Here’s a Song For Ya! Whitesnake and Dokken Tributes Invade Vamp’d!

Whitesnake’d Tribute to Whitesnake and Unchain the Night Tribute to Dokken both played Count’s Vamp’d on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

I love rock and roll. And over the years, there’s been no better place to go for it than Count’s Vamp’d. This venue continues to assemble the finest in local, national, and international rock and metal entertainment, sometimes branching out even more. As a fan of Whitesnake and Dokken, I was certainly intrigued and wished to attend.

I’m a fan of Whitesnake and Dokken, but both of the real bands these days have one frustrating detail in common – their singers can no longer sing. Dokken shows have been among the worst concerts I’ve ever attended in my life with Don’s dwindling vocal ability, and Whitesnake is no longer what they once were with David Coverdale’s diminishing singing quality, though I’ll never deny their glory years and legacies. Unfortunately, I was a toddler in their heydays, so never got to see these actual bands in their primes. Would these tributes give me what the actual modern incarnations of these bands could not?

The Whitesnake’d Whitesnake tribute took the stage first. This decision was honestly a bit puzzling, as Whitesnake is a far more popular band than Dokken, and it would’ve made more sense to put them in the second position (which is usually considered the headliner). But enough of that. I’d seen this band once at Vamp’d several years ago, pre-pandemic, and remember I was quite impressed with what I’d heard in terms of bringing these songs to life on stage. Right from the get-go, I was impressed to see that this was a FIVE man band, featuring a guitarist, a drummer, a bassist, a man playing rhythm guitar and keyboards, and of course, a vocalist portraying David Coverdale (it doesn’t really make sense for other musicians in a Whitesnake tribute to portray specific people since the lineup changed so much, and it was always The David Coverdale Show first and foremost). But seeing they actually had someone on keys to handle those parts that select songs required was a major plus; keys are something lacking from most covers of Whitesnake music.

Right from the get-go, these guys got my attention with a blistering abbreviated rendition of 1974’s “Burn,” the title cut to the first of three Deep Purple albums on which Coverdale sang. “Stormbringer,” the title song from the second era of Coverdale-era DP, would also appear later in the set. The musicians, all of whom have a great chemistry, did an expert job bringing these songs to life on the live stage. In particular, the man playing David Coverdale and giving vocals to these songs, was amazing. Aside from the two aforementioned Deep Purple songs, the set covered tracks from the group’s “Big Three” albums – 1984’s SLIDE IT IN, 1987’s WHITESNAKE (called 1987 in the UK and SERPENS ALBUS in Japan), and 1989’s SLIP OF THE TONGUE. This included songs like “Slow an’ Easy,” “Standing in the Shadows,” “Love Ain’t No Stranger,” “Slide it In,” “Still of the Night,” “Is This Love,” “Here I Go Again,” “Bad Boys,” “Fool For Your Loving,” “Judgement Day,” and “Give Me All Your Love,” to name a few. The renditions of all of these songs were worthy of classic Whitesnake. Throughout the set, the musicians talked about wanting to pay tribute to their all-time favorite band. I whole-heartedly believe Mr. Coverdale would’ve approved of all that was going on this evening.

This brings me to my only complaint with an otherwise stellar set, that being the fairly limited focus of what was played (although I won’t deny the DP cuts were a nice touch). Yes, I know the “Big Three” albums are, by far, the biggest in the band’s catalogue. But Whitesnake’s catalogue is FAR larger than this (and YES, I am aware that some of the songs from the latter two albums are re-recordings of songs from older albums). Of those three biggest albums, the latter of the three, SLIP OF THE TONGUE, got shafted. We got only a pair of tracks from that record, meaning cuts like “The Deeper the Love,” “Kitten’s Got Claws,” and “Now You’re Gone” sadly didn’t make the cut. Whitesnake had five albums plus an EP out prior to SLIDE IT IN, and it’s absolutely criminal that those got no representation. Tracks like “Come On,” “Ready an’ Willing,” “Outlaw,” “Long Way From Home,” and “Take Me With You” would’ve all been nice additions. Even the instrumental “Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick” would’ve been a great diversion and a fine way for our Coverdale impersonator to rest his voice for a bit. As far as songs from SLIDE IT IN goes, they group sadly missed my personal favorite, that being “Gambler.” Even a track or two from the post-80s albums would’ve been nice additions. If there’s one single song from the pre-SLIDE IT IN era that needs to be in this band’s set, it’s the group’s cover of “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City,” which is one of the few from that era the band still plays live. And when the band left the stage, it seemed like a wasted opportunity not to have “We Wish You Well” playing over the speakers.

