Whitesnake 2008 Tour Blog - Good To Be Bad

Update from Europe...

2008-12-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

This 5th and final leg of the Whitesnake 2008 world tour has been amazing so far.

We saw Jerusalem, hung on the beach in Cyprus for 4 days, then moved to the colder temperatures of Switzerland and Deutchland.

Once we hit Germany, we started touring with Alice Cooper, which in practice might not have been the best billing. I love those guys, but we really didn't seem to have many crossover fans, unlike on the Def Lep tour. I did however get to see Steve Gadd play with Joe Sample, then drive a nice Mercedes with Chris from Hamburg to Hannover on the Autobahn.

In Hannover I had the great pleasure of meeting with Kerstin B., who is interviewing me for the newest German bass mag, Bass Quarterly. I will be in the January issue, along side her other article with Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller & Victor Wooten! That's wicked!

Another month left out here... Freezing cold! We are in Poland, and will hit Russia, Finland, Sweden & more before returning home. It's been a long year. My back hurts. I also keep ripping the ballz-area of all my leather pants- I'm down to 1 pair (that had already been fixed TWICE!). But all in all this year has been unforgettable, mostly in good ways.

-UD

some pics coming up...

Berlin (E&W) & Warsaw Crowd, Dec 1 & 2, 2008

Jerusalem

2008-11-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

Our friend Yuri took us on such a special trip to the Holy land... So rich with history. Thanks Yuri!

Japan is Awesome!

2008-11-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

Slide Show:

Two nights in Tokyo @ Budoukan; a night each in Osaka & Nagoya...

So many great friends & fans on this short stay. Shout out's to:

Ruth & Azuza

Emi & Kumi

Yoko, Myongsuk & Hirayama at Rock Rock

Nobuyoshi & Ryuta Doi @ Gravity Bar

Ucchan!

Billy Sheehan & Toshi Hiketa - Great seein' you again!

Steve Lukather - Happy B-Day w/The Parrots!

Def Lep Cast & Crew- We still really work well together.

Mikey Mac & Aki-san for the good hangs.

About 15 bowls of RAMEN!

And of course the rest of the fans that follow us and hang at the hotels & train platforms... Thanks for the continued Support!

Here's some bootleg footage playing Still of the Night:

SOTN live in Japan.

Nobuyoshi plays Vai with Chris & I...

Ramen Samurai™

2008-10-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Our 2008 World Tour Resumes in Japan: 2 Nights at Budokkan.

2008-10-21T07:29:00.001-07:00

I write this from the airplane high above the Pacific on our way to Japan. This will be my 3rd time there. I've enjoyed this summer to the fullest of my ability while at home in the San Francisco area for the past 2 months. But the time has come once again to gather and pack up all gear and necessities needed to produce a rock show for thousands of paying fans. I gladly oblige, but not without a slight shock to the system, inevitably caused by such adjustment of my reality. We've been touring on and off for the better part of 2008, with only a few stops at home in-between. It's at these transitional stops and starts that I notice emotions- not necessarily of sadness- but more of reflection. Of Friends and Family. Of times when we are truly alone, even when we are surrounded by many people. I often wonder if I'm still on the right path. To calibrate myself, I ask a few questions: Do I make others feel happy? Do I enhance the lives they already enjoy? Am I myself happy? Right now, the answer is still 'yes'. So off I go to ride out the rest of the year performing more music not just for ears... but to make the world a better place through happiness- one show at a time. See you out there (and I'll see you at Bass Player Live in LA on our break!).

After much success this year touring with our dear friends Def Leppard, I'm pleased to announce we will once again be rejoining forces for our Japanese fans.

For many of our European dates you'll find us with Alice Cooper and his wonderful band.

Remaining shows:

Oct 23 Nippon Budoukan Tokyo, Japan

Oct 24 Nippon Budoukan Tokyo, Japan

Oct 27 Castle Hall Osaka, Japan

Oct 28 Rainbow Nagoya, Japan

- home 1 week for Halloween, Bass Player Live (in LA) and VOTING.

