When I first started this little exercise we were a month into lockdown on the 24th April. Like most of you I expected this to last a month or two and some form on normality would have prevailed and I would be back to live music by the autumn. It quickly became apparent that this was not going to be the case and I soon wrote off the whole year pinning my hopes on a quick resumption in 2021.
Well after his latest bout of brinkmanship with the virus Boris has blinked too late yet again and we’re back in full lockdown. The reality now is clear and sadly it will be a full twelve months and probably a lot more between my last gig and the next one. I will be surprised if I am seeing any live music again before June.
We go again and hopefully this brings back memories for my gig going chums who have joined me on this great musical journey down the years.
Just the one today and it’s another oldie for Graham and me for my look back trip down memory lane.
1983, Whitesnake, Hammersmith Odeon, London
Graham and I saw the ‘snake a few times in those first few years of gig going. It’s the ‘Saints and Sinners’ tour which is actually a very good album in the Whitesnake catalogue. For this tour Coverdale embraced his inner Richie Blackmore and got rid of Bernie Marsden, Ian Paice and Neil Murray, core elements of that classic line-up and replaced them with Mel Galley?, Colin Hodgkinson? and Cozy Powell (got that one right although how can you replace the legend that is Ian Paice). All fine musicians and luckily with this line-up change they hadn’t lost the core blues rock sound. That came a lot later when they went all fluffy American soft rock.
I can’t fault the set list as it takes the best tracks from their studio albums and the best of the ‘Saints’ album. We are still deep in the times when everyone in the band had a solo including the bass player. We didn’t know any better then but looking back I would happily lose a few of these and have more songs. If you take out the solos they only actually play twelve songs.
Despite its Deep Purple roots, Whitesnake are very much a Coverdale vehicle and its works so well with these super talented musicians behind that brilliant bluesy voice. At that time I think only Paul Rodgers could lay claim to be a better white blues voice. (A decade before it was arguably Rod).
So another super ‘Snake show in what was the zenith of our metal phase.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. With hopes dashed of any form of normality soon I am trying to cling on that by June we could be back in business but my hopes have been dashed so many times in the last twelve months that I wouldn’t bet on it.
Don forget, support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.