August 18^th 1990 is a day that evokes rather fond memories from my musical memory banks even if it began in a rather terrifying manner when I was nearly kidnapped by a gang of hooded hoodlums in the Bute area of Cardiff in the unfeasibly early hours on route to catch our coach up to the legendary Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington.  (Incidentally this trip was run by the long defunct record shop of style, Trash City Records).  Thankfully the gang in question realised we were just a group of cowardly Metal fans who had simply taken a wrong turn onto their manor and let us on our way.

Monsters of Rock 1990 then will not only be remembered as the tenth anniversary of the prestigious festival but also for having one of the least Heavy Metal line ups in its history.

Some would speculate that it was because the organisers didn't want a repeat performance of Guns 'N Roses riotous set at 1988's festival, where sadly two music fans tragically lost their lives (resulting in 1989's festival being postponed).  Whatever the reasoning many fans were up in arms with the fact that certain Metal bands were overlooked in favour of acts such as the Quireboys, even though the promoters did manage to squeeze two Platinum selling acts onto the bill who at the time were relative strangers to our shore at the time, namely Poison and Aerosmith.  Personally I remember the day as being one of my favourite times attending the festival whether it was the fantastic August sunshine or Thunder's crowd winning performance of the day I cannot confirm.

Enough with the nostalgia though and back to the actual review, as the headliners of the night Whitesnake are about to take us back twenty one years to that eventful night in question with the release of a live CD/DVD simply titled 'Live In Donington 1990'.  When I first read that Whitesnake were to release this package over two decades later my first question to myself was why?  As I recall at the time the music press didn't respond favourably to the show in question and the band were headlining the event as part of their "Liquor And Poker' World tour to promote their latest album 'Slip Of The Tongue' again largely slated by the music press as the band failed to follow the success of their previous '1987' album.  I personally was never one to agree with the music critics, as ironic as that appears to sound as I sit here at my laptop writing this latest review. 

Beginning with a dramatic intro building up the tension as the you hear the cries of "Whitesnake", "Whitesnake" from the sold out crowd the words every Whitesnake fan longs to hear "Ere's a song for ya' burst from the speakers and it's business as usual in the Whitesnake camp as the band plough into 'Slip Of The Tongue'.  Even though the 'Slip Of The Tongue' the album, wasn't critically well received at the time, personally I've always enjoyed that particular album so it's great to hear songs from that era once again such as 'Judgement Day' and the song DC wrote for his former wife and current reality TV star Tawny Kitaen, namely 'Kittens Got Claws'.

Looking at the track listing of the album I'd forgotten how good the set list was on that night, as you have all the Whitesnake classics, 'Slow An Easy', 'Bad Boys', a fantastic rendition of 'Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City' along with my favourite the Zeppelin tinged classic 'Still Of The Night.'  Every number is played with musical precision and that is when I remember what I disliked about that night back in 1990. The endless solos.  Firstly from the Flying Dutchman Adrian Vandenberg, followed closely by a drum solo from Tommy Aldridge and then finally we get the ultimate guitar wank fest courtesy of the seven string sorcerer Steve Vai.  Don't get me wrong I'm not knocking Steve Vai's musical prowess and his over indulgent theatrics fitted his former boss Dave Lee Roth material like a musical glove but somehow it never felt right in the Whitesnake camp and it somehow made the whole set up appear like the David and Steve Vai show at times and not the Whitesnake gig you intended on going to see.  Thankfully though in the comfort of my own home and not stuck in the middle of a field dreams do come true as I quickly reach for the fast forward button.

Overall then 'Live At Donington 1990' a bloody good live album and a great souvenir of Monsters of Rocks tenth anniversary, if only they could have left out the dreaded solos.  I mean, "Is there anybody on the planet who really wants to listen to a drum solo on a CD, or come to think of it watch one on a DVD?"

Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.

http://www.myspace.com/whitesnake

http://www.whitesnake.com/