Whitesnake Japan Tour 2006
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| 2006.05.14 - Pacifico Yokohama (Kanagawa) |
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 This was the 4th show of this tour, following
Fukuoka, Hiroshima, and Nagoya shows. I
had been to this venue for Ozzy Osbourne's
show and the Music Fair 2005, and there is
the Hard Rock Cafe and the mall with some restaurants, shops, etc, called
Queen's Square near there. This show
was after 2 years and a half since the last
Whitesnake show for me. The show finally
started ... the band members appeared on
the stage! The first song was "Burn"
from Deep Purple. The setlist was added
some more classic songs, and similar to that
of the live DVD which had been released in
April in Japan. I felt David Coverdale's
voice was not so well. He often let
the audience sing along, but I don't know
the lyric so well except for the chorus parts.
I felt the sound was not so good at
this show. Doug slid his guitar on
the floor and threw his guitar on his guitar
solo part, but he failed to catch the guitar
... he apologized with saying "Suimasen."
He said later that he sometimes wanted
to do this kind of performance, different
from usual. He had done this on the
Dio tour before, and he had got a good reaction
from the audience. But when he did
it at the rehearsal for this Whitesnake tour,
DC didn't seem to like it so much .... Doug
said he wanted to do this again if the mood
is right. When he failed to catch the
guitar, he seemed to hurt his fingers a bit,
but it wasn't so bad, so no problem for keep
playing. Take care, Doug. This
show was not so bad, but I wasn't satisfied
so much. I felt the reaction of the
audience was different between their 70's
songs and 80's songs. I'm a fan since
80's, so actually I'm more excited with the
newer songs. But I think there are
many great songs in their 70's days, of course. |
| 2006.05.15 - Act City Hamamatsu (Shizuoka) |
 The Act City has a hotel and a shopping center
in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture. Doug
had been to Shizuoka before with Bad Moon
Rising, but there seemed to be some band
members who visited there first. Doug
and Timothy said it was a beautiful city.
I agree, it was a nice view from my
hotel room. At the venue, a lot of
people were standing in line for buying their
merchandises. I couldn't sleep at all
last night, so I was so sleepy before the
show. But when the show started, my
sleepiness was gone away! My seat was
closer to the stage than the Yokohama show,
so I could see all the band members well.
The setlist was the same as the Yokohama
show, but this show was great. DC's
voice was better, and Doug's solo was amazing
without the performance he did last night.
He concentrated on his playing. The
fretboard of Uriah's bass guitar lighted
blue, and the audience was more excited.
Uriah was introduced by DC as "my
son". Timothy sang a chorus part,
but he seemed to worry if the audience could
hear them. Uriah visited Japan for
the first time, so he seemed to look very
excited. Doug was always introduced
by DC as "my brother". He
looked enjoying time in Japan after 2 years
and a half. They had practiced the
new songs at rehearsal, so Doug said he wanted
to play them before the Tokyo show. I
hope so too. This night Doug went to
eat Unagi with Uriah and some Japanese staffs. |
| 2006.05.18 - Terusa Niigata (Niigata) |
 This is the first trip to Niigata for me
... Actually I had never been to the
north
part of Japan. I wasn't planning
to
go there on this tour, but suddenly
it happened.
The venue, Terusa Niigata, was
a bit
far from the Niigata station, about
20 minutes
by car. I ate a lunch, then went
to
the venue. It looked like a country
side ... filled with nature. But
the
security at the venue was strict. Maybe
not so many rock bands visited there?
The
mood of the audience was different
... before
the show a few fans suddenly started
to crap
their hands and excited. This
show
was great also, but DC said the same
things
at each shows, so I wanted to hear
some different
things ... On this tour DC looked
very
energetic, often said the Japanese
words,
pointed out some fans ... I felt he
was looking
into the fans carefully. And
he let
the audience sing along with him a
lot, it
was beautiful, especially in "Ain't
No Love In The Heart Of The City".
It's
almost 20 years since my first Whitesnake
show ... DC was getting older, but
very attractive
as a singer and a frontman. He's a charisma!
And the other members are still attractive
as well. |
| 2006.05.19 - ZEPP SENDAI (Miyagi) |
 This is the only one standing-style show
for me on this tour. The Fukuoka show
on the first day was the same, but I didn't
see it. Fortunately I had got a good
ticket, so I could see the show in the front
row. I could see all the band members
very well at this show, so I really enjoyed
it. But the fans were pushing me, hitting
me ... a bit tired. Tommy's drum solo
was still powerful, and Uriah fitted in the
band very well. He was always introduced
by DC, "very, very first time to Japan
..." He communicated with the
fans very well ... showed his pierce on his
tongue, threw his pick, and always smiling.
