Jason Michaelsen, Journalist and Chyrisse Tabone, Photographer–Tampa Correspondents
I was fortunate enough to talk with Marco Mendoza, bass guitarist for The Dead Daisies, a few weeks ago for an interview. After the interview he made sure there was a set of tickets waiting for me when they arrived in Clearwater while touring with Whitesnake on their Purple Tour. Now, I have their music on my phone and love jamming out to them while working or even just going for a nice long motorcycle ride–but seeing them in person is a whole different ball game. Would they live up to the hype I had in my mind?
From the minute they took the stage you could tell they knew exactly what they were doing, opening with one of their more popular songs “Mexico.” The crowd loved it as women flocked to the stage just to get closer. Mendoza, playing to the crowd in the fashion every 80s rocker loves to, bent down and gave a girl a kiss on the cheek then took her fedora and wore it for half of the song “Midnight Moses.” Brian Tichy wowed the crowd by throwing his drum sticks high in the air, catching them and continuing on without missing a beat. John Corabi even made a joke about one of his ex-wives saying this song was for her as they started playing “Devil Out of Time.” Finishing out there set with their cover of the Beatles song, “Helter Skelter” The Dead Daisies went far beyond my expectations. Once this supergroup was done with their performance they made their way down to the concession area where they signed autographs for all of their fans. I, of course, stood in line and had them sign the very tickets they had provided me.
Taking my seat, the lights suddenly went out in the indoor venue creating a pitch black environment. Once a hush fell over the crowd from the anticipation, a hail of red lights and pounding drums caused the entire audience to jump to their feet and start cheering as Whitesnake began playing “Burn,” a cover from Deep Purple.
Now I can honestly say that David Coverdale knows how to play to the crowd and get them excited. As he sang, he walked at the edge of the stage grabbing the hands of his fans. He also put the microphone to the mouths of some of the women in the front row to have them sing parts of “Love Ain’t No Stranger.” As he began speaking in between songs his thought process was interrupted as he looked down at a certain woman wearing a fedora, blurting out, “Nice tits. Racks on display! I love Florida, they are fucking everywhere.” Another fan asked to grab his genitals and he responded by turning it into a joke by saying’ “well I have been thinking of getting a nut tuck done.” He began to laugh and make more jokes about getting old. He used the joke to lead into a few covers from his Deep Purple days, including “Mistreated” saying, “They (the songs) were from before you had these,” as he grabbed at his chest.
One by one, all the other members began playing solos. Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra gave some amazing guitar work; Michael Devin played the harmonica and Michele Luppi, who joined Whitesnake for the Purple Tour, gave a breathtaking performance on the keyboards. Tommy Aldridge gave a drum solo that left me amazed by throwing his sticks to the crowd half way through his solo and continuing to play with his bare hands. Whitesnake finished off the show with one of their most known songs “Here I Go Again” and left the crowd wanting more. The group came back out to give an encore and played “Still of the Night.”
This was a show that I am glad I did not miss. Both of these groups have amazing sounds and styles that I will continue to listen to every chance I get. Needless to say if I ever get the chance to see either group again, there is no doubt I will be going.
PHOTO GALLERY
Whitesnake
SET LIST–WHITESNAKE
Burn
Slide It In
Love Ain’t No Stranger
The Gypsy
Give Me All Your Love
You Keep On Moving
Forevermore
GUITAR SOLO (Reb Beach & Joel Hoekstra)
Mistreated
You Fool No One
DRUM SOLO
Is This Love
Bad Boys
Here I Go Again
ENCORE: Still of the Night
PHOTO GALLERY
The Dead Daisies
SET LIST–THE DEAD DAISIES
Mexico
Midnight Moses
Looking for the One
Make the Best of It
Hush
Lock ‘n Load
With You and I
Devil Our of Time
Helter Skelter
WEBSITES
See The Dead Daisies perform an acoustic version of “Mexico” while on the Channel 10 Tampa, Sarasota
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