Whitesnake - Live In The Still Of The Night (2LP)

Whitesnake’s Live... In the Still of the Night is the sort of concert film that reminds you why this band mattered in arenas and still matters in your lounge room. Filmed at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on 20 October 2004 and released in 2006, it catches David Coverdale in full flight after reviving the band in the early 2000s. The title nods to the 1987 hit, but the show digs deeper than hair-spray nostalgia. You get the glossy anthems, sure, but also grit, sweat and a set that honours the band’s bluesy roots and Coverdale’s Deep Purple lineage.

The lineup here is a killer. Coverdale fronts Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on guitars, Marco Mendoza on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums, and Timothy Drury on keys and guitar. It’s a very musical take on Whitesnake’s catalogue. Aldrich and Beach trade leads with a mix of flash and taste, Aldridge brings that cannonball kick he’s known for, and Mendoza and Drury keep the swing alive when the choruses open up. The band rides the dynamics like lifers. When “Love Ain’t No Stranger” hits its middle eight, you can hear the crowd swell, and the players pull back just enough to make the final chorus land twice as hard.

The Hammersmith Apollo room gets captured with big, warm colour and a crowd that sings like they’ve been waiting all week. “Bad Boys” into “Slide It In” sets the tone, chugging riff, high-wire harmonies, Coverdale prowling the lip of the stage. The vocal is lived-in rather than airbrushed, which suits these songs. “Crying in the Rain” stretches out into a storm, with Aldridge’s solo slot serving the drama rather than just ticking a box. It’s the rare drum solo that actually lifts the set.

One of the standouts is the Deep Purple section. “Burn” crashes in with menace, “Stormbringer” snarls, and “Mistreated” gives Coverdale space to show that smoky vibrato that first turned heads in the 70s. Hearing those Mk III staples alongside “Is This Love” and “Here I Go Again” underlines the arc of his career. He’s always been a blues singer at heart who learned to ride the 80s wave, and this show treats both sides with respect. “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City,” the Bobby Bland cover that’s been with Whitesnake since the start, is the night’s soul. Voices rise from the stalls, band drops the volume, and for a few minutes a 5,000-capacity room feels like a pub.

There’s a polish to the production, multiple cameras and crisp edits, but it never feels sterile. The guitar tones are thick, the backing vocals sit high, and the crowd mics are present enough that you feel the call and response. If you’ve ever tried to track down Live... In the Still of the Night vinyl, you’ll know this is a concert film first and foremost, not a standard LP reissue target. That said, fans who love Whitesnake vinyl still want this on the shelf next to 1987 and Live... In the Heart of the City, because it documents the band’s second wind with real punch.

The set list plays like a generous mixtape. “Still of the Night” is a monster to close, all stop-start drama and siren harmonics, while “Give Me All Your Love” and “Fool for Your Loving” scratch that riff-rock itch. The camera often lingers on Aldrich’s right hand, and it’s easy to see why. His picking has that muscular snap that keeps the songs from sagging. Beach, ever the melodic foil, lines up those glossy bends and harmony parts that made the 80s era feel so huge. It’s the sort of twin-guitar chemistry that keeps you rewinding passages just to hear how they lock in.

If you’re crate-digging for Whitesnake albums on vinyl, this show might send you back to Slide It In or the self-titled, but don’t sleep on the concert itself. It captures a real moment for Coverdale, recharged and engaged, playing to a room with history. Hammersmith is where UK hard rock gets its stripes, and the band shows up like they know it. For anyone browsing a Melbourne record store or hunting vinyl records Australia wide, it’s worth grabbing a classic studio LP, then picking up this DVD to see how those songs breathe in front of an audience.

In a world of polished anniversary sets, Live... In the Still of the Night feels direct and satisfying. It’s a reminder that the songs weren’t just studio sheen and big hair. They were built to roar from a stage. If you buy Whitesnake records online and you’re curious about the live chops that back those sleeves, this is the piece that fills in the picture. It’s not an artefact for completists. It’s a night out, turned into a keeper.