The night for me began with Whitesnake ; one of my favourite bands. I was extremely excited and pumped up as it was to be my first Whitesnake concert ever.
As I entered the arena, I was immediately surprised by how big the arena was as it was my first time there. The lights were dimmed and there was some sort of smoke hanging in the air coming from the lights. Just looking around, the place was packed to the brim with people everywhere.
The band opened on top form with 'Give Me All Your Love Tonight' , Coverdale sporting his iconic stage movements as well as his gleaming teeth and hair. A YouTube comment stated that they were 'looking good as ever!'. It was a brilliant up-beat song to begin with and certainly got the crowd going. Another reviewer stated that Coverdale's 'largely American band not only put on a big show, but their massed backing vocals covered his vocal shortcomings.' The band made their through many classics as well as an emotional tribute to past and deceased members of the band ( Jon Lord, Mel Galley & Cozy Powell). A pleasant surprise was how many new songs were performed from the bands then latest album 'Forevermore'. The eagerly awaited 'Is This Love' and 'Here I Go Again' were performed with the whole audience a.k.a the Whitesnake Choir singing along. The atmosphere was very lively with a great vibe . Their set ended with the smashing head-banger 'Still Of The Night'.
Whitesnake did a brilliant set with an interesting setlist as well as a very entertaining light and visual show thanks to the aid of the massive screen behind them which showed not only a live feed but various images, logos and specific clips of the band . I was very pleasingly entertained seen as it was my first time seeing this band live.
Whitesnake were formed in 1977 by David Coverdale after his time in the legendary Deep Purple. They started off as a blues based rock band with songs such as 'Ready 'An Willing' and 'Fool For Your Loving'. It wasn't until 1984 that they reinvented themselves, with not only an updated line-up but also a new sound, a more melodic hard rock approach. In 1987, Whitesnake completely changed themselves. This time tackling the American market. The songs were much heavier but yet again melodic and Coverdale brought along a whole new line-up and band image (very MTV like).The song 'Still of The Night' mesmerised the whole genre and changed the way these kind of songs were written forever. In the late, 90's the band separated and it wasn't until 2003 that David Coverdale resurrected the band with another brand new line-up. Since their reunion, they have recorded 3 studio albums, gone through more line-up changes and have recently completed an extremely successful UK tour with Sheffield rock giants Def Leppard!
Setlist:
1.Give Me All Your Love
2.Ready An Willing
3.Can You Hear The Wind Blow
4.Don't Break My Heart Again
5.Is This Love
6.Gambler
7.Love Will Set You Free
8.Pistols At Dawn
9.Steal Your Heart Away
10. Forevermore
11.Best Years/Bad Boys/Children Of The Night
12. Fool For Your Loving
13.Here I Go Again
14. Still Of The Night
Next up were the AOR icons Journey, most famous for the song 'Don't Stop Believin' which defined a whole genre and influenced many other songs like these to come.
The band had a tough act to follow and it was going to be a struggle to keep the audiences attention as they went on at 9:40 pm. They opened with the strong 'Separate Ways'. Already the contrast in sound was noticeable. Whitesnake's sound was thick, distorted and heavy ,whereas, was purely crystal clear. Arnel Pineda was absolutely on fire during the night constantly jumping and grinning at the audience and as another YouTube commenter stated he was 'so energetic and powerful'. Journey also had a different stage design. They had a screen that was separated into smaller squares as well as another visually entertaining light show. The bands setlist was restricted only to classics, no new songs. The band were clearly enjoying themselves, and had the whole audience captivated during the ballads 'Faithfully' and 'Open Arms' where Pineda truly shone. With beautiful guitar and piano solo's the band ended with 'that' song which got the crowd wild and we were all treated to a huge blast of confetti as the song came to a close.
Journey were formed in 1975 by Neal Schon who had played with Santana. The band acquired their extremely strong vocalist Steve Perry and it wasn't until 1981 that they truly broke through with the album 'Escape' with the hits 'D.S.B' and 'Open Arms'. The band released several successful albums after that and disbanded for a while until they reunited to release their final album with Steve Perry in 1996. After several line-up changes, the band were considering calling it quits until by chance they discovered a young Philippines vocalist called Arnel Pineda on YouTube. They have so far released 2 albums with Pineda and still remain one of the biggest rock bands in the world with their songs featuring in many films like 'Rock Of Ages' and TV shows such as 'Glee'. The band have also earned their own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Setlist:
1.Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
2.Any Way You Want It
3.Chain Reaction
4.Only The Young
5.Guitar Solo
6.Stone In Love
7.Keep On Running
8.Edge Of The Blade
9.Lights
10. Piano Solo
11.Open Arms
12. Escape
13.Dead Or Alive
14. Guitar Solo
15. Wheel In The Sky
16. Faithfully
17.Be Good To Yourself
18. Don't Stop Believin'
It was a hugely entertaining night with stellar performances from both bands and as another review says 'it was a thoroughly entertaining and value for money evening that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.'
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