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Biography
The band begins with lead singer David Coverdale, a singer who had shot to fame in 1974 as the lead singer of hard rock legends Deep Purple, however his time in the band was particularly fraught. A year after he joined the band, their lead guitarist, arranger and founding member Ritchie Blackmore quit as he felt they were losing sight of their hard rock origins. The band were sent into a tailspin by Blackmore’s departure but Coverdale took the reins, desperate to keep the band going. They recruited a new guitarist but the damage had been done, and the band’s third album with Coverdale at the helm, 1976’s “Come Taste The Band”, sank without a trace and they split soon afterwards.
Coverdale was heartbroken by Purple’s demise but he soldiered on, and he spent the rest of 1976 preparing his solo career. He released his solo debut in February 1977, an album called “White Snake” that wasn’t a massive success but it steadied his career with panache, and would set up a success that would dwarf his achievements in Deep Purple. The debut album had been made in collaboration with a guitarist named Micky Moody, and Coverdale toured the record with him and a backing band called The White Snake Band. However, the duo soon realized that they both thrived when working in a full band set up, rather than making solo records.
Just before the release of “Northwinds”, Coverdale took his White Snake Band, shortened their name to Whitesnake, and became their lead vocalist. He had already worked so closely with them that he felt far more comfortable as one of the boys in the band rather than the main star of the show. “Northwind” was released to a far better reception than Coverdale’s debut had gotten but he’d already moved on, performing Whitesnake’s first live shows and releasing their debut effort, the “Snakebite E.P”, in June 1978. “Trouble”, their debut album, came in the autumn of the same year, but their true breakthrough wouldn’t come until 1980 and the album “Ready An’ Willing”.
The album was their first to enter the top ten in the U.K and even gave the band a top twenty single in the form of “Fool For Your Loving”. At the dawn of the 1980’s, the band were stars in the U.K and most of Europe, but the band wouldn’t make waves in the States until 1984’s “Slide It In”. Released on the major label Geffen, the album went Gold in the U.S within a year of its release and produced two minor hits in the form of “Slow An’ Easy” and “Love Ain’t No Stranger”. However, no-one could have predicted just how stratospheric the band would go with the release of their next album, 1987’s appropriately titled “1987”.
The album went top ten on both sides of the Atlantic within a week of its release and would go on to sell eight million copies in the U.S alone, giving them a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Here I Go Again” to boot. Back in the U.K the band were nominated for a BRIT Award for Best British Group off the back of it but the album was a phenomenon in America, making them true Arena headliners for the first time in their career. Ever since then, the band have been one of the most respected acts in hard rock, with an envious back catalogue of bona-fide hits still able to bring an arena or a festival to its knees thirty years after their heyday. Coverdale is still a truly magnetic frontman, and the whole band still come highly recommended.
Live reviews
The story of David Coverdale - the lead singer and founder of Whitesnake - is an interesting one in rock and roll terms, if for no other reason that he has an admirable track record of having the courage of his convictions. After landing his dream gig as frontman of Deep Purple in 1973, things didn’t pan out quite as he would have hoped, with 1975 record Come Taste the Band failing to match up to expectations. He resigned as the band dissolved, and after releasing one solo album, White Snake, in 1977, knew that he needed to be in a band if he was to truly flourish. White Snake was born, and they’re still going strong today. Sound-wise, the band followed a very similar trajectory to Deep Purple; starting out bluesy, and quickly picking up hard rock sensibilities. They’re still going strong today, too, having released too albums - Good to Be Bad and Forevermore - since reforming in 2002, and their relentless touring is testament to the strength of their fanbase, having co-headlined both UK arenas and Download Festival with Def Leppard and, last year, revisited those same huge rooms for shows with Journey and Thunder. The quickfire nature of their sets on that tour meant they played nothing but hits; so distinguished is their back catalogue, though, that they could afford to mix it up a bit night after night.
