![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan9.jpg)
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Whitesnake without DC
The members of the latter days Whitesnake Joel Hoekstra, Marco Mendoza, Tommy Aldridge, Michele Luppi, and Dino Jelusić will perform under the Whitesnake Experience moniker at the 58th Zaječar Guitar Festival in Serbia. The festival runs August 28-30, 2025, and the band will be performing on the 29th. And yes, they apparently have Coverdale’s blessing to do so.
This performance is said to be the only concert, exclusive to the festival, but… Y’know, we’ve already had Rainbow without Ritchie Blackmore touring, so nothing would surprise us cynics. 😉
Thanks to BraveWords for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
And Company of Snakes, aka 3M.
June 3rd, 2025 at 07:22And the Dio hologram attempt a few years go. What about Elvis, especially for Karin that tour was, did Karin secretly attend? The mind boggles at that thought, he he he. As soon as ole Cov’s shuffles off his mortal coil, they will be out there. Even for Ian Gillan in the future, where does this madness end? Cheers.
June 3rd, 2025 at 08:21I took the following from the festival website and got googlies to translate
“A press conference was held in Belgrade yesterday to announce the participants of the 58th Guitar Festival in Zaječar. It will be held from August 28 to 30 at Kraljevica.
The conference featured guests Marko Mendoza, Dino Jelusić and Ivan Keller, who announced an exclusive performance by the band Whitesnake Experience By The Members Of Whitesnake – a project specially created for Gitarijada in Zaječar. It will be the only concert in the world featuring members of the legendary band Whitesnake – drummer Tommy Oldrich, guitarist Joel Hoekstra, bassist Marko Mendoza, keyboardist Mikele Lupi and the increasingly popular Croatian singer Dino Jelusić.
Marko Mendoza emphasized that they decided to hold the only concert in the world in Serbia and Zaječar, because they have always been welcome in our country and have had sold-out concerts in Belgrade. “Tradition and quality are very important to us, and Gitarijada has been around for 58 years and that is something that you have to respect and cherish. Your audience is one of the best in the world and I believe that they will enjoy this performance together with us.” “We are preparing a special set list of the greatest Whitesnake hits,” continued Dino Jelusić. “Singing the songs of my childhood idol, David Coverdale, is a special honor and pleasure for me. Although I have performed with big names from the world of rock in the meantime, Whitesnake songs are the ones I like the most and playing with such a fascinating team of musicians is pure hedonism for me,”
One of the greatest singers in the world, David Coverdale, has given his members permission for this project, which gives the Guitar Festival a special exclusivity, so a large number of visitors from the country and the region are expected.”
June 3rd, 2025 at 09:12Could actually turn out to be better without the man himself at the mic.. LOL!!
June 3rd, 2025 at 09:20That will be the first Whitesnake gig where you don‘t even SEE DC singing, concerts where you didn’t HEAR him singing have been a few … 😑
Excuse my caustic self! I guess this is a good thing for people who want to see and hear latter day Whitesnake with a youthful and dynamic singer.
I disdain tribute bands, no matter how well they do it. At the same time I‘m cognizant of the fact that a whole lot of rock music will be lost to being presented live if younger musicians don‘t pick up the baton. No easy solution for this.
June 3rd, 2025 at 11:58Can add Alaska to that list which was a solo Marsden project, also SOS & MGM.
June 3rd, 2025 at 12:05Anyone else thinking that this is a Beta Test?😃
June 3rd, 2025 at 14:39More on the subject and also Dino‘s previous involvement with the band:
https://blabbermouth.net/news/whitesnake-members-aldridge-hoekstra-luppi-jelusic-and-mendoza-to-perform-as-whitesnake-experience
Hoekstra, the Flying Dutchman, will then be handling all the guitar duties by himself I presume and, conversely, Luppi‘s keyboards will be more prominent in a Purplesque way? Someone will have to play all those twin melody lines with Hoekstra if they want to do it right.
I notice with relief that Dino, a Croatian, is playing a Serbian festival – things are moving in the right direction then. That Yugoslavian Civil War was one of the inanest outbreaks of that ugly disease called irredentist nationalism ever.
