Whitesnake
May 14, 2019
Greensburg, PA
The Palace Theater
The last time I saw Whitesnake in concert was during the bands “Slip of the Tongue Tour” way back in 1990 at the since-demolished Pittsburgh Civic Arena. This was a mere months before grudge would dethrone hair metal for the king of rock title. In reality, Whitesnake was never a metal band but they sure rode that big-haired wave to mainstream success. Frontman David Coverdale was married to music video vixen Tawny Kitaen, metalheads could still get their music fix from MTV’s Headbangers Ball and Whitesnake was performing in front of packed areas while riding the backend of the worldwide success of their 1987 self-titled album. Truth be told, despite the fact I still have that ticket stub, I don’t recall much about that show. So, let’s just fast-forward 29 years later (damn that made me feel really old typing that) to their recent performance at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg, PA on May 14.
Out in support of their 12th studio album “Flesh & Blood” (which just recently dropped on Frontiers Records), Coverdale and company – guitarists Reb Beach (Winger, The Mob) and Joel Hoekstra (Night Ranger, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), bassist Michael Devin (Lynch Mob), keyboardist Michele Luppi (Vision Divine) and the immortal Tommy Aldridge (Black Oak Arkansas, Ozzy Osborne) hit the stage sounds of the Who’s “My Generation.” As the crowd of over 1,200 fans rose to their feet (and the entire theater remained standing all night), the band immediately kicked the night into high gear with a thumping version of “Bad Boys.” Sticking to tracks from just three albums – Whitesnake, Slide It In and aforementioned “Flesh & Blood,” the 13 song set was a basically a crowd-pleasing greatest hits performance.
Musically, the band was tight and spot on all night. On tracks like “Give Me All Your Love Tonight” and “Slow An Easy,” Beach and Hoesktra’s intertwined guitar work gave the band a fresh sounding dynamic edge. Playing the Steve Vai to his Ralph Macchio, Beach and Hoesktra went on to square off in an impressive near 7-minute long Crossroad-esque guitar duel at the end of “Trouble Is Your Middle Name.” While the contest was could easily be called a draw from a technical aspect, the crowd gave Pittsburgh native Beach the louder applause. Not to be outdone, Tommy Aldridge nearly stole the show with a mind-blowing thunderous a drum solo In the middle of “Get Up” prompting Coverdale to proclaim the 69-year-old Aldridge as indestructible.
Speaking of Coverdale, performance wise, the 67-year singer bouncing and strutting all around the stage with the energy of someone half his age. Vocally however, maybe it’s the effect of father time or just the wear and tear decades of touring, Coverdale has seen better days. His signature blues-tinge rasp started off strong on tracks like “Slide It In” and “Love Ain’t No Stranger.” However, by the end of the night when the band brought out the money makers such as “Is This Love,” “Here I Go Again,” and the encore of “Still of the Night,” Coverdale’s vocals had thinned out so much that I was honestly wishing someone would have brought the man a throat lozenge and a hot cup of tea. That being said, there were no attempts to mask Coverdale’s vocal limitations with backing tracks or any soundboard wizardry, and truth be told, it didn’t diminish my overall enjoyment of the show in the least.
Overall, I would have been slightly happier if the band had played just a track or two from the new release and opted to drop in some older cuts such as “Fool For Your Loving, ” “Ready an’ Willing” or “Ain’t No Love In the Heart of the City.” But realistically, when I waited almost 3 decades to see the band in concert again, I shouldn’t have been disappointed with Whitesnake’s need to flesh out the set with some new blood (Yes -pun totally intended).
Set List:
Bad Boys (from Whitesnake)
Slide It In (from Slide It In)
Gonna Be Alright (from Flesh & Blood)
Love Ain’t No Stranger (from Slide It In)
Hey You (You Make Me Rock) (from Flesh & Blood)
Slow an’ Easy (from Slide It In)
Trouble Is Your Middle Name (from Flesh & Blood)
Shut Up & Kiss Me (from Flesh & Blood)
Get Up (from Flesh & Blood)
Is This Love (from Whitesnake)
Give Me All Your Love (from Whitesnake)
Here I Go Again (from Whitesnake)
Encore:
Still of the Night (from Whitesnake)
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