Daddy Coverdale and Whitesnake Pass the Test of Time Once Again! (2008)

Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Srednješkolsko igralište (Srednjika) / Osijek / Croatia
Concert date: July 10, 2008
Attendance: 3000
Ticket price: 140.00 HRK

Ten hours each way, spent in the guts of a boldly rattling pride of the Italian car industry, was all a crew of three carefully crafted misfits needed to roll into Osijek on a sunny Thursday, a friendly town looking out over Vojvodina. That’s where the legendary “lovehunter” David Coverdale was soaking in the heat of the Slavonian summer, surrounded as always by his obligatory crew of much younger little white snakes (who bring the band’s average age down to a mere 73 in no time), that is, Whitesnake!

David Coverdale has been truly tireless lately, especially for a happily married gentleman and grandpa, etc., as he likes to put it, and it seems that since the release of the repeatedly postponed Good To Be Bad (our RockLine review awaits you here) his activity curve has suddenly shot straight into orbit. And even though the trail of the eighties got lost in the dust and sand behind us long ago, David isn’t letting that bother him as he rediscovers the charms of the past! Which is only right, of course. Coverdale is a lucky man, since he can freely pick from a wide range of Whitesnake gems, at least as long as the bunch still has a Still Of The Night or a Fool For You Loving to sniff out. Armed with such an impressive melodic arsenal, Coverdale is determined in 2008 too to scatter the Whitesnake seeds as far and wide as possible, at least while his voice still allows it, and it seems it does again. And of course it’s the band’s own status that gains the most from all this.

But let’s take it from the top. Arriving at the high school grounds, we first ran into Divlje Jagode, caught mid-sweat right around the middle of their set. From what I saw, Lipovac’s little crew pulled the show off decently, meaning no highlights, but confidently enough, and certainly more than great for the mob of hotbloods holding positions within firing range of the stage at maximum combat readiness. Personally, truth be told, they soon started to bore me, which comes down first and foremost to my not getting this kind of farmland-flavored rock & roll.

Farmland or not, with Whitesnake we get about as close as it gets to devilishly randy. Judging by Coverdale’s getup, that’s the least I can say. The blues rock legend appeared on stage dressed in a kimono-style shirt (adorned with pictorial variations on assorted SS totenkopf symbolism), naturally unbuttoned wide at the neck, and fairly tight trousers. Accompanied by the obligatory bark, the traditional “here’s a song for ya” rang out, its echo soon lost in the bustle of opener Best Years. Here Coverdale pulled a simple trick, boldly linking the abruptly clipped opener of Good To Be Bad with the sensual paratrooper assault of Fool For Your Loving. The reaction was instant, the crowd’s mood sent the general delirium straight up to the heights, and the ideal ground was set for Can You Hear The Wind Blow. It’s worth stressing here that a heartfelt rendition of fresh material does wonders for Whitesnake’s overall image. The new songs serve their basic purpose superbly live, which Lay Down Your Love finally convinced us of, with Osijek claiming it as its own in a heartbeat! None of this works without a performance polished down to the last detail, and on that front Coverdale triumphed again along the whole battle line. With the recruitment of the current Whitesnake lineup, David exceeded all expectations. The Beach and Aldrich duo sounds tight and sails confidently on the delivery of the rhythmically polished tandem of bassist Uriah Duffy and brand-new Whitesnake drummer Chris Frazier. In such a finely tuned musical machine, the most problematic Whitesnake element turns out, in the end, to be David Coverdale’s badly worn-out voice, which is far from its former level. David has cunningly adapted here too and now often leaves the chorus vocals to the nicely harmonized trio of Beach, Aldrich and Duffy! Either way, in the lower registers his voice remains convincing, deep and full of that signature oomph.

Despite a great show, Whitesnake didn’t spring any big surprises. Maybe except for the short dip into Ain’t Gonna Cry No More, which rang out in a pleasant acoustic setting. The approach to Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City also proved mature enough, though in the hands of technically polished players like Aldrich or Beach it rarely shows its true colors. Thrilling were Love Ain’t No Stranger, which David sent off with a dedication to his recently departed friend Mel Galley, Is This love and the energetic Gimme All Your Love, for which, according to some Croatian hothead, it was worth hauling out every last bit of pyrotechnics that in “normal” circumstances serve mainly as football fan props. The spirit of Euro 2008 clearly hasn’t died down yet, because not long after, that rascal hijacked even the heart and mind of Aldrich himself, who, as a way to crank up the already red-hot temperature for Still Of The Night, even put on a checkerboard jersey!

In the end, all I can say is that Whitesnake wowed me once again. Coverdale proved himself yet again an extremely adaptable performer who knows what he wants and knows exactly which tools to use to get there! The proof lies right in this show’s setlist, which, besides the obligatory Good To Be Bad highlights, tilts heavily, with few exceptions, toward the more recognizable Whitesnake material. So luckily we were spared Take Me With You, and we came out more than fine without Ready An’ Willing too, two first-rate evergreens whose substance, sadly, older Whitesnake fans have long since outlived. From that angle, the positive impression was slightly spoiled right at the close by the by-now skippable Burn/Stormbringer mashup. Honestly David, a performer of your caliber can allow himself a whole lot more even in his later years!

Setlist

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