WHITESNAKE Frontman Talks About European Tour, Upcoming DVD

The official WHITESNAKE web site has posted a brand new interview with the group's lead singer, David Coverdale. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

Q: There was talk of a shoulder injury during the tour...What exactly happened?

David Coverdale: "A couple of weeks into the tour...around my 53rd birthday...I was onstage in Copenhagen, kicking substantial arse...when I felt something rather uncomfortable happen in my right shoulder...Oh dear, I thought...what's this???...After seeing an abundance of specialists I was diagnosed as having tendonitis...and, of course, the preferred treatment is rest...& more rest...Not much hope of that during a tour!!!

"Rather than cancel the tour, I decided to try & 'accommodate' the injury, & adapt my performance around it...which of course meant not quite as much mike stand tossing, if you'll excuse the expression...

"I had to avoid repetitive actions with my right arm...As I put such tremendous strain on it when I'm power singing...I had to kind of 'lock' my arm in one position and sing...It was tough...but, hey...no one said it should be easy, did they???...Some nights it was OK...others it was very difficult...

"Of course I prayed that it would not cause permanent damage by exacerbating the problem due to my rather aggressive physical performances...

"After the shows was the worst...particularly when I had to drive to the next city...which was pretty much every night!!!"

Q: Did you have a favorite show from the last tour?

David Coverdale: "I won't get drawn into that, if you don't mind!!!...As I have said repeatedly...every show is important to me...and all of them have something special to remember...Altho' I will say that the London show was very special for me...

"As you probably know...we filmed & recorded it for an in-concert DVD...that alone can be very intimidating for a performer...Who knows how the show is going to be???...How your performance is going to look like???...The place was packed...it looked beautiful...and all the elements seemed to come together...to gel...

"I saw faces in the crowd I recognized from all over the World...It's incredible to think that someone would fly in from as far away as Japan, or the States to see the band play...It's very humbling...I met a lovely woman who came in from Venezuela too...Extraordinary...

"I felt everyone rose to the occasion...the audience included...It was truly a night to remember...and thank God...we got it all on tape...

Q: When do you plan to release it?

David Coverdale: "I believe it will be a late spring 2005 release...I can't confirm that right now...Keep an eye on the WHITESNAKE web site for further information...Hey...I still have to mix the bugger!!!

Q: What about the "live" CD?...Next year too?

David Coverdale: "No...unfortunately not...the deal we made with the DVD company was that we could release the live CD a year after the DVD...I don't really understand that...I would have thought that each would help promote the other...I am very excited about the CD...The stuff we had from the 2003 tours came together just great...I can't wait to get it out there!!!...I believe we had too much material for a single CD...and not enough for a double CD...so, we arranged the show this time out to give us another 6 songs...and hopefully, we can sweet talk someone into releasing a double, kick arse live CD...

"Just wait 'til you hear 'Burn' from these guys...it's so intense...It grabs you...and doesn't let go!!!

Read the entire interview at this location.