DVD Review: Whitesnake "Live ... In the Still of the Night" (2006)

This show, captured at London's Hammersmith Odeon in (I believe) late 2004, is headbanging heaven. David Coverdale has assembled a stellar, stellar group of musicians to comprise the latest edition of Whitesnake. On guitar, Doug Aldrich, last seen with Dio, takes most of the leads and Reb Beach, formerly of Winger (don't laugh) plays rhythym. Marco Mendoza, who I've seen with the Nuge a couple of times, holds it down on bass, and the ageless Tommy Aldridge who (I think) played with Ozzy in the past and also recorded with Coverdale in earlier versions of Whitesnake is just mind blowing on drums. Timothy Drury adds some swirling keyboards to make it all come together.

Coverdale himself looks and sounds great. His screams are right on the money - "Still of the Night", baby! - and the material sounds fresh, even though nothing from after 1989's "Slip of the Tongue" was played (including, unfortunately, nothing from 94's Coverdale/Page project). "Judgment Day" is epic and forms the centrepiece of the whole set.

Sonically, the fullness of the sound will impress you, and visually, it's clear that Coverdale spared no expense, hiring Hamish Hamilton who directed the amazing Robbie Williams Knebworth DVD. The epileptic pace of the editing takes a little getting used to, and the sometimes obvious vocal overdubs may not be forgiven by purists, but overall this package is bluesy metal at its best. It would have kicked even more ass if they included "Slide It In" and "Slow an' Easy", but even still, this is the good stuff.

Overall rating: An very solid 9/10

(Oh, and did I mention for your $20 you get a live CD, too? That's value. You gotta love an artist who knows how to give their fans what they want.)