Whitesnake Barely Keep Up With a Brilliant Europe! Tigertailz Reduced to Extras! (2008)

Location: Villa Contarini / Piazzola Sul Brenta (Padua) / Italy
Concert date: 23.07.2008
Attendance: 4500
Ticket price: €60.00

In the little Italian town of Piazzola Sul Brenta, right next to Padua, sits Villa Contarini, where fans of classic 80s hard rock spent their summer holiday last Wednesday. There were three reasons for it! First, there was a set from the rather flawed masters of the makeup brush, Tigertailz. Then there was the one-off chance to revel in the antics of two bands that more or less defined what hard rock meant in the 80s. The first goes by the name Eurpoe, and the highlight of the night was billed as Whitesnake, led by the well-known David Coverdale, who is celebrating a full thirty years of hissing with his society of snake lovers this year.

TIGERTAILZ
With barely a hint of sunset on the way, it was time for the legendary glam rockers Tigertailz. The Welsh band, still sworn to gaudily dressed-up rock music under Kim Hooker’s firm leadership, quickly got down to “the essence”. Sadly! Or luckily. With Tigertailz you’re always left in doubt, stuck in no man’s land, staring in shock for answers to fairly simple questions. Like, where’s the point hiding in the unconvincing cussing, which in barely half an hour gave the unsuspecting eardrums of our innocent little ears a merciless pecking? And I won’t even get into the obvious self-image issues! Tigertailz put that last one under the microscope themselves, with a fatal dive into Ace Of Spades, which crashed ingloriously into a tasteless jumble of noise. Tigertailz of course pay no mind to such “trifles”, which is surely worth at least a little admiration. So it’s no surprise the guys still have plenty of solid backing, including among the Italian hard rock phalanx, who didn’t skimp on warm greetings. The bouquet of tiger-striped evergreens Call Of The Wild, Love Bomb Baby and Dirty Needlez simply had to win over the crowd, despite the constant sound problems. No wonder: the guys really gave it everything, and in situations like that the result can’t fail to come.

EUROPE
A completely different story revolves around Europe. Tempest and company are in top form. With an energetic show that instantly lifted the quality of the performance out of Tigertailz’s field of vision, Europe were a reminder of their best days. Every little detail of their sound was polished to perfection. And the hot-blooded reaction of the crowd, who carried Europe on their hands through a far too short set, showed just how fresh the memories of the band’s glorious legacy still are, years later. If we’re honest, with such a venomous repertoire, nothing else was to be expected.

Europe were in a playful mood this evening. The execution of a well-thought-out setlist was genuine, if not exactly over-the-top enthusiastic. Tempest’s vocal delivery still stands up to the colorful crossbreeding of old and new, where the darkness of Love Is Not The Enemy and Start From The Dark shakes hands with the grandeur of the choruses of Cherokee or Ready Or Not. The effect of that inevitable genre collision is thrilling, but nowhere near as much as the realization that, metamorphosis or not, Europe keep managing to hold on to the red thread that makes the band recognizable. Songs like Superstitious or Sign Of The Times still cautiously stick to the signature outlines of the 80s sound. Following that example, the fantastically arranged adopted child Carrie obediently fell into line. Tempest started it off on acoustic, until John’s solo arrived and the whole Europe orchestra joined in.

Tempest and Norum remain an ideal tandem. The venomous symbiosis of an excellent frontman and a first-class guitarist swept aside all competition without breaking a sweat. In great spirits, Norum also found enough inspiration for a sparkling run through songs from the Kee Marcello era, which of course remains an important part of Europe’s ironclad material. John is and always will be an indispensable element of the Europe sound, which Joey, as the band’s driving force, knows all too well. So despite the time limit, the guitarist was allowed to stretch his fingers out properly. It was precisely those inspired solo spots, this time crowned with some good-humored banter between Michaeli and Norum during Yesterday’s News, that let Europe boldly build on the agility of their live shows. The adrenaline-soaked encore with Rock The Night and of course The Final Countdown then rounded off a bravura show that delighted in every respect.

WHITESNAKE
That leaves us with a cross-section of the Whitesnake set, or rather the show put on by David Coverdale and his “merry” band of hired musicians. Despite the huge expectations of the crowd, and I have to admit my own too, Whitesnake offered nothing special. The only consolation for Whitesnake worshippers is that the explosive Europe simply set the bar too high this night, even for David’s heavily electrified battle formation. Compared with the recent visit to Osijek (RockLine report here), there was little to gain from Coverdale’s troops this time. Even less thrilling was the identical setlist (this time minus Soldier Of Fortune), which, with the exception of Give Me All Yor Love, still one of the band’s leading “live” aces after a good 20 years, produced no sparks worth mentioning. The same goes for Coverdale himself, whose 30 years of relentless band-tinkering show at every step. David nevertheless confidently takes on vocal maneuvers that are still as demanding as ever. Still Of The Night and the obligatory Deep Purple medley Burn/Stormbringer of course drew roaring approval from the crowd, and the Italians’ knowledge of dusty Whitesnake gems was a surprise too. Young and old alike gave Ain’t Gonna Cry No More an enthusiastic welcome, though it was probably aimed first and foremost at a handful of older Whitesnake fans.

Even at 56, Coverdale needs no extra stimulants to stir the erotic imagination. After all, he has been the one constant of the White Snake since the very beginning – except for David Coverdale himself, of course. The great “lovehunter” from Saltburn is celebrating a round 30 years of merciless penetrating this year, which, through nonstop analysis of the juices of life and countless lineup shake-ups, has forever enthroned him as an immortal icon of rock & roll. To tell the truth, David no longer radiates that once self-evident greatness. In fact, he hasn’t for a few years now. His voice is nowhere near its former standards, which is understandable given the singer’s age. Even excusable up to a point. But for all his charm, David is surely not going to find a proper excuse for a good hour and a half of torture that mangled Whitesnake’s noblest motifs practically beyond recognition. A big share of the blame surely lies with the troubadours Beach and Aldrich, both brilliant guitarists, but to be faulted for lacking a feel for how to interpret the Whitesnake concept properly. The result was a cold, emotionally numb delivery of Bland’s Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City, which still got off relatively well compared with Fool For You Loving and, surprisingly, Here I Go Again. The strongest weapon of David’s Whitesnake for the new millennium turned out to be the Good To Be Bad material once again, which sadly is far too little for a worthy celebration of such a big anniversary.

Setlist

EUROPE:
1.Love Is Not The Enemy
2.Ready Of Not
3.Superstitious
4.Getaway Plan
5.Sign Of The Times
6.Cherokee
7.Carrie
8.Start From The Dark
9.John Norum Solo
10.Girl From Lebanon
11.Yesterday’s News
12.Scream Of Anger
—encore—
13.Rock The night
14.The Final Countdown

WHITESNAKE:
1.Best Years
2.Fool For Your Loving
3.Can You Hear The Wind Blow
4.Love Ain’t no Stranger
5.Lay Down Your Love
6.Is This Love
7.A Fool In Love
8.Ain’t Gonna Cry No More
9.Ain’t No Love In The Heart of The City
10.Give Me All You Love
11.Here I Go Again
—encore—
12.Still Of The Night
13.Burn/Stormbringer

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