Music is a friendship that nourishes the soul, brings you up when you’re down, and is there when you need it most. It can make you laugh and it can make you cry. Some friends have been around for years, relationships that have been cultivated over time, grown strong and true. Bands and artists are like that, performing the many genres of music that serve as the soundtrack for lives well-lived. Occasionally we meet new friends when we least expect it. I had that experience on Friday night when Great White rolled into Newark, Ohio at the Midland Theatre for an evening of high octane rock and roll.

Great White hit its stride in the early to mid 80’s with founder/guitarist Mark Kendall and keyboardist/guitarist Michael Lardie authoring many of the bands hits. The band found its groove with drummer Audie Desbrow and eventually, bassist Scott Snyder who became the perfect accompaniment to Desbrow’s beat. Brett Carlisle took over singing duties in 2022 and at age 28 certainly carries his own with his more veteran bandmates. Since its inception, Great White has performed in clubs, theaters, arenas, and stadiums around the world from iconic locations such as L.A.’s Troubadour and with music legends like Judas Priest, Whitesnake, and the Scorpions. On this particular tour, they are co-headlining with Slaughter.

I have to say, although I grew up in the era of 80’s hard rock, glam rock, and hair bands, I spent my impressionable years listening to more prog-rock stylings. The car’s cassette deck was usually spinning Rush, Genesis, and Yes. Any hard rock I heard was on the radio interspersed with the pop music of the day: Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson. Of course I had heard of Great White, likely with their rendition of Ian Hunter’s “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” that received heavy radio and MTV airplay. But these bands weren’t my true “musical friends” like Rush was. I considered this genre more of an acquaintance, one that I could hang with and carry on a conversation, but wasn’t interested in the commitment.

On Friday, that changed. I think it was Kendall’s bluesy edge on “House of Broken Love” from 1989’s Twice Shy that grabbed me when I wasn’t looking. For the rest of the evening, I listened in earnest and noticed something in Great White’s music I hadn’t heard before. A jam that wasn’t hard rock riff, but something more akin to the sounds coming from London or Muscle Shoals in the 70’s. After the show, instead of bidding a polite goodnight to someone I would likely never see again, I continued the conversation on the drive home streaming a “This is Great White” playlist. The discussion carried over to Saturday while I edited show photos, and now on Sunday as I write this listening to “Broken Love” for the 4th time this hour I can feel a new friendship blossoming with this unlikely, or perhaps once-ignored, band. Music will do that to you!

Great White is touring throughout the country with several dates across the Midwest this spring and summer, be sure to catch them and their high energy magic at a venue nearest you.