not too overpowering and doesn’t mess with the sound, just gives it the live feel. This was 1992 so they only had their debut album and ‘Pornograffitti’ to pull from and they pulled heavily. The album starts with “It” which is “It(‘s a Monster)” from ‘Pornograffitti’. There is no introduction just straight into the song and then they go straight in to “When I’m President”. They jumped to the debut album with “Play With Me” and they sped up the crap out of that one as they flew through it. Skipping the solo (which will come later).

Then back to their current album with the title track, “Pornograffitti” and Nuno’s playing was great especially at the end of the song when he lets loose. Gary sort of sing speaks at times and even screams. There is no flash, no flames, no explosions. It is the guys doing what they do best. “Suzi” is up next with her all day suckers and even has Gary rapping a little, well at least it sounds like he’s rapping and they even have a little jam session and crowd singalong towards the end. Without hesitation they jump right in to “Flesh ‘N Blood” with more singalong that last over 3 minutes before actually getting to the song. By that time you forget what they are supposed to be playing.

Then we get to an acoustic solo with Nuno Bettencourt and I am guessing Paul Geary is on percussion. Nuno can play so it is a highlight from the show. Nuno is Portuguese so he has a conversation with the crowd in their native language right after the solo which was pretty cool. Extreme then does a Queen Cover of the song “Love of My Life”. You could hear the crowd all join in on the song like they would do at a Queen show. It was quite nice.

The band then went in to their biggest two hits with “More Than Words” and “Hole-Hearted”. The crowd goes nuts with the acoustic opening of “More Than Words” and they don’t hesitate taking over the first verse as Gary stops and lets them finish. It has to be cool to have 10’s of thousands of people singing your song back to you. The band turned it up a notch and rocked through “Decandence Dance” which included a killer solo by Paul Geary on drums.

When I said they only had two albums to pull from that was true. However, they had been writing for their third album which would be released some 8 months later. They played the song “Rest in Peace” which would be on ‘III Sides to Every Story’. It is cool to hear the song so far prior to the album and it is exactly as it sounds on the album. And it is one of my favorites from the set.

Then we get an another guitar solo from Nuno and this one was on the electric guitar. Nuno certainly can play and he showed it here. And then they go into the instrumental break on “Play with Me” which is totally awesome. They end the set with “Get The Funk Out” which is a great way to go out. The CD states there is one more song…which for the show there really was. They encored “Song for Love” but that isn’t really what is on the CD. The CD ends with “Get the Funk Out”. Not enough room for the whole show.

Overall, this is a fun set of early Extreme. With only 2 albums under their belt, they felt like seasoned professionals…which they were. So cool to have a song off the third album that wasn’t even out yet and still months away. Nuno’s playing is incredible, but Pat and Paul are no slouches either. Gary’s vocals for some is an acquired style as it can be a little speak-sing at some times, but when he does belt it out, the man can sing. My Overall Score would be a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. Definitely worth the price of $5…no doubt.