Nov 11 Exhibition Grounds Tel Aviv, Isreal

Nov 14 Palais Des Sport Limassol, Cyprus

Nov 16 Schutzenhaus Albisguetli Zurich, Switzerland

Nov 18 Sporthalle Hamburg, Germany

Nov 20 AWD Hall Hannover, Germany

Nov 21 Grugahalle Essen, Germany

Nov 22 Oberfrankenhalle Bayreuth, Germany

Nov 25 Messehalle Erfurt, Germany

Nov 26 Olympiahalle Munich, Germany

Nov 28 Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt, Germany

Nov 29 Porsche Arena Stuttgart, Germany

Dec 1 Max-Schmelinghalle Berlin, Germany

Dec 2 Stodola Warsaw, Poland

Dec 4 Siemens Arens Vilnius, Lithuania

Dec 7 SportPalace Kiev, Ukraine

Dec 9 BI Moscow, Russia

Dec 11 New Arena St. Petersburg, Russia

Dec 12 Icehall Helsinki, Finland

Dec 14 Saku Arena Tallin, Estonia

Dec 16 ISStadion Stockholm, Sweden

Dec 17 Scandinavium Gothenburg, Sweden

Dec 19 KB Halle Copenhagen, Denmark

Dec 21 Tilburg, Holland

Introducing the new bass.

2008-10-21T07:14:00.001-07:00

People, this is one of the best basses I've ever played. Maybe it just suits me. Whatever it is, it sounds great!

I believe there may even be a lil blurb coming out in a certain German Bass Magazine by the years end. I didn't build it from scratch- I merely customized an existing Fender to my specifications, and ended up with a monster. Take a look:

Uriah's new axe of choice:

"I play both 4 and 5-string basses equally, preferring the 4 if possible. This new bass is a tribute to a Fender Jazz bass I once owned that was stolen. It was a '98 Mexican Standard in sunburst finish. That bass was not only dear to me, but was also sonically superior to anything I had played- I'll tell you why. Over 6 years I had modified it just right to where anyone that played it fell in love with it. It even had bright blue Simms LED's in the neck, but most of all it had love. I used the bass throughout my career including my time with The Family Stone Experience (the reunion of Sly and the Family Stone, 2004-2005), and over 100 shows with Whitesnake from 2005-2006. Ever since it was stolen in late '06, I've been looking for the perfect 4-string for me. Re-building that lost bass myself ended up being the best option. This new bass was completed & customized by myself in September of this year."

Here's a run down of it's features:

2004 Mexican Standard FMT Sunburst

All gold hardware

Hipshot Ultralight Tuners w/Xtender key

2nd String Tree

Bartolini Single Coil pickups

BadAssII Bridge

Aguilar OBP-3 Preamp

Why I love it:

You can play it delicately or pound on it as hard as you can, and it yields warm, stanky vintage Fender Jazz tones for funk, rock, or any style one may need. Look for it on tour this year with Whitesnake in Japan, Europe and the US in 2009.

Home Stretch - WS Nominated!

2008-07-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

So- we have been nominated for 3 awards so far this year.
• Best Event of the Year
• Best Album of the Year
• Best Band of the Year

Let's see what happens- we've got some big classic rock company to compete with...
Full Article Here

We hit the UK with 3 more shows with Def Leppard- what a blast. We said our goodbyes and parted ways- we'll see 'em again in Japan. The show in Hungary was great, as was Italy. I got to visit my 2 close friends in Venice who just had a baby- what a treat! The city is so picturesque. Some good (but hot) walks. Now we're in Spain on the home stretch... just a few more shows to go. I got to hang out with Shilo once again, this time in Barcelona. His mom and family in Denmark made their way down for a little Spanish vacation time.

The Spanish shows are by far the hottest shows I've ever done. Do they know nothing of adequate ventilation systems here? Last night, I took a cold shower during the drum solo and after the show, and was still hot and soaked with sweat! Great crowds though- reminds me of being back in South America- passion!

Ahhh.. Europe...

2008-07-12T05:07:00.000-07:00

I'll be back to post more about it. Great fun. We got DRENCHED onstage in Sofia Bulgaria before 20,000 patient fans. I couldn't lose at roulette in Croatia- the land of rollerblading girls with painted-on shorts. The Albanians were very friendly, but we didn't get out much. Greece- a bit lonely but I took some great walks. I felt like a local in Romania- Great hangs. Turkey- where women rock stars rule! I had a Belgian Waffle in Belgium, but I've been told that it's just a waffle there. I got to hang with some old friends from the Bay at Grasspop (Testament). And my sincere apologies to all my german friends who were planning on a show today. We'll be back in November, so warm up the Gluvine for me.

I hurt my back pretty bad sleeping in a weird position- the Croatian gig was the hardest I've ever done. I'm paying for it now, but have 3 days to sort it out here in Cardiff, Wales. Ouch.

So the flight from Croatia to Cadiff was our last on our private jet- a 3+ hour night flight with inflight entertainment by iPod DJ Coverdale! What a blast.

