Tagged: DOUG ALDRICH
Marshall – 50 Years of Loud – a night we will NEVER forget!
Marshall – 50 Years of Loud….
Wembley Arena, London. Saturday night.
Guess it took me at least two days to have the whole thing kind of… “sink in”.
That show wasn’t even just a gig, I wouldn’t be able to sit here and review it – cause it was just way beyond that. It was MUSIC HISTORY IN THE MAKING. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I am so glad that I got a ticket (and such a great seat too) because I could probably never get over it if I hadn’t.
My main reasons for going were Yngwie and Paul Gilbert, long time heroes, both of them. But I also discovered artists that I thought I didn’t like. That evening they decided to show something else that I haven’t seen before, and I’m open for more in the future.
The greatest surprise of the evening for me personally, was Joe Satriani. Never been a fan really, don’t know why, I simply never got quite into his music. But of all the guitarists trying to outdo eachother that night, he was the only one who played (Always With Me, Always With You ) with such emotion, had us hear and feel the beauty of the guitar, the sounds you can get from that instrument… It was just so classy, so beautiful, I was in heaven. Amazing.
I had a few minor “heart attacks” during that Wembley show, like when Yngwie was presented and he made his rockstar entrance. The man IS an old-school true ROCK STAR, he is the GUITAR GOD of guitar gods, the embodiment of guitar hero, I mean…. I’ve admired that guy since I was a teenager pretty much. Met him, interviewed him several times but he never became a “normal person” to me, he always remained the Star, and I like that. Not too many have that quality. :-)
[One of my “heart attacks, Yngwie entering the stage!]
I simply love what he does. I hear people complaining about him being “too much”, playing too fast or calling it guitar masturbation, but I subscribe to his simple philosophy – More is more! Damn right it is.
I’m just not worthy. You hear that it’s Yngwie the second he plays his first note, you will never ever mistake him for anybody else. Nah, I’m lost for words. Oh and he tweeted out one of my videos of him this morning, which made me feel like a happy teenager, yeyyy right on!
Then, of course, there’s Paul Gilbert. The other guitar hero in my book. He’s the most unique rock guitarist I can imagine, basically because he’s got the groove, he’s got the sense of humor and he can be as nerdy and dorky as he damn well pleases, because nobody can do what he does. I’m sure it has something to do with his ridiculously long fingers, which I’m sure makes it easier to do a lot of the crazy stuff that he does.
Kind of like this pic – which might just as well have been Paul! :)
So, Paul walks out on stage with those headphones, joined by Drummer Extraordinaire Mike Portnoy and mrs Gilbert on keyboards – looking like any guy from the crowd… and just starts doing his thing. And you never want him to stop, the guy is simply brilliant!! He can do anything, yet he knows when to not get “too much”, it’s fun and impressive. Wow.
[Pardon my shaky filming, couldn’t decide on whether to watch through the camera or “irl”. :)]
I could sit here all night and just reflect on each and every artist and artist-combination that we saw that magical evening at Wembley, but there’s no point really. The best way to try soaking in the atmosphere and the GREATNESS of all these fantastic musicians playing together for the first – and probably the last – time, is to watch it for yourself – in these videos.
My favorite combo? Yngwie with Glenn Hughes and “the Whitesnakes” Doug Aldrich/Brian Tichy teaming up with Ripper Owens in “Slide It In” – THAT’s never to be heard in that version ever again…! :) Freaking COOL!
And – this might surprise a lot of people who know my usual taste in metal, but… I thought that this combination of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor kicking ass with Slayer’s Kerry King in the Pantera-classic “Mouth For War” was the most aggressive, cool and most METAL performance of the whole evening!
Just seeing all of those BEST OF THE BEST musicians teaming up, playing together – songs that they would never have a reason to play anywhere for any other reason – was so huge and so unbelievable, that I actually left the arena seriously thinking that if I got hit by a car, I would die happy.
I mean – watch this and you will understand. That’s all I can say. :)
Whitesnake at Vega, Copenhagen – videos and pics
Another memorable Whitesnake-show in Copenhagen last night. I wish I was fit to actually write a blog today, but I’ll have to postpone it for this weekend. However – some videos from Vega coming up!
There are a few I haven’t uploaded yet, those will be up too in a couple of days.
But for now…… enjoy!
Okay, a few pics too then. :)
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Sexy Whitesnake in Sweden
Had a fantastic time at the Whitesnake-concert last night. Again. :) I was the first to arrive at Kristianstad arena, 3 hours before the show. Shortly thereafter 3 other die-hard female fans joined me out there, in the cold, who turned out to be really cool and nice to talk to. Was first in line and first into the arena when the doors opened. That’s always nice – you get to pick your favorite spot without having to fight for it…!
Many hours of waiting, but it was totally worth it. As always. When the band entered the stage, it was like “haaaa-lelujah!”. MAGIC!