Reb's solo was not so much as Doug,
but his playing was amazing. I think
Doug's guitar fit Whitesnake's sound more,
but Reb is a great player with a good career
and popular in Japan, so I think he should
have his solo part like Doug at the show.
It's more fun. The keyboard player,
Timothy didn't get a spotlight so much, but
his play was important especially on a ballad.
DC's vocal seemed to be better as the
show went on. And on this show ....finally
a new song was played!! DC shouted
"New song for you!" Then
they played it ... I didn't know the title,
but maybe "Ready To Rock"? It
was a great rock song, really Whitesnaky!
I had been waiting for this moment
since Doug joined Whitesnake ... I was happy
to hear the new song finally! I felt
they got a good reaction from the audience.
As the show went on, I felt the audience
was enjoying both their 70's songs and 80's
songs. The reaction from the audience
was better and better. The band members
seemed to move to Tokyo after the show. Thanks
for a great night! |
| 2006.05.21 - Tokyo International Forum (Tokyo) |
 Finally the last show ... the ticket didn't
seem to be sold well except for the Yokohama
show, but it seemed to be well for this Tokyo
show and there were some press people. At
the beginning of the show, there seemed to
be some howling on the sound. I felt
the sound was a bit bad. DC's performance
was usual, "Konnichiwa, Konbanwa!",
"Suimasen.", "Hai!",
"Genki-desuka?" ... he said many
Japanese words. His vocal was not good
as his younger days, but still beautiful
and attractive. And he still looked
sexy, even though he was in 50's. Doug
tried the performance again which he did
at the Yokohama show. This time he
did great and looked cool. He looked
spirited. He was always introduced
by DC as "my brother", but this
night "Golden brother!" The
new song was played again this night. I
wanted to hear more new songs, but it didn't
happen. The new song which they played
was great, so I really look forward to hearing
the live album with 4 new songs released
later this year. I prefer to the newer
songs, but I love "Take Me With You",
because I like its groove. I like another
classic songs, but the songs like "Is
This Love", "Still Of The Night",
"Crying In The Rain", "Give
Me All Your Love", "Here I Go Again",
etc were amazing. Doug's guitar solo
sounded beautiful and fantastic. Many
fans wanted to hear "Fool For Your Loving"
or "Bad Boys" as well. I
wanted to hear "Soldier Of Fortune".
I was very impressed to hear this song
on the last tour. But it was great
to hear the new song. I appreciate
to them for playing it at first in Japan.
The Japanese fans are lucky. This
day there seemed to be some press people
or Doug's friends in the backstage, so I
think Doug had a good time with them. I
took some photos of Doug after the show ...
thanks Doug! On the next day, May 22nd,
the band members except for Doug left for
London in the morning, and Doug left for
LA in the evening with the manager for editing
some stuffs at his studio. He had to
prepare for the guitar clinic on May 26.
Thanks for the great shows, Doug &
Whitesnake! And I look forward to seeing
you again after the new album. 2 years and a half since the last tour in
2003 ... Whitesnake got a new bass player,
Uriah Duffy and toured in USA last year.
The setlist in Japan tour was similar
to that last year, I think. I'm glad
to hear "Guilty of love" or "Walking
in the shadow of the blues". I
think both the old and the new fans could
enjoy the shows. The older songs are
good, but the songs like "Is This Love",
"Still Of The Night", "Crying
In The Rain", "Give Me All Your
Love", "Here I Go Again" are
always great. The last Japan tour was
after 6 years absence for Whitesnake, 4 years
for Doug, and after I saw the first Whitesnake
show with Doug in Las Vegas and Los Angeles,
so I was really excited and everything was
fresh. I like Whitesnake's music since
1987, so I really enjoyed the shows ... not
only the songs were great, but also all the
band members looked attractive with great
performances. Marco Mendoza was a great
performer, but the new bass player, Uriah
was energetic and really enjoying playing
for the band. But this time there was
no new album since the last tour and the
show was short, so I wasn't satisfied enough.
They need something new. But
I'm glad to hear the new song. I really
hope they will be back to Japan with the
great new album, and I also look forward
to hearing Doug's band, Burning Rain's new
album too. |
Thank you for the great shows, David, Doug, Reb, Timothy, Uriah, Tommy ... I hope to see you all again after the new album! |