New Feature! Currently Enjoying in my 2GB iPod:

Joe Bagale (.com)

Victor Wooten - Palmystry

Soulive - Steady Groovin'

Jill Scott Live

Sting - Ten Summoners Tales

BUDGIE! New to me... I love This Band!

Laptop Surgery in London. File under: GEEK

2008-06-30T04:22:00.000-07:00

I got right to work from when we got to the venue up until 10 minutes before our show. I managed to slice my finger, reassemble the whole thing after the show, and all while Jimmy page was in the room. But now I can replace your MacBook Pro Screen should you ever need it...

Mid UK whitesnake-defleppard Tour update- Sold out shows!

2008-06-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Manchester: ~~13,000~~ 21,000 (I stand corrected) watched me fall on my ass again. Decent show.

Belfast: Fookin grate! It was my first time in Ireland and we were only there for 24 hours. Shame. I did however flirt with a spicy redhead, drink an Irish Guinness, and purchase and learn to play the Penny Whistle. The Irish Half is comin' out! Now we're back in Manchester for a day off. David took us out for a wonderful band dinner (instead of us going to see Bon Jovi in the rain).

Next up: Sheffield, Newcastle, then London- Wembley Arena!

I've been getting on great with the Leppard guys. They were idols of mine before I started playing bass, and now we're drinkin and hangin buddies. This is a great double bill- I hope it goes to the states.

Manchester MEN Arena

My Van Gough moment: when you hold your bass up high to bring it down for dramatic effect, only to have it catch on your earring on the way down.

Back in the UK!

2008-06-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Our 1st 2 gigs with the Leppards were great. BIG arena rock shows!
They have a much bigger production than us, but we sound like a band
rather than like a CD. Both has it's merits though.
Glasgow, Birmingham, and now tonight, Manchester. Here in the hotel I
ran into my old friend Benny Reitveld- Bassist for Santana. In the
hotel is Leppard, Whitesnake and Santana - and Journey played last
night so they may be here as well. The Lowry Hotel is Crackin', son!
Gettin sick again and not sure why. I even stopped drinkin' once we
hit the UK. Hmmm.

Oh yeah- And guess who's #1 this week in Japan??? Us!

...and for those of you keepin track... here are some other chart positions- from week ONE (release week)! Norway: #5, Finland: #5, Germany: #6, UK: #7, Sweden: #10, Austria: #11, Switzerland: #15, Denmark: #18, Canada: #23, Czech Republic: #27, Holland: #33, Italy: #57, France: #69, US: #70.

Arrow Rock Festival in the Netherlands

2008-06-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

Dinner in Amsterdam

My friend- Bassist from Twisted Sister. Probably one of the nicest guys I've ever met.

The stage was wet! I ate shit during the 2nd song.

3 horny guys... together.

Amsterdam Rocks. The show for Arrow Rock was a success!

Here's some Uriah-brand home video. Enjoy.

Quick Update...

2008-06-13T03:43:00.000-07:00

Ahh- My 1-month old MacBook Pro. Nice! Looks like I'll be installing a new screen.

I'll get around to adding the pics from Finland and Iceland- There's some good ones.

Back to Copenhagen...
Chris sat (accidentally) on my month old MacbookPro 15in screen as the bus turned a sharp corner. FUCK!
Weighing out my options now... no Apple store in Copenhagen. May replace the display myself... Currently using the previous laptop.... This sux.

Shilo is on his way back here (with 4 friends this time). My room is gonna reek!
-U

World tour - leg 3 - Europe

2008-06-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen Denmark/Sweden Rock:
We only stayed in CPH - no gig - that is until we drove in and out of Sweden to play Sweden Rock friday night June 6th. We played to a RECORD ATTENDANCE CROWD! (33,000+)!
My son Shilo stayed with me for the whole duration (4 days) and took some great pics at the gig. There's also some good YouTube up on this one- Search 'Whitesnake Sweden Rock". I pulled Shilo out on stage in front of 33,000+ fans. He was so pro. We went to go see DIO at a small club, then hung out with old friend Marco Mendoza who was working in Copenhagen. Great times!

----

Helsinki Finland:

We headlined a festival (Sauna Open Air), which was 2 hours away in Tampare. I got to hang with one of my old Finnish friends (and fav bassists) Lauri Porra. Staying in Helsinki: I love this place! Went clubbin 2 nights in a row. The folks were MUCH friendlier than the Danes, who's nightlife consisted of drunk 18yr olds with their own agendas, and not much for conversation. Helsinki rocks... I think I'll go back! (pics on my myspace)

----

Iceland:

An immediate trip to the blue lagoon Left my skin feeling awesome, but my hair felt like shit (you're not supposed to dunk it).

