Metal Underground.com

Doro’s “25 Years in Rock” DVD/CD set is packed with hours of concert and backstage footage and great candid moments. The cover of the case is the ever-so classic heavy metal epic rendering of Doro riding a beastly dragon through lakes of fire filled with human skulls, which already begins to thrill the viewer for what the DVD will hold. The three-disc set contains so much metal it just may turn you into steel.

The main DVD disc is concert footage of the 25 Years in Rock Concert that took place in Doro’s hometown of Duesseldorf, Germany on December 13th, 2008. The concert clocks in at two and a half hours, and the show is so spectacular that you will still be left wanting more. Doro and her band run on stage and immediately go into the fast, rollicking number “Earthshaker Rock.” The set is elaborate, to say the least, with large castle ruin walls, candelabras, and huge hands that look like they could snap up the drummer at any second. Soon a head belonging to the hands appears; the warlock with glowing eyes, furrowing brows, and spewing smoke began intimidating the crowd with a snarling speech, just before Doro and her band launch into “Night of the Warlock,” the first time it was performed live. Not slowing the energy for one second, Doro and her band welcomed guest singer Bobby Blitz from Overkill and guitarist Axel Rudi Pell to the stage where Bobby sang with Doro on “Always Live to Win.”

A gaggle of cheerleaders joined the stage for “Celebrate” and “Love Me in Black.” They used to cheerlead for an American football team that has since been dismantled and Doro’s song was the team’s theme song. Another killer queen Tarja Turunen, formerly of Nightwish, lent her powerful, operatic voice to “Walking With the Angels” as dozens of white candles appeared behind them. Doro began a dramatic version of Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law,” ending in a fist-pumping hard-rock frenzy. Scorpion vocalist Klaus Meine took the lead on his band’s songs like “Big City Nights” and “Rock You Like A Hurricane.” His voice was not as strong as it once was, but it was still great to see him perform with his old friend. There were other guests too that truly made this show special for the audience and you’ll wish you could have been there.

After the craziness of the concert DVD, you can watch how the concert was created. The second disc is a documentary about Doro and the concert itself, along with a lot of extras Doro speaks (in German, put on the captions) about how she wanted to put on the massive show in her hometown for the celebration. She goes into the set design, venue booking, and how appreciative she was of all of the effort by the people who made it possible. You are able to see the details of the epic concert from the making of the warlock prop from beginning to end; it was funny to watch the incredibly detailed head and hands roll down the street on the back of a trailer. Doro also talks about some important people in her career, while musicians offer gratitude and congratulations to Doro like Saxon, Lemmy Kilmister, and the people who performed with her in short vignettes. Extra features on this disc include footage from the 2,500th concert special filled with guest musicians, and festival appearances at Wacken, Summer Breeze, and Metal Female Voices Festival.

Doro’s special song for the anniversary included the lyric “Twenty Five years of love, pain, and tears.” And through the thousands of concerts, this has got to be the pinnacle show of her career; at least until the 30th, 40th, and maybe even the 50th anniversary rolls around. Doro is still going strong with no signs of stopping, and this special DVD/CD set embodies it.