(a new record, it took him EXACTLY 1 minute to spot me, haha!
Sorry about the filming, I was too busy watching the show, not necessarily through my camera. So my apologies if anyone gets seasick watching this clip!)
Whitesnake on a stage is ALL about sex. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s anything but. I’ve often said that Coverdale’s music goes straight to your heart, but frankly, it goes straight to the lower regions as well. I still remember an internet-friend of mine telling me how he used Whitesnake’s music to get girls “in the mood”. According to him, it worked every time. I’m not surprised. It’s that velvet-smooth, deep sexy voice that does it. It sends shivers down your spine. What woman wouldn’t get “in the mood” listening to the first lines of “Slow and easy” for instance??
And its also the suggestive, underlying lyrics. Slide it in? Hm, I wonder what that could be about. ;)
But yeah anyway – although it’s not exactly a secret that Whitesnake is all about sex, and always has been, it just hit me yesterday when I was looking at what was in front of me on stage.
There’s David Coverdale himself, first of all. The man who invented the mic-stand penis-prolonger. Every move is sexy, and I must say that he’s one of the few men his age that can pull it off. I’ve never been into “older men” (not that David is “old” but “older men” to me is anything past 45) but he has that something that makes him very attractive – if it’s the confidence or what, I don’t know, but there’s a reason why he’s still making little girlies scream.
Two girls behind me, couldn’t have been more than 20, if even that, were going crazy every time he smiled. Some men got “it”, some don’t. David’s got it.And then…. Well. What’s in front of us on stage is a bunch of sweaty men with unbuttoned shirts, and tight pants that leave very little to the imagination – that cover just about what’s necessary.
And regardless what your taste in men is – they’re all good looking. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence. David knows what sells – you can’t be butt ugly and join Whitesnake. Might have worked back in the seventies but not after the 80s. Can’t be easy to find great musicians that also look good and are old enough to be 100% professional.Drummer Brian Tichy is definitely a handsome dude:
(from his time with Billy Idol)
Keyboard player Brian Ruedy:
Bassist Michael Devin:
Guitarist 1 – Doug Aldrich:
Guitarist 2 – Reb Beach:
There you have it – feast your eyes, ladies! :-)
So, it’s a winning concept that has worked all these years, and it always will. Sex ALWAYS sells. It appeals to the animal in all of us, will never go “out of style”, as long as it’s done tastefully. And Whitesnake does it tastefully. :-)
Someone taught David a new Swedish word that he loved repeating during the evening: “Knulla“. Google it. Lol!
But, aside from all that, the band had a fantastic evening – it was so obvious that they were having a good time on stage, great interaction between the musicians on stage and also an amazing contact with the crowd.
One of the girls that was first in line yesterday, noticed the same thing. David makes it his business to notice everybody, to make eye-contact with as many people as possible, because he knows that THAT is what makes people feel special and that is what makes them come back.
I’ll be the first to concur that. THIS is what I want to see when I attend a Whitesnake-gig:
“Hey!! It’s YOU! Hello!”
It feels good to be recognized, and I know that he always does. When he left the stage last night, he even stopped for a minute on his way out, because I was looking elsewhere, then when he was sure that we had eye-contact, he smiled and waved, like he was saying “thanks for coming, see you soon!“.
It’s not just David, the whole band does that. It’s stuff like that, the little details, that makes all the difference.
What can I say. I love Whitesnake :-)
Videos will be up in the coming blog – and then there’ll be more from Copenhagen on Wednesday as well. Stay tuned! :-))
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WHITESNAKE – making history! :)
No time for anything, I need sleep, desperately, but I HAD to upload this first. I can’t believe it. It was so amazing that once again I stood there bawling my eyes out, it was just to touching, I dont know what to say.
BERNIE MARSDEN AND ADRIAN VANDENBERG on stage with David along with Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach! FOUR guitarists from different Whitesnake eras, jesus, what can you say??
There are BANDS… and then there’s WHITESNAKE. They are just simply in a totally different league, I mean, they KILLED all the competition just like that. MAGIC – PURE MAGIC on that stage tonight!! Oh my god. For someone who’s made a living on using words for years, I’m for once totally speechless.There will be videos from the actual show too but give me time to get sleep and everything else – and I will reply to mails and texts on Sunday. :)
Thank you Whitesnake for an amazing performance – a night none of us will ever forget!
WHITESNAKE-TIME!!
Only 2 weeks till Sweden Rock Festival and all those bands that I love…! One of those bands being Whitesnake – a band that’s always been close to my heart.
It’s funny when I think back and remember how I even started listening to WS, it was after hearing “Guilty of Love” on the radio back in 1984. The reason why I loved the song wasn’t the song itself at first, it was that very simple but effectful drumroll that Cozy did right at the end of the song, before the last chorus. I loved that detail, could listen to it over and over again.
