Great White
Sunday, July 1 @ 6PM
Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard
Changes? Yeah, they’ve had ‘em. Fallen off the path? Guilty. Slowed down? No way. Never.
Full Circle, the new album from Grammy nominated, multiplatinum recording artists, Great White, teams up the rock and roll band once again with its original producer, Michael Wagener. It’s an honorable nod to their first EP Out of the Night (Aegean Records, 1983) and debut self-titled full-length record (EMI,1984). Wagener, is of course the legendary producer behind the iconic Alice Cooper, Megadeath, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and a slew of other rock gods. Full Circle’s chemistry is palpable – Wagener’s influence is immediately felt…but take note, this is not one-and-done swan song for a band that has churned out chromium-laced hard rock since the early ‘80s.
No, this is far from the word ‘finished.’ It’s back to work and back to where it starts – one song at a time.
Recorded at Wagener’s Nashville-based WireWorld Studio, Great White spent the majority of January and February 2017 sequestered in Music City. Set for worldwide release, June 2, Full Circle’s packaging includes a must-have companion DVD called “Making of Full Circle.” Rockslide Entertainment (produced by Todd Sadowski) captured the band developing the songs in the studio – a never-before-seen band access. The footage is just another look at how Great White works together, puts egos aside for the love of their fans.
Much like 2012’s Elation (Frontiers Records) the core song writing team of Mark Kendall, Michael Lardie and Terry Ilous worked heavily alongside Audie Desbrow and Scott Snyder. The first single, “Big Time” is a sharp, cutting track. Their swagger and gladiator attitude is first-hand knowledge, and the listener is galvanized.
In total, the 10 tracks on Full Circle range from the gut-punching “Give It Up,” to the bass-heavy “Cry Of A Nation,” the easily-embraced, more acoustic “Let Me In,” to the dynamic “This Is The Life.” Full Circle is overflowing with start-to-finish, balls to the wall, classic Great White triumphs.
“We can’t thank our fans enough for being there with us over all of these decades,” Kendall said. “It sounds insane to say decades, and when you think about it, that’s how long it’s been since we worked with Michael Wagener. Being excited in the studio with him is an understatement – he’s a driving force and a legend behind the soundboard.”
“Great White is fueled by performing live – we love that energy that you can’t find in the studio,” Lardie said. “But, when you do get us working on a new record, there’s a bond that is forged – it’s almost like alchemy…it’s years of stories, heartache, momentum and love that we put to track.”
Great White is Kendall (guitar), Lardie (guitar, keyboards), Desbrow (drums), Snyder (bass), and Ilous (vocals). Since 1982, the Great White sound has captivated audiences worldwide with crushing blues-based guitar riffs and swagger that invokes an emotional high for anyone that listens. The band’s core writing team of Lardie and Kendall forged numerous hits over the years, and when Desbrow joined in ’85, the grooves hooked an amazing stride.
For nearly a decade, Snyder has merged his unforgiving rhythm to Desbrow’s relentless percussion. And, in 2011, Ilous’ feverish energy and far-stretching vocals melted perfectly into the Great White mold. Kendall calls Ilous “the most consistent singer I’ve ever shared the stage with and a great all-around musician.”
Best known for their Grammy nominated Best Hard Rock Performance hit, “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” Great White has sold over 10 million albums worldwide, has six Top 100 Billboard hits, nine Top 200 Billboard albums, two platinum albums, and clocked the top of MTV video four times.
To experience their hits live in concert—“Rock Me,” “Mista Bone,” “Save Your Love,” “House of Broken Love,” and “Lady Red Light”—is to ride an emotional wave of sultry connections, arousing lyrics, and an all-out marathon of hard-hitting orchestrations.
Great White continues to tour worldwide and in the last two years logged nearly 200 dates in several states and countries. The band celebrated numerous milestones that included several sold-out performances, a return to the Zurich, Switzerland’s Rock Im Tal Festival, and for the first time ever, a handful of intimate, acoustic performances.
They returned to the classic rock radio charts with “Complicated” off of 2012’s Elation. The band’s 12th studio album, Elation, garnered high marks from numerous rock journalists behind the pesky “Something For You,” the cheeky “Shotgun Willie’s,” and the emotional, Top 10 classic rock radio entry, “Hard To Say Goodbye.”