Okay, sorry for that long-winded rant. The music of Whitesnake is sacred to me. My nitpicks are in no way a knock against these guys. In fact, they’re one of the best tribute bands I’ve ever seen; I gladly would’ve paid to see these guys doing two full sets. I do fully understand that there are time constraints that prevent a band from playing everything, but these guys did a bang-up job with the time they had. The next time they hit up Sin City, I’ll be there.

The second set of the evening belonged to the Unchain the Night tribute to Dokken. Unlike Whitesnake’d, these guys I had never seen live before (I unfortunately was out of town when they played Vamp’d back in August). To me, no show I’ve ever seen live was more heartbreaking than Dokken, seeing Don struggle to sing and hearing harmony vocals that were more powerful than the leads.

If ever a classic 80s band deserved a solid tribute, it’s Dokken. Would these guys resurrect that classic group’s glory days?

In the shortest and simplest terms, yes. After the horrid shows I’d seen with Don Dokken singing (if one can call it that anymore), Unchain the Night performed a blistering, powerful set that brought these 80s rock classics back from the dead. Information on the band members online is frustratingly sparse, though I did recognize some guys from the Lovedrive Scorpions tribute band (and those guys may be the best tribute band I’ve ever seen.) The vocals were powerful, something the actual Don hasn’t been in years. The guitar work did George Lynch proud. And the rhythm section got the job done in fine form. Long story short, these guys are worthy to carry the torch. There were a few little vocal flubs here and there, but it was still vastly superior to what an actual Dokken show sounds like nowadays.

The setlist the group performed was pulled from the band’s first four albums from their classic 80s heyday, which are BREAKING THE CHAINS, TOOTH AND NAIL, UNDER LOCK AND KEY, and BACK FOR THE ATTACK. As a hard rock and metal fan, these four albums are sacred to me, and if songs from them are going to be performed live, the band needs to be up to the task. Unchain the Night most definitely was. The hits you’d expect were in the set, including “Breaking the Chains,” “Tooth and Nail,” “Just Got Lucky,” “Alone Again,” “Into the Fire,” “The Hunter,” “It’s Not Love,” “In My Dreams,” “Dream Warriors,” and several others. The group was also open to playing slightly deeper cuts, including “Paris is Burning,” “When Heaven Comes Down,” “Kiss of Death,” “Cry of the Gypsy,” and of course, the song this band takes their name from, “Unchain the Night.” This was a great setlist, though there were a few omissions, including my all-time favorite Dokken song, “Prisoner.” Cuts like “Night By Night,” “Felony,” “Lost Behind a Wall,” “In the Middle,” “Seven Thunders,” “Bullets to Spare,” and “Til the Livin’ End” would certainly make great additions to future sets from the band. But if the group adds one key song to their setlist that was missing on this evening, my vote is for “Walk Away,” the lone studio track on the seminal 1988 live album, BEAST FROM THE EAST. There’s no denying the crowd was having a great time, satisfied with both the performance and the setlist.

All in all, this was a kick-ass evening of rock and roll from two tribute bands who easily win out against present-day performances from the artists they’re representing. If you’re a fan of Whitesnake and/or Dokken, these bands do justice to their legacies and come highly recommended. Don’t pass them by.

PHOTO CREDIT: Live photos by Taylor T. Carlson for ZrockR Magazine – (c) 2024 – All Rights Reserved.