The rest is history. :-)
Sometimes when I find interviews or videos of my meetings with David Coverdale, I still can’t believe that this man went from being a poster on the wall in my teenage room, to somebody who knows and remembers my name in an instant, regardless where he sees me, if it’s in a crowd or a press conference or whatever.
If I stop and think about that, it’s pretty amazing, because of all the people this man meets on an everyday basis, in all different corners of the world – to think that I said or did something that makes him remember me every time, is pretty damn unbelievable. :)
These are some of those memorable moments…. The “classic” interview that I did in 1999 I’ve already published in this blog, audio files and all. Check for “Lost and found- David Coverdale” (link in left hand column).
David and Doug doing an acoustic performance at the Sweden Rock Festival kickoff party at Nalen in Stockholm, 2006:
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/video/lita77/david-coverdale-doug-aldrich-acoustic-live/4251198
One of those special moments was the press conference at the Sweden Rock festival-kickoff at Nalen in Stockholm December 2, 2006.
I recorded this press conference on an MD-recorder but the recorder/MD-player is shot so when I try to play the MD’s it sounds like crap. If anyone still wants to hear the entire press conference, drop me a line at intherearviewmirror@ymail.com or add a comment.
As you can hear from this short clip, the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. But this is one of those small moments that I was talking about, in a room of journalists where David treats everyone politely but professionally, he never once mentioned anyone by name. Until I decided to ask something…
He kept doing that, talking as if we were old friends, when in fact, I had “only” met him maybe 3 or 4 times prior to that, very short hello’s apart from the long and relaxed interview that I had the pleasure of doing in 1999. One of the rare occasions where you don’t have to feel stressed. Usually you get 20 minutes, tops.
He had all the time in the world, cause I think I was the last journalist to talk to him that day.
A funny thing about the Sweden Rock kickoff press conference, was that I was going to take a photo of David and Doug before they left, but accidentally hit the record-movie button.
Thank god for that, cause I got these 8 seconds on tape (where he gets up to leave and doesn’t ask anyone else if they’ve got any more questions – he turns to me to check if I’ve got all the material I need..!).
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/video/lita77/david-coverdale-doug-aldrich-press-conference-stockholm/4224844
Then there was my birthday. Whitesnake playing in Copenhagen, Denmark that day and once again, David made it such a memorable birthday, I couldn’t have asked for a better b-day. :)
My friend Mari had a surprise in store, cause I didn’t know that she had prepared a sign to let David know it was my birthday.
Much to my surprise he took that sign and walked around with it on stage and sang for me.
Well, he has a way of making people feel like he’s singing just for them, one of those qualities that made him a superstar.
When he told the crowd that it was my birthday and that I was “giving out birthday kisses to guys” I thought it was funny and a very “Coverdalish” thing to do. :-)
Inbetween two songs, he went behind the stage and came back with a beer in a cup that he offered me as a birthday-gift and bowed. No wonder I love this man! :))
Small, but such nice gestures.
And he’s always done that. I can’t think of one single Whitesnake-show where he hasn’t talked to me from the stage or smiled and winked or whatever.
There was only ONE time that I was pissed off at him, and I was mad for at least a year…
It was Sweden Rock Festival, I think in 2003. I was standing in the front row as usual (being my size, you don’t see shit if you’re way in the back) and as you all know, when you are in the mosh pit, you’re stuck. You can’t move – at ALL.
Suddenly I feel how some guy had his hands all over me – where they shouldn’t be. I was so mad and frustrated because I couldn’t see who it was and I couldn’t do anything to get the idiot to stop what he was doing.
In the middle of all this, I see David looking at me and whoever the asshole was, with a big smile, and he says: “I don’t blame you man, she’s got great tits!”
WTF?! He could have said something to make the asshole stop, instead he encouraged it.
Oh boy, my respect for David Coverdale went down the toilet after that. I was pissed off, VERY pissed off.
When my “little brother” Chris Laney opened for Whitesnake in Linkoping some time after that, he put me and my then boyfriend on the guest list and I guess I had the opportunity to talk to David that year. But I didn’t want to.
I remember him spotting me from the stage, like so many times before, bringing the mikestand over to my corner, where he happily started talking, asking how I was doing blah blah, I don’t remember what he said exactly. For the first time ever I wasn’t interested in what he had to say. And I didn’t go backstage to hang with Chris and his band either. I just left.
But then, time heals everything I guess and I figured that maybe David had misunderstood the situation I had been in at Sweden Rock 2003, and I just decided to drop the grudge.
I’m back to being the same enthusiastic Whitesnake-fan that I’ve always been.
And I can’t wait to see them rock again. The new album Forevermore is the best they’ve done in a long time – go get it! :)
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 