On July 29, 2013, The Palace Theater in Greensburg, PA hosted Whitesnake for their Year of the Snake tour. This place was about to erupt!
Red Line Chemistry started off the evening, and I have to confess that I did not do my homework on these guys. It can be hard sometimes to judge a band when you first hear them in a live situation. The sound isn't always the best for opening acts, and from where I was sitting, I thought the percussion from the kick drum was going to put me into cardiac arrest. But they impressed me enough that I took a listen to their stuff when I got home, and they are pretty darn good. Certainly worth a few minutes to check them out.
When Whitesnake hit the stage, The Palace had filled up and was ready to rock. After 35 years, David Coverdale still looks and sounds great. OK, maybe I'm a little biased. I always thought he had the sexiest voice in rock! Mr. Coverdale spent a good deal of time interacting with the crowd, and even invited everyone to come on down front. Now, this was an unusual sight, since security at The Palace is generally very strict about keeping people in their seats.
About halfway thru their set, as Mr. Coverdale took a break, Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach did a dueling guitar solo. For those of you that don't know, Reb Beach is from Pittsburgh, and no doubt had many friends and family in the crowd in addition to his fans. He seemed very comfortable and happy to be in front of his hometown crowd.
Not long after the guitar solos, Tommy Aldridge did a drum solo. In my opinion, solos can get a bit dull, no matter how amazing the musician is, but this was one solo I will not soon forget. After he stood up and tossed his sticks into the crowd, Tommy sat back down and continued his solo using only his hands! You just don't see that every day.
After the solos, Mr. Coverdale continued to entrain the crowd, no doubt fueled in part by the Pennsylvania apple juice (either hard cider or apple wine, I'm not sure which) that he shared with one lucky fan in the front row. The 90 minute set included such hits as "Is This Love", "Slide it In", "Slow and Easy", "Forevermore" from their latest album, and my favorite "Still of the Night". It was over in a flash, and I went home wanting more. Let's hope David Coverdale and the rest of the band come back soon to do it again.