June 3rd, 2025 at 14:42I remember an interview with Ole Cov where he played with the idea of WS continuing as a touring entity after his good-bye from the stage. I guess there would be market for that just like there is a market for a Foreigner without Mick Jones and Lou Gramm, even though that is a bit like a band touring under the name “Rolling Stones“ that features neither Keith Richards nor Mick Jagger.
So yes, this might be a litmus test for something more permanent. Never forget where Joel Hoekstra came from before he joined Night Ranger (from whom he went on to WS): the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) which is essentially a licensed touring franchise, and a very successful one at that.
We live in strange times. When I saw WS for the first time in a carnival tent in Aschaffenburg in 1979 (still with Duck Dowle and pre-Lovehunter, great gig it was), I would have hardly deemed it that a licensed version of the band would still be making the rounds 46 years later. OTOH, now that Karin has – albeit belatedly – become a fan, DC must feel some sort of satisfying closure! Talk about drawing blood from the stony heart of a Gillanista!
June 3rd, 2025 at 18:50Voilà, good as new, here I shed again …
https://image.petmd.com/files/styles/863×625/public/2025-02/snake%20shedding%20skin.jpg
June 3rd, 2025 at 22:27@ 9- not wrong there Uwe, it was always the Vikings that drew the first blood wasn’t it? Times have certainly changed. Cheers.
June 3rd, 2025 at 22:44@9
“OTOH, now that Karin has – albeit belatedly – become a fan, DC must feel some sort of satisfying closure! Talk about drawing blood from the stony heart of a Gillanista!”
– 😆
Uwe, let me give you some advice and a decent warning:
One of these days, you’ll walk happily around in your garden with your lady-love at your side, while the animals you’re feeding white mice, are accompanying you with their singing, and life will just feel so good and safe for you, Lawyer-extraordinary-supreme!
But then suddenly, out of nowhere, a big brick (or maybe a heavy rock, or a handful of pebbles, whatever is available…) will be flying through the air, and hit your sorry head!
When you fall down, to the cries of your beloved wife, you’ll hear a sarcastic laugh, and you might think: who laughs like that?
And the you’ll see a face, with a big smile, and you might think it’s me!
But no it isn’t actually, I’m busy making coffee in my little corner of the world, but I’m pretty sure as you taunt and ridicule me, you certainly have the same pattern of behaviour towards others, and one of them Uwe, might take revenge…. 😄 (or not! What do I know…!)
So my advice to you will be: behave! ☺️😁
June 4th, 2025 at 04:238 Herr Uwe
Tragedy in Yugoslavia that in the nineties yers (1991-1995) there was a bloody war.The ideal was a confederal relationship between the 6 republics that made up the proposed federation (something like a small EU), that model did not work, or a good example, the Czechs and Slovaks who separated bitterly without war. The death of Josip Broz Tito, the communist dictator, who ruled Yugoslavia with a heavy hand (1945-1980), led to the collapse of the federation .first the problems in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo in 1981, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the USSR, the arrival of democracy in the areas of the former Eastern European bloc, Slovenia and Croatia wanted independence ..and there was a war,for territories ..the most brutal war was in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a federal unit where three peoples, three religions live, Croats (Catholics), Serbs (Orthodox), Bosniaks (Muslims).
Today, between the ex-republics, today there are tensions, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the rest of small Yugoslavia), but the most important ones, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, are today states and have chosen their own path. Slovenia and Croatia are in EU and NATO, Serbia would like to do the same, but the current political leadership is balancing… between EU and Putin s Russia, a big problem is Kosovo, inhabited by a large majority of Albanians, which is now recognized as a state by one part of the state, while the Serbs consider it their cradle.
As for music, musicians from all ex-federations perform without problems in all parts, with time, a bad example emerges (mainly folk music).. but with rock music, there is no problem.
I have no sentiment for Yugoslavia (as a Croat), I don’t regret it, but I regret only two things… basketball (the best basketball was played there after the American professional NBA and university, Yugoslavia had a strong national league and strong national team…) and the second… rock music and other genres… during the 70s and 80s of the last century, the best rock was played number there… according to me and many, the third best in the world right after America and Britain, too goods bands, great musicians, singers. It’s incredible that the federation of 22-23 million at that time… rock bands went with over 100 thousand records sold, the best from the first league sold over 300 thousand, rock bands had tours with over 100 concerts a year.
