Concerts

See a longtime local favorite at one of three Extreme-ly different venues

Boston quartet Extreme will play for between 2,000 and 35,000 New Englanders at upcoming Mass. and NH gigs.

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The last album that the Boston band Extreme released before its initial disbanding was 1995’s artistically and commercially disappointing “Waiting for the Punchline.”

That punchline either never arrived or did so in the form of the album’s lack of success (or their lead singer’s brief tenure with Van Halen). However, Extreme – whose current and former members claim Malden, Hudson, Boston, and Medford as hometowns – seems to be having the last laugh.

Between Friday, Sept. 2 and Thursday, Sept. 8, the foursome that many might dismiss as the “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted” guys will perform before up to 3,000 fans at Indian Ranch, around 2,000 at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, and somewhere in the mid-30,000 range when they open for Aerosmith at Fenway Park.

By this point, lead singer Gary Cherone will have recently sung with Aerosmith’s guitarist at Hampton Beach and Leader Bank Pavilion, where The Joe Perry Project warmed up a crowd of ZZ Top fanatics on July 22.

Although a 2008 reunion album (“Saudades de Rock”) did not restore Extreme’s former glory, guitarist extraordinaire Nuno Bettencourt served as Rihanna’s guitarist for four tours between 2009 and 2013.

Lifelong bassist Pat Badger, meanwhile, plays in the Eagles cover band Dark Desert Eagles – which frequently sells out venues in Massachusetts and New Hampshire (and occasionally Virginia and Michigan) – and original drummer Paul Geary founded the (E)xtremely successful Boston-based Global Artist Management in 1995, where he currently serves as managing partner.

Finally, Extreme’s 1989 debut album track “Play With Me” appeared in the first episode of the record-breaking fourth season of “Stranger Things.” (It also played over a memorable scene in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” a classic of sorts that came out the same year as the song.)

Of course, Extreme never had to become international chart-toppers in order for many in the Boston area to still know who they are.

Even before the quartet released its eponymous debut, its regional fan base was expansive and ardent enough to earn Extreme – so named because Cherone and Geary were former members of The Dream, and therefore ex-Dream – the Outstanding Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Act honors at the 1986 and 1987 Boston Music Awards.

Three-and-a-half decades later, Extreme remains a reliable live draw throughout the United States and – on the occasions that they venture beyond the borders – Europe and South America.

Odds are that more than a few longtime New Englanders will shell out the bucks for all three of their early September shows.