WHITESNAKE: Still Conjures Musical Magic After All These Years

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WHITESNAKE:
Still Conjures Musical Magic After All These Years

By Scott Baker

David Coverdale-Photo by Scott Baker

It was 1987 for one more night at DTE in Clarkston on Saturday, Aug 23, when The Rock Never Stops Tour made a Michigan visit.

David Coverdale and company returned to the state to give Whitesnake fans one more taste of the past and to update it to the present. Minus a few tightened wrinkles, the voice is intact and not much has changed. It was the audience that expanded to include children of the fans who used to pack the arena's between 1987 and 1990 that was an added delight to the ever-growing popularity of the group.

Ironically, the opening music for the evening prior to Whitesnake hitting the stage was Burn by Deep Purple, which was some ten years before Whitesnake broke through to mass success with their self-titled release. As suspected, most fans near the front were clueless who it was they were hearing when asked, even if it was a young Coverdale on vocals when he took over as Purple frontman in the mid'70s.

After all, nothing mattered as long as they got to hear Still Of The Night
once again and relive the best of the hair era.

Opening the evening was a stock set by Slaughter, the late '80s radio
ballad and MTV kings. Slaughter was followed by an interesting and very
well executed acoustic solo set from Kip Winger. Winger proved that his
songs were of songcraft caliber and the crowd wasn't sure how to accept
Winger without a screaming guitarist and a bass slapped around his dancing
body. It was just Kip and the acoustic guitar, no frills. And it worked
well for the short half-hour or so set, with Winger's voice and song
choices in top form.

Following Winger was Warrant who, like Slaughter, showcased every bit of
hit talent they possessed to the welcoming Michigan crowd. The packed house
didn't forget Cherry Pie, or Down Boys and sang word for word with the band
for the majority of their set.

Whitesnake - Photo by Scott Baker

However it was the mighty Whitesnake, perhaps the only one of the '80s
bands who could be considered  'classic rock'’ nowadays, still possessing
not only Coverdale, but late '80s drummer Tommy Aldridge as well, from the
popular touring Whitesnake line-ups.

Adding a few new, yet familiar faces to the group were ex-Winger guitarist
Reb Beach, ex-Lion guitarist Doug Aldrich, and bassist Marko Mendoza (not
the Twisted Sister Mendoza) who made the trek with Aldridge from Ted
Nugent's touring band from the past few years.
Excellent keyboardist Timothy Duruy was also onstage, which was unusual for
a Whitesnake line-up to feature keys out front. Coverdale is finally giving
all the music needed in his set props, which 15 years later is more than
acceptable.

The band's hour and a half long set was completely lined with every
memorable tune from their three biggest releases, Slide It In, Whitesnake,
and its predecessor, Slip Of The Tongue.

Still preaching from the shrine as an undersexed English gentleman,
Coverdale provided every double meaning in the book and utilized it to the
max, even if the hairspray in the first ten rows wasn't enough to take
notice.

Crying In The Rain, The Deeper The Love, Slide It In, This Love, and Slow
And Easy echoed all the past glories of the band, sung note-for-note by the
audience to the spectacular '80s flashback light show.  Never letting up,
Aldridge proved he still might be the best drummer in rock and roll, if his
solo and ability to play at 110% all night long was any indication.

Without any surprise, Here I Go Again and Still Of The Night ended the rock
fest with two rock radio staples.

While Whitesnake has recorded a few albums available as an import since
Slip Of The Tongue, Coverdale has also released a new solo CD. None of the
material was covered at the show.

If the near-sold out attendance at the gig was any indication, perhaps its
time to put out a new release with the current line-up and see what it can
do.

Obviously radio won't get involved, but the fans are going out of their way
to take a step back in time with one of the greatest classic rock shows
around.

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