Dino J. Croatian, the performance in Zajecar in Serbia will be warmly welcomed by the rock audience, just like Klaus Meine sang in the seventies yers last centuries in Coventry or Nottingham .I personally often attend concerts in Croatia of Serbian rock artists and not only rock no problem, we understand each other, we speak the same language, most importantly, rock connects us
Whitesnake is still very popular with young people in this part of Europe, the city of Zajecar is close to Bulgaria and Romania, so rock fans will come, it will be a big party even without David
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpTF4HDuNJ8&t=52s
June 4th, 2025 at 06:48Ivica, thanks, I was aware of some of the background of the Yugoslav Civil War via family ties (my former mother-in-law’s significant other, Vinko, is from Croatia), but it is good to hear that the schism doesn’t run in rock music. I’ve been to Slovenia and Croatia (I bought a copy of Slide It In in Dubrovnik because I thought a Yugoslavian pressing cool to have!) pre-war (1984) and of course also since then. Sometime in the late 90s or early noughties, Vinko took us to his home village close to the Serbian border and while it was mostly nicely rebuilt there were a few houses that weren‘t, still in a dilapidated state. “That’s where the Serbian families lived, those were their houses.” And when I asked him, otherwise a gentle man, if they would be allowed back, he scoffed and said “Of course not.” Mind you, his father had been killed by Serbian insurgents. Dark times, I’m glad they’re over.
Back to the Whitesnake Experience, I’m pretty sure that these guys will put on a good performance of modern day WS and wish them the best. DC will be unlikely to ever perform again and has been struggling at WS gigs for a while. The involvement of former WS musicians, all of them good instrumentalists, will ensure quality. If they’d be playing nearby, I’d likely go see them just out of curiosity – and to see Joel Hoestra fulfilling his lifelong dream of assuming the role of John Sykes in WS!
Karin @12, you’re of course right, that retaliatory brick throwing assault is always a distinct possibility! Me and my big scathing, mercilessly taunting mouth! A family affliction. 😌
June 4th, 2025 at 13:00#8 Apparently Ivan Keller from Dino’s band plays the second guitar
June 4th, 2025 at 15:34Thanks Crocco, I was really wondering. So Reb Beach didn’t want to do it or was busy otherwise. Doug Aldrich seems to be happy (and well-paid) with The Dead Daisies. He also seems to have won his cancer battle.
June 4th, 2025 at 18:30Whitesnake tribute act.
June 4th, 2025 at 18:33if people are having fun, good for them. It just makes me sad. Fruity ideas.
June 4th, 2025 at 20:56Sure, what else could it be, Rascal?
June 4th, 2025 at 21:06Joel can still rock in Ameri … uhum Serbia!
https://youtu.be/s8v9zB3oi70
My favorite AOR band, so I was aware of Herr Hoekstra long before he slithered to Herr Coverdale.
June 5th, 2025 at 02:19@5 Rock’n’roll has always thrived on the close connection between the author of the music and the performer, the two often being the same person/entity. Then any song played by anyone other than that would be a “cover” or “tribute”. Since many old rockers retire or pass away, or already have, that leaves classic tunes abandoned. A solution for rock’n’roll is to adopt the classic music approach when music is performed be serious musicians centuries upon being created. Every version is unique and carries the imprint of the personality of the directors an musicians. I own the versions of Bach’s Orchestral Suites by Pablo Casals, Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Copenhagen. Those are very different version, each one being incredible. And the DP family tree is no worse than the extended Bach family: Johann Sebastian, Johann Bernhard, Johann Ludwig, Carl Philipp Emmanuel etc. etc.
So yeah, I’m fine with WS performing WS sings without DC.
June 5th, 2025 at 08:43Not sure what else it could be Uwe, but i know what it will be, and thats disappointing. Whitesnake is DC.
Pre 1987 – that was real Whitesnake for me. Been increasingly disappointingly from then onwards tbh.
