After more than 40 years in the music business, Great White has seen many changes that all the major acts do; name changes, big hits, bigger declines, struggles with irrelevancy and, perhaps most notably, member changes.
But, as their official website says, “these songs are bigger than any one member.”
Which was true for the crowd that packed into the bleachers at the MidAmerican Energy Stage to get a glimpse of the band. To them, it didn’t matter who was singing as long as they could sing along.
The California-based Great White is currently made up of five members; founding member Mark Kendall on guitar, Audie Desbrow on drums, Scott Snyder on bass, Michael Lardie on everything else (but mainly guitar and keyboard) and newest addition Brett Carlisle on vocals.
“The fans just love him,” Kendall said of the singer. “Almost every show sold out. When we did our very first show [with Brett], it became like world news. I can’t even believe it. Like Italy, Germany, England, all the online magazines were just raving about him. And that was just after one show. Now he’s really getting comfortable, he engages the crowd and we’re just enjoying ourselves.”
Before Carlisle, the band was working with Andrew Freeman but they soon found out that his priority lay with making records and touring with his band, Last In Line. So, they parted ways.
The band auditioned a few singers following the split by sending them music and having them put their voice to the songs, but it wasn’t quite the right fit until the young man from Alabama tried out.
“We had a show in Las Vegas and we needed to get a singer and a friend of ours told us about Brett,” Kendall said. “So we had him out for one rehearsal in Las Vegas, and then we did that show. And he just blew minds. It was unbelievable. I was actually nervous about it. And he was just unreal.”
It wasn’t long after that they asked him to join full time.
“We were so thrilled by him that we called them as a group and said, ‘hey, you know, you want to join’ and he goes, ‘holy cow. Yeah.’”
“They asked me if I was ready for the big time and I said let’s go!” Carlisle said to the crowd at the fair before jumping seamlessly into the band’s song “Big Time.”
“He’s 26 years old, but the funny thing about it [is] we get along on a personal level. We all joke together like brothers. The brotherhood is amazing,” Kendall said. “And when we do photoshoots and stuff, it doesn’t really look like he’s standing with a bunch of old men and he’s this little kid or something. He kind of just melds right in with us.”
Carlisle has been with the band for about a year now and continues to impress, showing why he’s got the talent to be where he is.
“Some guy returned two T-shirts and wanted his money back because he said that our singer wasn’t really singing, he was lip synching to a tape,” Kendall said. “I mean, we never used backing tapes our entire career and he sang so good that the guy said nobody can sing that good live. So he turned in his tour shirts and they gave him his money. That was the funniest thing ever in my life. Unreal.”
And Carlisle isn’t just filling a role. He and Kendall have been writing together recently at the guitarist’s house in California.
“We’re doing demos at a friend of mine’s house and it’s coming out amazing,” Kendall said. “I was not really super solid on every singer we’ve had. I was trying to envision the future and I just almost did it [release new material] a few times, but I kept holding back. But now, after Brett, I know it’s right. He just melts right into our music and I’ve heard him on new stuff now. And I think we can make an amazing record. So now I’m super pumped to do it.”
The record seems in its rough stages still, but until its release you can always check out the live shows.
“One of the things I really like about playing live is the crowd lets you know if it’s good or not right when the song ends,” Kendall said. “Instead of like when you do an album, you gotta wait four months to find out if you’re good, so I really like that immediate feedback. I like to look out at the crowd, and kind of gauge how they’re feeling. Are they smiling? Are they pumping their fists in the air? I don’t know, that’s just fun for me to look at.”
And the crowd didn’t hold back at the Iowa State Fair. They pumped their fists and counted their fingers during “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” One woman even had half her body over the railing while singing along, which didn’t go unnoticed by Carlisle who went over to snap a picture with her.
He also made sure to fist bump a little boy who was rocking out on his dad’s shoulders, throw the “rock on” hand sign at anyone taking a picture and even sign a bra that made its way on stage at the end of the night.
“Nothing overwhelms him,” Kendall said. “He just goes out and does killer shows. He handles everything great and he’s great to be around. Just a really good person.”
It’s hard to imagine a person who wheels around stage and does spins on heelys as being anything but great.
An energy matched by the rest of the group who smiled widely and nodded along to songs they’ve no doubt played hundreds of times.
“I really like to do everything possible to have really good energy before I play live,” Kendall said. “When I land on the stage, I try to get people to their money’s worth, you know? But it’s a great life. The hardest thing is traveling. But playing the shows is a lot of fun, and it’s worth the trade off.”
The band is currently on tour across the United States and you can check out some of their content including photos, videos and live audio tracks on their website officialgreatwhite.net.
“We got the best fans in the world and we’re glad they still come to the shows and have stories about what they were doing when certain songs came out,” Kendall said. “We all grew up together and I really love the fact that that has happened and that we can share our music with so many people. It’s just an absolute blessing.”
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