Adrian Vandenberg / Bad Marriage

Adrian Vandenberg Live in Homer NY with Bad Marriage

**Adrian Vandenberg – Center for the Arts, Homer, NY**

It has been quite some time since Dutch guitarist, Adrian Vandenberg has made an excursion throughout America. Vandenberg, and his band of merry men, set out to showcase songs from his tenure in Whitesnake, as well as material from his own project, Vandenberg. Joining Vandenberg on this journey is Bad Marriage out of Boston, MA.

**Vandenberg – Center for the Arts, Homer, NY**

Catching Adrian Vandenberg live has become an extraordinary act here stateside. With David Coverdale currently in a semi-retirement, we decided we were not going to miss the opportunity to not only see Adrian in action, but to also hear the classic songs of Whitesnake live. While Vandenberg has remained active in Europe and South America, regularly releasing new music and playing shows, somehow the U.S. has been a different story. Promoters {and some fans} seem to lean towards a sentimental yearning of days gone by, thus Vandenberg calling this tour aptly “My Whitesnake Years”.

With the energic and balanced backing of vocalist Mats Leven, Len van de Laak on keyboards, bassist Sem Christoffel and drummer Joey Marin de Boer, Vandenberg delivered an impressive set. Starting the night off with Hit The Ground Running off their 2023 release Sin, set the tone for the evening. The band would play a few Whitesnake hits and then toss in a Vandenberg song.

Although it was obvious at times Leven was struggling further into the show, it was noted he was coming down with a cold. Without shortening the set, he powered through each song giving it his all, sounding as fantastic as can be expected despite his declining condition. Attempting to live up to Coverdale’s powerhouse bluesy vocal range can be quite a challenge on a good day, and Leven proved he has what it takes.

Despite being a cozy venue setting, Vandenberg still has his dynamic stage presence and thoroughly seemed to be having fun performing for fans that gathered at the Center for the Arts in Homer, NY. We were treated to not only a shredding guitar solo, as one would expect from a veteran guitarist, but also a drum solo, similar to shows of the big arena days. One can only hope Vandenberg will come back around in the coming years and get a chance to play more of his material for the fans.

Opening the show was the Boston band Bad Marriage, whom are no stranger to the area. I have been lucky enough to catch them a number of times as an opening act for various bands and have never once walked away disappointed they were on the bill. They seem to get better every time I see them, not that were ever bad. Bad Marriage is made up of singer Jonny Paquin, guitar duo Mike Fitz and Tommy Skeoch {-formerly of Tesla}, rhythm guitarist Ian Haggerty, bassist Todd Boisvert, and Michael Delaney on drums. The nearly 40 minute set included a cover of Saxon’s Denim and Leather, a killer song rarely seen covered. Bad Marriage is a band with as much rock n’ roll swagger as to be expected from a band coming from the East Coast. Their style is reminiscent of British blues hard rock and i can not think of a better band to warm up the crowd on this tour. I highly suggest you check them out! They are currently working on a new album and I look forward to the day they do a headline tour of their own.