"In David Coverdale's 30 year career since joining Deep Purple, I doubt he has ever played a gig quite like this one. Fort Dodge, Iowa, is a small town of about 30,000 in the middle of farm country. The concert was held at an off-road race track, where they race motorcycles and other off-road vehicles on a dirt track. During the middle of the event, there was a motorcycle jump by Robbie Knievel, who is the son of Evel Knievel!

Slaughter, Kip Winger, and Warrant opened up and played standard sets of 80's metal (Winger's set was a bit unusual, just him and his guitar). Finally, Whitesnake came on at about 9:30 to close the show. Because there was no reserve seating, I was able to get within a few feet of the stage. Coverdale mainly paid attention to the girls, but I believe he winked at me after "Is This Love" when he could see me with my arms around my wife.

Being so close to the stage, I can't report on how well Coverdale sounded because I couldn''t hear his voice very well in the mix. He looked extremely impressive, looking all of the part of the rock god persona compared to the opening acts. The band is tight, and Aldrich has the John Sykes sound nailed. This was my first time seeing Whitesnake, having missed my other chance to see them back in 1990. It was worth the wait."

review & set list: Jay Denne  new, July 28th