I’ve been a very big fan of Great White for many years now. I remember hanging out in my garage with all of my friends back in the day listening to the first self-titled album on vinyl and digging on kick-ass tunes like “Stick It” and “Street Killers”. Later the band would release such prolific records as, Shot In The Dark, Once Bitten and Twice Shy. It can truly be said that I grew up listening to these guys, and after the release of their last studio effort, 1999’s Can’t Get There From Here, I was privileged to finally see them perform live. After touring for a couple of years the band split up and I’d thought I’d heard the last of them. Although some incarnation of the band continued to use the name and tour, nothing beat the original line-up. Following the tragedy of the Station Night Club fire in Rhode Island which claimed over 100 lives, founding members Jack Russell and Mark Kendall, along with the band’s then guitar player, Ty Longley, set out to raise money for the victim’s families during the next couple of years. At last they have come full circle as the announcement came late last year that the original line up was back together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. A new tour and album are currently in the works, and kicking it all off the band headlined a stellar performance at the Key Club in Hollywood, CA on January 27th when they played a benefit show for Harpseals.org in an effort to raise awareness and bring a stop to the brutal slaying of baby seals that takes place every year in Canada. In addition to the concert portion of the benefit there was also a silent auction conducted where patrons could bid on collectable memorabilia, vacation packages and fine dining experiences, among other things.

As for the musical selection, they couldn’t have picked a better band to sell out the club and put forth a performance that had to have registered at least an 8.0 on the Rock and Roll Richter Scale. Great White were in fine form this night and delivered their blend of blues-tinged hard rock with absolute confidence and elegance. The sound reinforcement was superb, the lighting adequate, and the guys looked fantastic. Jack even admitted to having gone under the knife to bring about a younger looking appeal, and the truth shows he looks better than most of his peers. Cranking out such genre defining tunes as “Face The Day”, “Rock Me”, “Rollin’ Stoned”, “Lady Red Light”, “Save Your Love” and “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”, the guys were more than able to bring back some of the best memories of my life. It felt great to hear all these songs in their glory once again and I am more than thankful for the opportunity to have been in attendance. Jack Russell still manages to hit all the high notes and evoke that ever-familiar chill factor and guitarist Mark Kendall is as showy as always with his bluesy guitar attack. Having keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Michael Lardie back in the fold was a blessing as well, as his piano segment on “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”, was sorely missed during the past eight years. Rounding out the band’s bottom-end was the rhythm section of drummer Audie Desbrow and bassist Sean McNabb. At the end of their set the guys were joined by Don Dokken (basically the man who put Great White into action) for a close-out jam. After the show there was a cool VIP party taking place downstairs in the Plush Lounge and everyone packed it in pretty solid. We had a chance to give kudos to a few of the guys from the band and it was a great ending to a powerful night of Rock N Roll.

All I know is I’ve got a burning to hear the new CD and I can’t wait ‘til the summer tour. Great White are still one of the best in the business and their many years of recording and performing have only made them stronger. It is such a breath of fresh air to sometimes step away from the hectic world of modern music and take a ride in the backseat down memory lane when the world just seemed to make more since. When I was a Heavy Metal kid wearing jeans and concert tee’s all I ever worried about were my music, my hair, and living day by day. This is a mindset that I really wish I could hold again and Great White, with their brand of rock and roll, have brought me one step closer to the innocence that is now lost. Thank God for you guys, you’ve helped me more than you’ll probably ever know. The benefit event for the Harp Seals organization was a huge success. If you feel led to help out and want to find out more information you can contact them at Harpseals.org. they can definitely use your help since this is a tragedy that has been unresolved for many years. Time is important as due to global warming, ice conditions are bad for very many baby seals to make it anyway. Think about what you can do: the more you get involved, the more chance of bringing it to an end.

-Priest