Adrian Vandenberg
The ex-Whitesnake guitarist on low on-stage volume and warm dressing rooms
What was your first gig and how did it go? “I remember it clearly. My parents didn’t know that I played in a band – I was 13 – and we were going to play on a Sunday afternoon in a little building adjacent to one of the churches in Rotterdam, where I lived at the time. My dad didn’t want me to play electric guitar, I wasn’t allowed to have one, but I had an acoustic guitar so secretly I bought a pickup that I could connect to the radio and it sounded really distorted. I sneaked out that afternoon, but two of the guys wimped out because they had an attack of stage fright, so it was just me and the drummer. There was an organ there and I knew how to play A Whiter Shade Of Pale, so that was the gig, basically!” Describe your current stage rig… “I’m using two Marshall stacks – four 4 x 12 cabinets and two Plexi heads – then, on the side, I also have one 50 watt Plexi Marshall from the early 70s. On the last tour I also used a little Silver Jubilee combo and so I combined all those. I’m using something called a ‘Box Of Doom’ which is an isolation cabinet with a Celestion speaker and a microphone in there, so I can crank up my 50 or 100 watt Marshall as far as I like and the front of house mixer doesn’t have too much sound coming off the stage. So I use my two Marshalls as monitors. I use my Les Paul that I bought new in 1980 – it’s one of the first Heritage models – it’s travelled the world a number of times and I’ve become very attached to it. On the new album I didn’t use any pedals; straight into the amp has always been my favourite sound, but live I use a pedal built by a friend of mine, Peter Van Weelden, The Royal Overdrive; it’s a great, natural sounding overdrive. I also use a Carl Martin Quattro pedal – there’s also a large pedalboard with a load of Carl Martin stuff on there – a flanger and delay – and an MXR Phase 90. But 95 per cent of the time I just play straight through the Marshall.” What’s on your rider? “This is another thing I’ve limited, compared to the glory days of rock with Whitesnake where there was just so much stuff. I always felt a little embarrassed when you leave the venue and there’s all this stuff sitting on a table and all the people from the venue have gone to so much trouble to get it all. So right now it’s really simple: sandwiches, chips, M&M-style sweets, yoghurt, two bottles of red wine, one bottle of whiskey, a lot of water and a couple of Cokes.” What’s your best tip for getting a good live sound? “I try to limit the stage level as much as I can – just enough to get a kick out of what you’re hearing. The Box Of Doom that I’m using, one of the feeds goes through the wedges so I have a big, beefy Marshall sound in the wedges and the Marshall stacks are at a much lower level, so I get a combination of the stacks and the wedges. My advice is to keep your stage level down as much as you can and you’re going to sound great in the venue.” What non-musical item couldn’t you do without on tour? “It would be something non-material like a properly heated dressing room and a clean shower and that’s about it, you know? Nothing I would carry with me, basically.” What’s the best tip for getting the audience on your side? “What I’ve always done, and it’s apparently infectious with the crowd because everywhere we’ve played so far people
seem very locked-in with us, is basically be who you are on stage. Don’t go the American way and scream and shout at the audience. Just enjoy what you’re doing and do it from the heart. I’ve noticed during the whole of my career that a crowd picks up much more on an intuitive level than you’d think. So just try to be real.” What’s the best venue you’ve played in and why? “There have been a few, actually. What was one of the biggest kicks was playing Wembley Stadium with Whitesnake in the late 80s. It’s such a historic place and everybody who means something has played there, you know? Another one would be Madison Square Garden, also because of its history. And the first time I played at Hammersmith Odeon with Vandenberg, my earlier band. We were supporting Michael Schenker and I was just really excited – Thin Lizzy played there, Whitesnake played there – and so that’s definitely one of my all-time favourites.” What’s the nearest you’ve come to a Spinal Tap moment on tour? “There’s a bunch! [laughs] When Vandenberg started headlining in the US we were playing 2,000 seaters and I had my ‘Hello Cleveland’ moment, because I did the announcements as the singer couldn’t speak English very well. I think it was in Buffalo and I said,‘Hello…’ whatever, and the whole place went quiet. My American guitar tech wrote the town’s name down on a piece of paper and threw it onstage so I could make up for it.” What’s your favourite live album? “That would be Band Of Gypsys by Jimi Hendrix. It’s flawless; Hendrix played spot on, every note. I finally met Bill Graham, the legendary promoter at The Fillmore where the album was recorded, and he told me that he had an argument with Jimi that night. He said he wanted to challenge him to make it a special show and wanted to get him on edge, so he told Jimi that nobody cared about his playing any more, everybody just wanted to see him set his guitar on fire. Jimi was insulted and said,‘I’m gonna show you… I’m going to kick your ass with my playing.’And he did!”
“Be who you are on stage. Don’t do the American thing and scream at the audience. Just enjoy yourself and do it from the heart”