The crowd at Hard Rock Live Orlando, Florida, in Universal CityWalk was buzzing with the return of hometown guitar hero, Jeff Blando of the band Slaughter, on August 23, 2025. It’s been 13 years since the band played an Orlando gig, and nobody in town was missing this one. The night’s headliner was Great White, another band that the crowd hadn’t seen in over a decade, and the Orlando audience was in attendance to show their appreciation.
Slaughter opened the show at 8:00 pm to a rowdy bunch of screaming fans. The tour was called “Still Stickin’ It To Ya” a play on their 1990 debut album release “Stick It to Ya.” “Stick It to Ya” was one of the biggest albums of 1990, selling over two million copies, putting Slaughter on top right out of the gate. Seven of the ten song setlist were from the album “Stick It to Ya.” with the show ending with the two highest charting songs in their catalog, “Fly To Angels” and “Up All Night”. “Fly To Angels” is always a crowd favorite as drummer Jordan Cannata explodes during the song and actually gets out of his seat and flies through the air, making a landing to the crash of the symbols. Mark Slaughter then asks the audience to light up their cell phones and sing along, bringing the song to a close; it’s a sight to see from anywhere in the venue. Just before the end, lead guitarist, Jeff Blando solos on his Porter Bilt guitar with a cello bow in a Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fashion, it’s fantastic.
Of course, the night ended with the classic crowd sing-along, “Up All Night” with a bit of a “Won’t Get Fooled Again” snippet by The Who thrown in just for fun. This show had the audience cheering for more, leaving Great White, as the headliner, with their work cut out for them. A great rock and roll show with Mark Slaughter’s vocals as strong as they were when “Stick It to Ya” was released in 1990. A great show all around.
Slaughter Band
Mark Slaughter – Vocals/Guitar
Dana Strum – Bass/Vocals
Jeff Blando – Guitar/Vocals
Jordan Cannata – Drums
Setlist:
1.Mad About You (With Intro) *
2. Burnin’ Bridges *
3. Spend My Life (Mark guitar solo intro) *
4. Unknown Destination
6. Eye to Eye (With Drum & Guitar solos) *
7. Days Gone By (Mark Acoustic and Dana Bass only)
8. Real Love *
9. Fly to the Angels (Extended) *
10. Up All Night (With “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who snippet) *
* From “Stick It to Ya”
Great White took the stage at approximately 9:40 pm, and the house was still rocking, and wanting some more after Slaughter’s performance. Great White has always been a powerhouse rock band. Their set ran just over an hour, covering 12 songs, and ended with chart favorites “Rock Me” and the Ian Hunter classic “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.”
Finding a lead singer for the band to replace Jack Russell’s tone and range wasn’t easy, and singers Terry Ilous, Mitch Malloy, and finally the current vocalist Brett Carlisle have held the mantle after Russell’s departure. For a time, Great White was split into two touring bands starting in 2011. The original singer’s band, Jack Russell’s Great White, and the version of the band going out without Jack, just “Great White.” It was a bit confusing for a few years, but that ended upon Jack Russell’s tragic death on August 7, 2024.
I have seen Great White with three different lead vocalists, and Brett Carlisle is the band’s future, and the future looks bright.
This band has a fresh face with their gritty rock n’ roll attitude, and I’m pretty sure they plan on rocking their fans for a while to come.
Great White Band:
Brett Carlisle – Vocals
Mark Kendall – Guitar/Vocals
Michael Lardie – Guitar/Keyboards/Vocals
Scott Snyder – Bass/Vocals
Audie Desbrow – Drums
Setlist:
1.Desert Moon (With intro)
2. Lady Red Light
3. Stick It
4. Rollin’ Stoned (With Brett Carlisle introduction)
5. House of Broken Love (With Mark Kendall guitar seque)
6. The Angel Song (Brett & Micheal only into full band)
7. Mista Bone (With intro jam)
8. Gonna Getcha
9. Big Goodbye (Album version)
10. Save Your Love
11. Rock Me (With Mark Kendall guitar seque)
12. Once Bitten Twice Shy (Ian Hunter cover) (With Band Introductions; Extended)
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.