Joeg_67
Whitesnake, the British rock group who formed almost 40 years ago still have huge demand to be seen live due to the consistency of their recorded albums. Having accumulated fans at many stages of their career, the veterans' crowds are often made up of a huge range of ages. Their common ground is a love of Whitesnake and during the classic singles such as 'Can You Hear The Wind Blow' they become one thousand strong choir to support the band during the anthemic choruses.
Whitesnake remains unchanged in terms of stage show, they know the rock formula and what works well so by keeping gimmicks to a minimum and putting music to the centre they are able to showcase their musicianship. The instrumentals are definitely not wavering with time, as Tommy Aldridge in particular shows incredible skill with his drum kit.
The band performs a melodic mash-up of 'Best Years / Bad Boys / Children of the Night' in hope to please majority of the crowd as they simply have so much work to condense into one two hour show. They have clearly made a great choice to include 'Fool for Your Loving' as the crowd cheer rapturously.
sean-ward
Of Whitesnake, it was as always on top, the sound was perfectly balanced arrangements of the songs amazing, evident that the group is friendly staff very. gift set for the VIP, very much and is a t-shirt, a poster signed by David Coverdale, an album with the band's discography. VIP disappoint my place because they do not correspond to reality, people with back rows came and blocked the view of the scene, not to mention the fact that at the end of the concert all the back rows come to the VIP area and blocked the way out of the room, bathed in beer and behaved provocatively. Overall, the concert was super and I am filled with emotion from a meeting with my favorite band!
aleks-f-communi
Standing room only crowd that were ready to rock on a Friday night. Nice indoor venue at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale. It is still way too hot for outdoor shows. Both the band and I were glad it was indoors.
White Snake played awesome and the band seemed to enjoy the show as much as we did. They definitely liked the big crowd. David Coverdale was fantastic but couldn't fight off the dry Arizona air and started to lose his voice a little at the end of the show. He fought through it well. A lot of singers have to put vaporizers on stage in Arizona to keep the moisture up.
justin-thompson-18
show was very good. Opening band was better then expected ( had never heard their music -- but I will now def look to add them to my play list). Whitesnake --- 4th time seeing them and they ( no matter who is in the line up) always deliver. The only thing that was unbelievable was the cost of a beer ( nothing of course to do with the band ) but 13.50$ a beer ---WTF -- Never say never but I'm pretty sure I just saw my last show at the Aztec Theater.
texaspack
The show was good. This was the first time, believe it or not, that I've seen Whitesnake. Granted Coverdale is 63, and he doesn't quite have the voice he once did, I still would have liked the volume of his singing a bit higher. The music sorta drowned him out. Also, many of their greatest songs that we all know were omitted from the set list. Then, two guitar and one drum solo, could've been left out. We still had a very good time.
this all hits show is just what you get all hits played to perfection. the band showed great stage presence and they were always having fun and enjoying them self's on stage.favorite moment was when david reached down and touched my hand during the performance, must have been god sent as i actually was blown/fell backwards at that moment, it was awesome...and yes they love to throw you picks so get your self upstage for this one!
helsinki-
Great show Coverdale has still got it. Pre-ordered the new CD and can’t wait for it to come out. Outstanding job on Burn from the Deep Purple days and loved hearing my favorites, Love Ain’t No Stranger, Here I Go Again and Slow and Easy. Felt like I was back in the 80s all over again. Really enjoyed the opening band, The Black Moods, there is some great talent, really liked Bad News and Bella Donna.
jack-a-caniglia
If you really love Coverdale/Whitesnake, this show is for you. If you only like their hits, maybe not so much. Loudest show I've been to in a long time. Extensive use of echo on Coverdale's vocals to seemingly mask his inability to hit all the notes anymore. Two guitar solos and a drum solo allow Coverdale breaks behind the stage.
Overall, entertaining if not a bit too loud, and great people watching!
dchrismartin
I have been a Whitesnake fan since the 80's! I have always enjoyed watching and hearing David Coverdale perform. This band now is simply AWESOME! I am so thankful that I was able to make this show! The added plus is that the bands that followed, Bonham & Foreigner,were both so Wonderful! The venue is always great! I look forward to seeing them again hopefully in the not so far away future!
LLHoffman
