Whitesnake (uk)

In ’77, after his Purple adventure, charismatic frontman David Coverdale established the legendary Whitesnake, still alive and kicking to this very day, in the world of melodious rock/heavy metal. Following a series of band-member changes (renowned guitarists like Steve Vai (Frank Zappa), Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard) and John Sykes (Thin Lizzy) learned how it should be done from Coverdale), this heavy metal-snake has been biting venomously again since 2004! That resulted in two new albums, ‘Good To Be Bad' from 2008 and LP number 11 ‘Forevermore’ from 2011, both of which received good press.

“Coverdale’s revenge, a fantastic concert full of sublime melodic rock” wrote MusicZine.be when, in 2009, Whitesnake smashed a churning AB to a pulp with hardrock classics like ‘Still Of The Night’ and ‘Fool For Your Loving’. Coverdale is once again accompanied by the virtuous guitar duo of Dough Aldrich & Reb Beach, tightly reined by a new rhythm section. Bassist Michael Devin recently received the company of ex-drummer Tommy Aldridge, who has also struck the skins for Ozzy Osbourne, Thin Lizzy and the late Gary Moore. So Whitesnake rocks live as never before!

Walking Papers (us)

Kicking off with Walking Papers from Seattle, the band of Screaming Trees- and Guns N’ Roses-/Velvet Revolver-/Jane’s Addiction-veterans Barrett Martin and Duff McKagan. We've also just identified the impressive rhythm section of this all-star band, completed by the sandpapered blues throat of Jeff Angell and Benjamin Anderson on keys (both ex-The Missionary Position).

Jangling bluesy guitar licks supplemented by hypnotising rhythms and muscled bass lines, just as rock ’n’ roll should be. This charismatic quartet, with an impressive number of rock&roll-kilometres on their meter, doesn't have a lot to learn so that should produce sparks live. The guys are here to present their debut album of the same name from 2012, with Sub Pop-linked sound-mixer Jack Endino behind the dials (he previously laid his hands upon the work of Nirvana, Therapy?, Mudhoney and Soundgarden too) and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready helping out on guitar.

That's what we call dizzying name-dropping! We almost forgot to also mention that Barrett Martin also revamped the drumwork for bands like Air, R.E.M., Stone Temple Pilots and Queens Of The motherf****** Stone Age.

More than reason enough to head on down to AB on 19 June? I thought so …