Caught live - Glasgow review

[Don]

This show was billed as a co-headlining show for Whitesnake and Journey, which before the event I had thought seemed semi-reasonable. On one hand the mighty Whitesnake would be headliners any day of the week and on the other, Journey are coming off the back of a massive wave of nostalgia. However, before the night was through, the 400 shy of capacity crowd at the SECC would soon realise that the placing of bands wouldn't quite hit the mark.

Before all that though we had Thunder to entertain us. From the off the SECC crowd were up for the 6.45pm kick-off set. Coming onto the stage via AC/DCs, Thunderstruck, lead singer Danny Bowes notched the energy levels up by shouting, ‘I can’t hear you screaming’. The band opened with ‘Dirty Love’ and ensured the attention of the crowd. Before the gig had begun there had been a few murmurs of discontent over the fact that the gig was fully seated and for the majority of people in the arena during Thunder’s set the only use for the seats seemed to be to have a resting place for their beloved beer. Bowes complemented the high-energy set with what can only be described as the best ‘dad dancing’ I have ever seen in my life and continued to plough through the songs with band in tow. ‘Backstreet Symphony’, ‘Low Life in High Places’ and ‘River of Pain’ were all matched by the crowds enthusiasm and excellent performance from Luke Morley on guitar, Gary ‘Harry’ James on drums, Ben Matthews on guitar and Chris Childs on bass. There wasn't much time for chit-chat between songs but Bowes ensured a big laugh when introducing their song, ‘Love Walked In’ by saying, ‘This song is from our first album that was released in 1860.’ Not quite 1860 but the 1990 album, Backstreet Symphony obviously had quite a few followers in the crowd. The band were clearly enjoying every minute of the set and capped their performance with opening track to their 7th studio album, The Magnificent Seventh. Released in 2005, ‘I Love You More Than Rock and Roll,’ spawned a top 30 hit for the band and was the perfect end to a compact set from these guys that left the crowd hungry for more.

Next up was first of our co-headliners Whitesnake. The stage set up had been slightly reconfigured to reveal a wall of Marshall Amps at either side of the drum kit. David Coverdale strode onto the stage in a white shirt with union jack design and Whitesnake brandished all over it. They kicked off with 1987 single, ‘Give Me All Your Love’ and drummer Tommy Aldridge swinging around behind his drum kit like he was thirty years younger. The obligatory, ‘Are You Ready’s?’ were asked by Coverdale of the crowd and the noise decidedly said they were. The band romped into, ‘Ready an’ Willing’ before playing, ‘Can You Hear the Wind Blow’ and ‘Don’t Break My Heart Again,’ to which Coverdale thanked the crowd for 35 years of hospitality. The opening bars of ‘Is This Love’ started up and the crowd duly went mental singing the chorus in full voice. There was also time for the other constituent parts of Whitesnake to shine when both Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach had a guitar duel on stage, which didn't outstay its welcome. Whilst the end of, ‘Steal Your Heart Away’ allowed Tommy Aldridge to whack the drums full pelt in an impressive solo too. ‘Forevermore’, ‘Best Years’ and ‘Bad Boys’ were all given the Glasgow treatment before the big guns really came out. ‘Fool For Your Loving’ was outstanding as was ‘Here I Go Again’ whilst final song of the night ‘Still of the Night’ capped a fantastic set which also paid tribute to former members of Whitesnake who were sadly with us no more.

Once again the SECC stage was being altered to make way for final headliners Journey. An impressive backdrop of LED screens was unveiled whilst the Marshalls were carted off. It would have been difficult for any band to come on and match what had already been two blinding sets from Thunder and Whitesnake but on the night – and I’m fearing on the tour as a whole also – Journey were just not capable of it. From the moment they took to the stage there was a definite lack of real enthusiasm from the crowd. And whilst it must be stressed that it has nothing to do with the capabilities of the band either individually or as a whole – Arnel Pineda’s voice is properly fantastic with not a note wrong the entire night – it just couldn't translate into the excitement or energy we had seen from the previous two bands. There were pockets of the crowd who were singing along but the majority of the SECC had either given up and headed to the bar early or where patiently standing waiting for the two songs we knew would come. There were some who were even putting good use to those seats – so that’s what they’re for. Even by the time the big songs of the night came out – ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and a final flourish with, ‘Any Way You Want It’ - the confetti streaming from the canons at either side of the stage couldn't really rouse the crowd into anything other than a polite cheer.

[FamilyMan]

Ouch