Whitesnake/Judas Priest Live in Cincinnati

Tuesday night, Pop Evil, Whitesnake and Judas Priest played the PNC Pavilion in Cincinnati. I've been to many shows at Riverbend, but this was my first time at the smaller PNC Pavilion and I really liked the venue.

Much to my chagrin I missed Pop Evil because my husband got us lost (I mean, we've only lived in southern Ohio for...our entire lives!) but I digress.

Whitesnake played all the songs you would expect - but it's all good because this was my first time seeing them live. I thought the sound sucked for the first two songs, but after that the issues got worked out and the show was much better. I laughed my way through the set, cracking up at the amount of hair flipping. Bassist Uriah Duffy flips his hair more than any other person I've ever seen on stage. Each time Uriah flipped his hair, Reb Beach and Dough Aldrich followed suit. I kept wishing I was in the pit because all three of them were very generous with their picks. Toward the end of the set, Doug, Reb and Uriah were just handing picks to fans that asked for them - I've never seen artists do that as much as those three!

David Coverdale seemed happy. He said "Cincinnati" a lot and jumped around to the best of his abilities. He sang fairly well, too. No, he can't hit all the high notes like the glory days - but he didn't sound rough or fake, either. I am glad the band ended their set with "Still of the Night" - my favorite Whitesnake song. It's especially heavy live! I also really enjoyed the Reb/Doug dueling guitar solos. 

I've never seen Judas Priest live either. I probably would have enjoyed their set a little more if I wasn't fighting a massive migraine by the time the band walked on stage. To make matters worse, Priest has some crazy strobe lights that forced me to look at my feet the entire first song off British Steel. After that, things got a little better for me except the sound was brutally loud. It all just sounded so distorted and there were lots of timesI couldn't understand any of Rob Halford's words. I did enjoy hearing British Steel in full and it was cool seeing Halford ride out on his motorcycle. I also liked that the band changed their backdrop to match the song/album. I left right after Halford drove out on his hog. My head was pounding pretty hard by that point. Truth be told, the sound was awesome just outside the venue so I listened there a bit. It was less distorted and actually sounded as clear as a CD.

I wore my new Whitesnake "Slide It In" shirt to work under my blazer. I mean, why not? Another show on my list and yes, life is good.

Comments

[Damnp78]

I am hoping to see them here at Merriweather. I hope it sounds as good. I won't get lost and miss Pop Evil though. lol.

[JB]

I've never seen Priest live either. It would be a blast, but I do hate when bands use the volume a bit to much and ruin the lyrics.

[Fitz]

Its a great concert to see both bands kick ass,
Pop evil Sucks!! You didnt miss anything.

[JT]

We also missed Pop Evil...though we did so on purpose. I'm not a big fan of the songs I've heard on the radio. But Whitesnake and JP were both awesome. I was lucky and had 4th row pit seats...both bands appeared to be very appreciative of the support the fans were giving them.

[Rhodeislandrock]

I saw the show on 7/7 in Mansfield, MA.....great show! I caught Pop Evil and they had a lot of energy but I didn't really like the songs. Whitesnake were as good as I remembered from '88 (w/Motley Crue) and '03 (w/Scorpions). Coverdale still has a great voice and the Aldrich/Beach guitar team is fantastic. The night belonged to Priest with a flawless performance of BRITISH STEEL and then pulling out some obscure tracks for the diehards like myself. I reviewed it here:

http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/judas-priest-whitesnake-pop-evil-live-in-concert-at-comcast-center-mansfield-ma-7709/

Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/

[Snoot]

Yeah, Coverdale can't belt out the songs like he used to. I saw Whitesnake last summer at the Sweden Rock Festival and his voice wasn't all that great.
I also wish they'd play more of their early material - an album like "Come and get it" is filled with cool tunes.

[Todd]

Saw the British Steel Tour at Moondance and its amazing that JP can still put out the best heavy metal live as they do...remember these guys are pushing 60 years old! I thought the British steel setlist kicked ass.

[John O'Neill Las Vegas, nv]

I saw the show last week and I thought Whitesnake was loose and not at all tight.
JP was BORING!
I saw them over 20 years ago and they actually put on a show.
Now I was younger then too and Rob is pretty fat now so he cannot do what he used to but after evry song he walks backstage and gets a dring, and that's okay but all he does is stand there and sing. AND he uses a teleprompter that sticks out of the stage like monitor. C'mon.

I guess since the show is so poorpy attended that it is not making too much money and huge productions would cause them to go into the red, too bad. I missed the big show with huge stage and pyro and non-stop WOW!

Anyway, the did have A MOST intense opening. After that...downhill baby.