W

ith hair flowing like a lion’s mane, the five still-rocking personnel of Whitesnake are set to make a huge splashing growl on the exciting bay of Singapore. The legendary rock ‘n’ roll band, founded and formed by renowned singer/songwriter David Coverdale is touring the globe in support of their brand new storming Snake statement – their 11th studio album Forevermore. They’re slated to perform at the historic Fort Canning Park on Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. with Indonesia’s fabled rock group Slank to open the show.

Formed in 1977, and steered by the legendary ex-Deep Purple David Coverdale, Whitesnake carries a rightful reputation as one of the world’s leading rock’n’roll bands. Coverdale’s blues and soul roots, combined with a feral sense of rock and roll, have consistently shaped the ‘Snake’s sound. Add to that Coverdale’s love and appreciation of impeccable musicianship and you have a failsafe recipe for success.

Their ascent to the very top of the rock ’n’ roll tree was confirmed with 1987 self-titled mega-platinum album, which saw two top 10 hits, two number one singles with Here I Go Again and Is This Love and a virtual 24-hour domination of MTV around the world. Such triumphs were surely foretold when as a young man from Saltburn-By-Sea, Coverdale enthusiastically answered the call to be Deep Purple’s singer. Such bombast, bravado, talent and passion have thus helped establish Whitesnake as the perennial platinum favorite they have become.

Forevermore was released on March this year. It’s the second album Whitesnake hatched after more than a decade of incubation that broke in 2008 when it out came Good to Be Bad. David Coverdale himself has stated that he believes Forevermore still embraces all those elements that drew the band’s fans to Whitesnake in the first place. Indeed, the album draws effortlessly from Whitesnake’s sensational past while cutting new, dynamic teeth to show the future which lies ahead.

“It has all the classic Whitesnake flavors, but it is very much its own beast,” says Coverdale bristling with pride, “I always say that Whitesnake albums are one large family, that the songs share a common bloodline, and with Forevermore you can hear all the relatives mixing effortlessly in the room.”

With Love Will Set You Free as the album’s single, Forevermore met with generally positive reviews upon release and even charted in several countries. Six songs from the album have been played live so far, namely Steal Your Heart Away, Love Will Set You Free, One of These Days, Fare Thee Well, My Evil Ways and Forevermore.

Now to the opening band. Though chances are you’ve never heard of them, Slank has sold more than 15 million records, performed in front of millions of rabid fans and are treated like royalty in their home country. The band was originally formed in 1983 as a school band named CSC (Cikini Stone Complex) at a local high school in Jakarta. Their main founder, Bimo Setiawan (Bimbim) and their fellow bandmates often played a number of Rolling Stones songs at school.

The band later changed its name to Slank (taken from their musical attitude, which was, and is still reckless, ignorant and because they play with undetailed groove (Slengean in Indonesian.) After going through many formative changes in personnel, since 1997 the band has steadied with Bimbim on drums, Kaka on vocals, Ridho and Abdee on guitars, and Ivanka on bass. The band’s songs are often imbued with political content and positive messages.

“Slank uses its music to promote P.L.U.R. (Peace, Love, Unity and Respect) between the world’s diverse religious, ethnic and economic communities” says Bimbim.

Despite Slank’s immense popularity, the band’s members are looking forward to their biggest challenge yet: breaking through in new international markets. As Bimbim admits, Slank welcomes its return to the musical underground and is willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means building its following one “Slanker” at a time. (If you have not already figured it out, a “Slanker” is a loyal Slank fan, the equivalent of a Grateful Dead “Deadhead”.) The first step in meeting this challenge: Anthem for The Broken Hearted. The band’s first English-language record, it is 10 tracks of catchy tunes that blends Slank’s appreciation for artists as varied as The Rolling Stones and Bob Marley.