The lanscape/scenery was f'n great! Lunar rocks and volcanic rocky stretches. No sunset though- well.. for an hour tops. Although the crowd was a little quiet at first, they were great by the end. I know it's hard times right now in Iceland, so I'm very thankful that we could sell out this 3,500 seater. Thanks for comin out! My roommate from back in Berkeley is Icelandic, and I got to hang with her into the wee hours with some other locals between the bar and a house party. Thanks Bryndis! (pics on my myspace)

5:30am lobby call... flight to Oslo...

Home for a week - Ahhh... Wake SURFING on Lake Sonoma...

2008-06-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

Home for a week...
Girls hangin' with Jazz musicians???
What a day! 8 hours on a boat- Life's tough sometimes!

note: This is NOT wake BOARDING.

WICKED!

To see video, goto:

http://flickr.com/photos/jazzmafia/sets/72157605348118606/

I even got up on my first try! Aww Yeah.

Off to Copenhagen Today...

-Uriah

Home for a week- New Bee Bass Here!

2008-05-30T03:49:00.000-07:00

New Uriah Duffy 5 String Piccolo Bass

Bee Basses: Builder: Fred Bolton
30" scale. "Low" B.
DeLano Pickups and Bee Pre-amp

I love this thing! I'll post sounds/vid soon...

South American Tour Summary- So far...

2008-05-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a little tour update so far:

You can see parts of just about every show we've done on YouTube, as fans are posting up footage immediately after the gig! Just click here and see. Check the related Videos.
Of course the quality varies vastly, but you get the gist...

Below are posts from all the cities we hit...

Santiago, Chile

2008-05-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

More TV interviews with Doug. We had 3 days here and no show! The show was first canceled because our equipment arrived late. Over the next day, David got sick and had to follow doctors orders... No show that day either. We're all pretty bummed out. So a few of us went to a local artisan community to browse beautiful handmade goods in what used to be a former monastery. Dirt paths and dirty animals- I loved it! Sorry Chile- I hope we can make it up to you.

Buenos Aries, Argentina

2008-05-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

Wow. Def one of our best shows ever- A great venue called Luna Park.
Over 7000 strong here- so strong that we added a second show! The
crowd was moshing to "Love Aint no Stranger"... a first! They sang
along not only with the words, but to the guitar riffs as well! And
when we weren't playing, they sang their own chants. Big stage- Big
crowd- Big fun. We had a lil bar open up for us to have a wicked after
party at- the Red Bell Saloon. Thanks Max.

Porto Allegre

2008-05-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

After a great show, we reopened the lobby bar for the band and crew,
then continued the festivities up in Reb's room.

Curatiba

2008-05-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

It was nice to go to a much smaller town after being in Sao Paulo. It
was a smaller club ≈2000 people and the place looked kinda western-
wooden structures/balconies. Very fun doing this one.

Sao Paulo

2008-05-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

One of the worlds biggest cities. Tons of fans everywhere. Even with
our police escort it took an hour to get to the gig... only a few
miles away! Over 7000 fans at this one.

Rio De Janeiro

2008-05-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Only had 24 hours there. Hung with the crew from Queensryche. A few of
us accidentally went to Help, a discotecque/club full of... working
girls! It was actually a friendly place and fun hang- but they didn't
get my $$$. Got up to watch the sunrise on the beach before taking off.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2008-05-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

Met with bassist extraordinaire Adriano Campagnani, and had a studio
jam session with him and his brother on drums. We also got out to see
Ironman. The show was well received, as you can see from the video
below... (Leaving Belo Horizonte).

Here we are- just under a minute of footage as we left the venue to get back to our hotel, in Belo Horizonte Brazil. Excellent Crazy fans...

Amazon Rain forest - Manaus

2008-05-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

I know I'm skipping ahead here... I still haven't put up my lil montage vid recap of New Zealand with Ozzy. I'll get to it one day!

Until then... We're in Brazil now. I got a chance to visit a wonderful place in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. Here's a slide show of a few pictures.

Ciao

Manaus: Amazon Rain Forest, Brazil

2008-05-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Hot Humid Beautiful Amazonian fun. Spent a lot of time on the Rio
Negro, near where it joins another river (Solomon) to form the Amazon.

Today was also the first day that DC would have me do TV interviews with Doug.

NEW VIDEO! Lay Down Your Love - Whitesnake

2008-04-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here's our new video filmed in various locations on our NZ, AUS trip in March 08.

