Whitesnake Enshrouded in Cliches at Irvine

If the record industry really wants to protect America’s impressionable youth, it should adopt a new cautionary sticker that goes something like this: “Warning--cliched lyrics. Contents devoid of original thought or vivid expression. This music may induce mental torpor.”

They could launch the campaign by slapping a big sticker on Whitesnake. It’s too late, though, for the thousands who were subjected to nearly two hours of the heavy-metal band’s numbing rock-by-rote on Friday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

Whitesnake’s utter lack of imagination was encoded in songs based on such worn-out pop notions as “crying in the rain” and “the still of the night.” Sometimes an ignited performance can compensate for hackneyed material. But Whitesnake, though passably energetic, evoked almost nothing. Guitarist Steve Vai gets some credit for putting across his standard metal swoops and whinnies with lively showmanship.