June 5th, 2025 at 12:23For some reason, I‘m not too strict with this. It‘s not a bunch of guys getting together with a tasteless Dio avatar projected before them or some guitar tech claiming he was part of the inner circle of the band. It’s more like The Shadows from Cliff Richard & the Shadows
https://youtu.be/k5mIq3yF6Nc
touring by themselves and getting someone else in to sing Cliff‘s parts. [Or in WS‘ case even someone who already sang (some of) DC‘s parts before the latter‘s stage retirement! 😎]
And it‘s transparent, everybody going there will know what they are getting, a musically very credible reenactment.
https://youtu.be/BIcz0pbFgII
You‘ve got to hand it to the talented and versatile Croatian kid, he is as good at singing like a young Coverdale as Ripper Owens was at singing like a young Halford, which for a time was good enough for Judas Priest
https://youtu.be/AkDaaiAPdFc
and is good enough for KK Downing today.
https://youtu.be/mBLLoE6Bhu8
“The Whitesnake Experience“ is a cumbersome name though (probably invented by Coverdale, the ole Hendrix fan), I personally recommend “The Whitesnex” and would even waive any royalty claims from that! 😌
I’d be surprised if Joel and Dino (who seem to have some real chemistry going on between themselves) will not carry this further, at least as a touring entity for selected summer festivals in Europe and the US to be resurrected at will (and when good offers are there). There are enough people out there (especially in the US) to whom Whitesnake is mainly a memory of great songs with a strong voice and not so much of DC himself (they remember some longhaired dude and his hot ginger missus buffing up the hoods of his Jags).
https://imgur.com/gallery/tawny-kitaen-white-snakes-here-i-go-again-M322Z
The Yanks didn’t boo a young DC off the stage in 1974 either when all of the sudden and out of nowhere he and not Ian Gillan stood before them. Why shouldn’t they tolerate someone as gifted as Dino?
June 5th, 2025 at 13:1220 Herr Uwe
In the summer of 2011, Judas Priest was in Belgrade on Their Farewell Tour.(.haha)…, their support was Whitesnake, who had just released their album “Forevermore”. Arena Belgrade 13 thousand people. I bet with a friend that it was not normal..WS is the bigger band here.
June 5th, 2025 at 18:57After an hour and fifteen minutes of WS’s performance, which ended with an emotional “Soldier Of Fortune”, which the audience sang along with David, who was on the verge of tears, a big ovation..as if he had won the final point in the Wimbledon final 3-2..there was an exodus from the front rows, and from the stands, especially the female population (in their prime +40…) left with them and their “Stronger Halves”. The female population was replaced by Headbangers who were not in the hall when WS played…I was right
However, with a heavy heart I have to admit that JP (without K. K. Downing who had just left) was better that evening than WS. 3 and a half hours..the headlines in the newspapers were “British rock gods delight Belgrade”
It’s probably going to be like most of the last few ‘Snake gigs I’ve been to since DC was only singing about 25% of the time anyway and when he was it spike he’d been gargling battery acid
June 5th, 2025 at 19:38@ 23- “It’s more like The Shadows from Cliff Richard & the Shadows”. No it isn’t, The Shadows is a totally seperate band and how many stand alone hits did the Shadows have without Cliff. Nothing to compare there at all. We now move along back into the world of sanity. Cheers.
June 6th, 2025 at 00:44Ivica, I saw WS as openers of JP on that tour too, in Munich! Oh man, that gig stands out as one where DC used backing tracks a whole lot, it was painfully obvious. That is not to say that on some screams Halford did that very same night, some technical support wasn’t also in evidence. But overall, Halford has paced his voice better over those countless US tours Priest did and his alcoholism in the first half of the 80s didn’t leave any permanent damage to his vocal cords either.
I saw modern day WS as openers for other bands quite a bit, Status Quo, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest … Been to something like 20 or more WS gigs over the decades.
June 6th, 2025 at 00:49“DC was only singing about 25% of the time anyway and when he was it spike he’d been gargling battery acid …”
Too true, David. 🙁
June 6th, 2025 at 00:54