Whitesnake Embarks On Greatest Hits Tour

Whitesnake will play Huber Heights, near Dayton, later this month. I recently interviewed Joel Hoekstra about the tour for the Dayton City Paper. Here's that interview:

Whitesnake, the iconic band fronted by British singer David Coverdale, will once again roll through the Miami Valley, stopping for a gig at Rose Music Center in Huber Heights on Wednesday, June 15. The band played Rose last year during its Purple tour. This year, it’s all about the greatest hits. This means if you’re a fan of “Is This Love” and “Still Of The Night,” you’d better get a ticket.

“The setlist is different this year,” Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra promises the Dayton City Paper. “This year is really what people are used to hearing from Whitesnake. It’s as advertised. The band was like, ‘Seriously? We get to play this set!’ It’s far and away the best set of music I’ve ever been able to play. Hopefully, people will come out just based on that alone.”

The eight times platinum 1987 release Whitesnake was massive the world over, especially here in America where MTV made the already established band a household name to teens and housewives alike.

For Hoekstra, being a member of Whitesnake is still a fairly new gig. Not that he’s new to the scene. He was a longtime member of Night Ranger and has played with Foreigner, too. But Whitesnake is home, at least for now.

“The lineup is a great combination of guys who are new to the band and then guys like [drummer] Tommy Aldridge and [guitarist] Reb Beach who have been here awhile so there’s a great blend of enthusiasm and poise,” Hoekstra continues. “For me, it’s an honor to work with David Coverdale. He’s a living legend. The guy worked with Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore! It’s a great education for me.”

Obviously, Hoekstra didn’t start at the top playing for stadium crowds. He built his career just like the rest of us: pebble by pebble, job by job. He wasn’t afraid of hard work and taking risks.

Continue reading over on the DCP site.

Are We About To See The Old Axl?

A lot of us have been wondering what happened to Axl Rose over the past year. He seems calm, happy and obviously Guns n' Roses is touring and he's also out with AC/DC. All the crazy hissyfits seemed over. It's like we got a new, gentler Axl.

All is well... except for sending DMCA take down notices to Google to have "Axl fat memes" removed from the Internet. Look, I get it. Axl gained some weight and people poked fun. He didn't (doesn't) like it - but who would? The good news is that Axl has slimmed down, he's back fronting a live band and making a ton of cash. Petty things shouldn't bother him... but alas here we are.

I guess Google hasn't complied with the takedown request because the ownership of the original photo is in question. Click the article below for the full, convulted story. Craziness. 

Who Should Front AC/DC?

As you already know, Axl Rose is singing for AC/DC right now. Brian Johnson had to leave the band due to hearing issues. Now, he's apparently got new in-ear monitors, his hearing is better... and he might want to come back to the band. What a conundrum. Would both Brian and Axl sing for the band? Or just Axl? Or bring back Brian full stop? You decide below. Discuss.

Who Should Sing for AC/DC?

Brian Johnson

Axl Rose

Neither, Just Retire Already!

myiq

SIXX: A.M. Covers Motley Crue... Not Good

I guess Nikki Sixx is looking to drum up some press or something because SIXX: A.M. just covered Motley Crue's "Live Wire" for a French radio station. The cover is some acoustic "re-imagined" version or whatever. It's basically horrible, as you would assume. Here I thought Nikki was done with Motley tunes forever. I guess not.

Remember When A RATT Show Was A Big Deal?

Picture it: Osaka, Japan, 1991. RATT is still a pretty big band. The core remains intact. The stage show remains huge. The way things are with the band now (can we even say RATT is a band at this point?) seeing these old clips make me sad. Sometimes I just wish I could get Stephen Pearcy and Bobby Blotzer on the phone and broker a reunion beginning with "Check your ego" and end with "You won't be broke." Oh well I guess. Thankfully YouTube has me covered when I need a fix of RATT live... even if the footage is over 20 years old.

'Don't Stop Me Now' - Queen +Adam Lambert Live

This is an epic performance. Queen + Adam Lambert performed at Rock In Rio Lisboa festival in Lisbon, Portugal last month. Just last night, Queen released a piece of pro-shot footage from the performance. It's the song "Don't Stop Me Now" and it is so good.

Now, I know there are plenty of you that say Adam Lambert isn't Freddie Mercury. Well, of course he's not. Freddie is and was the voice of Queen. But he is gone and Adam is honestly the next best thing. He's great for the band and helps bring in a younger fan base. Also, I'm still salty he came in second on American Idol all those years ago. But maybe that was a blessing. If he'd won, he probably wouldn't be sining for Queen right now.

Man I wish I could see them live.

Absolutely Amazing Classic Def Leppard Clip

Happy Friday! Today, enjoy an amazing 1980 performance of Def Leppard doing "Hello America." The clip is from a Dutch TV show. The band was so young here. I love it!