The MGM Northfield Park (formerly the Hard Rocksino) near Cleveland, Ohio is nearly a two hour drive from home, but often gets shows that don’t fit the Pittsburgh market. Being mid-winter and having known that we’d catch Great White at the Monster’s of Rock Cruise prepary on February 7th in Miami, Florida along with Y&T, Richie Kotzen, Jason Bieler, and Roxanne, and Slaughter on the boat with forty-some other favorites, this show hadn’t really been on my radar. But then, things got hectic and I didn’t get a chance to shoot Great White at Magic Casino after all…so how could I miss one of my all-time favorite bands when the weather was perfect for a Saturday night road trip!
It was not long after the release of the band’s last album in 2017, Full Circle, which reunited them with producer Michael Wagener that Great White parted ways with Terry Ilous (XYZ) and connected with solo artist, writer, and producer, Mitch Malloy who is now hitting his stride fronting the band with over a year under his belt. We caught up with Mark Kendall back then on 91.7 FM WNJR and you can listen in to the full interview with Mark Kendall here.
With Mark Kendall on guitar, Michael Lardie on guitar and keyboards, Scott Snyder on bass, and Audie Desbrow on drums, Mitch Malloy adds some flash to the spotlight in a sweet contrast to Mr. Kendall’s subdued bluesy groove. In fact, some of the highlights of the evening included the guitar solo that introduced a staple of the band’s set “Rock Me” and another jam featuring guitarist Michael Lardie’s talents.
Top of the list are always favorites like “Mistabone” and of course “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” but a newer favorite, “Big Time” from that Full Circle release also packed a punch live. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was how short both band’s sets were that evening. Was there a nine song limit? This sure made for an early evening, which made us grateful for the after party…Luckily as I’ve mentioned there were some awesome Great White jams and Slaughter extended things out with an audience visit and a nice cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.”
Adding to the fun we found Billy Morris & The Sunset Strip performing an after party show with a lengthy set of covers, including Billy’s tribute to former Warrant bandmate Jani Lane at the Tap Stage just off the casino floor. The set list included “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” as well as other covers from band’s of the same era like Poison.
Follow the links for more historic interviews with Mark Kendall regarding the Full Circle album, and former band vocalists Terry Ilous and Jack Russell from The Pure Rock Shop, as well as an interview with Tony Montana about his latest project. For more on Great White go to www.officialgreatwhite.com.
Follow us @ThePureRockShop for more pure rock coverage including our Monsters of Rock Cruise recap, as well as upcoming shows from DragonForce at the Roxian Theater, Lynch Mob and Beasto Blanco both at Crafthouse, BLE Ballroom Blitz featuring Last in Line and Beasto Blanco and more in Maryland, The Quireboys at the Hard Rock Cafe, and KIX at the Lamp Theater. And catch more Slaughter coverage soon from M3 Music Festival and the Big Rock Summer Tour with Cinderella’s Tom Kiefer, Ratt and Skid Row.
