Page 62 - Black Velvet Issue 87

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DEF LEPPARD / WHITESNAKE / BLACK STAR RIDERS – BIRMINGHAM GENTING ARENA, 12.12.15

The Let’s Get Rocked
In The Still Of The Night II
tour was announced back
in March 2015 giving nine
months for fans to make
plans for the tour of Def
Leppard and Whitesnake.
It’s no surprise that on a
Saturday night, Birming-
ham’s Genting Arena, in
the middle of the tour, is
packed. With the opening
band being Black Star Rid-
ers, fans get not one, not
two, but three great rock
bands for their money.
Black Star Riders came
about from the remnants
of Thin Lizzy. Scott
Gorham announced in
2012 that their new band
name would be Black Star
Riders. Since then there
have been a couple of
member changes, with
Robbie Crane, previously
of Ratt and Vince Neil
Band, becoming the most
recent member in 2014.
Their set is a mixture of
Thin Lizzy material and
newer Black Star Riders
tunes. Fronted by Ricky
Warwick (The Almighty)
they kick things off with the
self-titled track of ‘All Hell
Breaks Loose’ before per-
forming Thin Lizzy’s ‘Are
You Ready’. We also get
‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Whiskey In
The Jar’, classic Thin Lizzy
numbers that everyone
loves. The band’s more re-
cent material goes down
well and comes across as
current and very amiable
while the Thin Lizzy tracks
keep everyone rocking.
The band’s hard rock
riffage is just the tonic to
kick-start Saturday night.
With Black Star Riders
having paid homage to
Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake
pay homage to Deep Pur-
ple. They open their set
with ‘Burn’ from latest
Whitesnake album, ‘The
Purple Album’, which is a
reworking of the classic
Deep Purple track (the title
track of Deep Purple’s
eighth studio album but
first with David Coverdale).
David Coverdale originally
sang for Deep Purple and
lately he’s been looking
back fondly at that time.
David shows that despite
being 64 (which he men-
tions during the show) he’s
still as fit as a fiddle and
makes full use of the cat-
walk and stage during the
set. He’s the consummate
performer while his back-
ing band are pretty damn

CONCERTS