Recorded during the ‘Forevermore’ World Tour on October 15th 2011 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, this is Whitesnake’s 5th live release, cheekily entitled ‘Made In Japan’.
Sliding straight in with ‘Best Years’ taken from the ‘Good To Be Bad’ opus, opens the show before fan favorite `Give Me All Your Love Tonight` really kicks this gig off, the crowd love it. “Love Ain’t No Stranger” follows, before the very sexy “Is This Love” with its brilliant guitar solo brings the house down.
Never one’s to rest on their laurels; Coverdale and the guys perform four songs from the “Forevermore” album tonight, rather than a greatest hits set.
The incorporation of tracks taken from the ‘Forevermore’ album like `Steal Your Heart Away` `Forevermore` and `Love Will Set You Free` makes the old and new blend together almost perfectly, with a great crowd participation between them and Coverdale, who ever being the master showman help’s in creating a great atmosphere.
Coverdale has surround himself with a firing on all six rhythm section, comprising of bass player Michael Devin and drummer Brian Tichy, add in special guest keyboardist Brian Ruedy; couple this with the twin guitar attack from Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach and you have a very venomous line up indeed.
However, saying that, the “Six String Showdown” comes over as a disappointment, it is neither inventive nor indeed entertaining, which is a shame, as these two virtuosos can play. The same can be said for the mandatory drum solo. I would have liked there to be an acoustic section instead, slowing everything down, giving the band a brief respite before the second half of the set.
Over on the bonus cd you get, there are acoustic versions of ‘Fare Thee Well’, ‘One Of These Days’, ‘Good To Be Bad’ and ‘Tell Me How’ recorded during the sound check, either one or two of these would work far better.
As the concert and this cd draws to a close, we get the all-time favorites in the shape of “Fool For Your Loving”, “Here I Go Again” and the epic “Still Of The Night”, all sounding fresh and powerful, what a way to close the show.
‘Made In Japan’ is full of the great songs that have made Whitesnake a formidable rock band over the years. The ‘Forevermore’ songs show that the band will still be a formidable force in years to come.
On a side note, you also get a dvd with this package that covers the same concert, filmed in glorious HD and 5.1 digital surround sound.
There is also a stand-alone version presented in Blu-ray.
Now read Anthony Mays interview with David Coverdale HERE