Enmore Theatre in Sydney Slide show

2008-03-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

LA Rehearsal Week

2008-03-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

I've decided to just make a slide show video of my pics and small behind the scenes footage I have... but the internet is so slow down here that uploading it has become troublesome... Check back here as I work on it....

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Rehearsals- Day 1 in LA

2008-03-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

I got to Mates rehearsal studio and set up my gear. Just Bass, drums, guitar for two days, in order to rehearse the new drummer. Well he f'n rocks. Rehearsal went great and I'm looking forward to a killer tour with my new friend, Chris Frazier!

Gear!

We are in a smaller rehearsal room until the full band gets here. You'll see my gear picture with only 2 thirds of my rig set-up. Lemme tell ya- It sounds Un-fricken-believable! Pumping such volume from multiple bass cabinets is yielding me some of the best bass tone I've ever heard. I love my Eden rig! I'm upgraded one cabinet with Tone Tubby speakers and left the other stock... for now. As for basses I'm still trying to figure out which 4 string will be the one for this tour. I use a 4 and a 5 equally on this gig. My trusty Lakland 5 string Deluxe is still gonna be my right hand man though. I've simplified my signal chain to: Two X2 Digital Wireless systems, a tuner pedal and an MXR distortion/direct box. From there the signal goes to the house and to my Eden WT800's.

Basses in picture: Fender Mexican Reggie Hamilton with DeLano Pickups; Lakland Darryl Jones Skyline with EMG's; Lakland 55-95; 1973 Fender Jazz with Bartolini's.

Have a look at Chris' brand-spankin' new kit, courtesy of DW. They shipped it straight to the rehearsal studio.

Dougs got about half of his rig setup stage left, which included that new 6-channel Marshall head.

After checking into our hotel, Chris and I met up with Timothy (keyboards) for dinner and drinks at one of our favorite spots in the Valley- FireFly. Ahh- the hang begins!

I've got a gig tonight at the Baked Potato with Favored Nations recording artist Doug Doppler. That's all for now. Wait till you see the big room we move into when the full band gets here.

-Uriah

TOUR TIME!

2008-03-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Gettin' Ready!

I've destroyed my house! I've got to pack up my life for a good 6 months or so while I'm out on the road again. I'm not complaining at all- it's just hard for me to be away from friends family and relationships sometimes. It's like Murphy's law right now... In the past month/week I've felt so integrated in the beautiful Bay Area where I live- more than I have felt in the past year+ that I've been home. Gettin called for gigs, hangin out with players, going out to enjoy the weather and nightlife. I love it here! But it's time again to bring my bass to places further than just California.

The truck came to my house in Berkeley today to pick up all the gear I'll need for the 2008 Whitesnake world tour. Behind me are my three Eden 6x10 cabs in road cases. I'm bringing 4 basses: My trusty Lakland 5, my white DJ4, a Fender Mexican Reggie Hamilton and a Fender '73 Jazz.

Directly above is the amp rack I managed to piece together: 2 Eden WT800's, 2 X2 Digital Wireless systems, a tuner and direct box. I may end up adding a few more things to this rig: my Avalon U5 direct box, another X2 rack unit and another Eden WT800.

New CD's:
I've finally gotten hold of two new albums that are due for release on April 22nd. These are two albums by two very different artists who's only thing in common is myself on bass... And that they are both EXCELLENT releases! Whitesnake's "Good to be Bad" sounds so f'n fantastic that I can't wait to play these new offerings live! It's not like anything else I've heard- It's just very Whitesnake! Heavy, groovin, not cheezy but def some "poppy" singable melodies throughout. It just rules (and is challenging to play).
I worked very hard on this and I'm proud of the result.
The other release is by Bay Area hip-hop artist Lyrics Born, titled "Everywhere at Once". It's the first album where he got all of us band members on the tracks- there's quite a swath of Bay Area talent on here! And my bass pumps! I'll be stepping down as bassist and musical director for this tour while the 'Snake needs me, but you can be sure I'll return once we're done in the fall.

Both Available April 22nd, 2008

Back to the tour:
Tomorrow I leave to LA for a week of rehearsals. On Thursday the 13th, I'll be gigging after rehearsal at the famous Baked Potato with Doug Doppler- Instrumetal. We'll also be celebrating my brother Dorian's 21st Birthday that night, as he now lives in LA. our first Whitesnake show in a while will be supporting OZZY OSBOURNE at a big rock festival in New Zealand. Then it's off to OZ for a few shows. Then we pluck some G-strings in Brazil (and the rest of South America), galavant around the UK with Def Leppard, headline most major rock festivals in Europe, and with any luck- tour the US&A!

That's it for now. Back to laundry and packin.

-Uriah