Artist: Black Crowes
Title: “Warpaint Live” (Blu-ray)
Label: Eagle Vision
Release Date: 7/14/2009
Genre: Blues Rock
Rating: 4.25/5
Eagle Rock Entertainment has been striving to deliver some of its best DVD films on the higher quality Blu-ray format and they are fantastic when it comes down to it depending on the show that it is. When The Black Crowes dished out their “Warpaint Live” on CD and standard DVD, you knew that a higher definition version made good sense based on just how great this show actually was. My views about the full on performance are the same between the two versions so I am re-presenting them for you below. I will then close out with some additional thoughts about the Blu-ray edition.
I recently reviewed the excellent CD version of this concert and now the chance to feel as though you were a part of the audience is at hand as the full concert is presented to you on the DVD release “Warpaint Live”. Yes this is the exact same show as was presented on the audio release but as you might realize, simply hearing it loses some of that concert magic which and lucky for the home viewer they did not swap a track here and there between the two releases and instead deliver the same tunes that we found on the double CD audio version. I’ve long enjoyed the Black Crowes for what they brought to the table as a band and they always seem to deliver in concert. You cannot help but feel the soulful groove that they lay down with apparent ease on tune after tune. The great difference about this live concert was that it took their “Warpaint” CD and delivered it live in sequential order for maximum fan enjoyment. There is a little bit of difference in the tunes from the studio release against the live versions and that comes by way of a little more extended jamming which is never bad when it comes to a band like The Black Crowes. There is some seriously good musicianship going on and when you watch Rich Robinson play you will be thinking aloud as you wonder why this guy does not get a lot more praise than he does. Chris Robinson’s voice is on top of the game with the recording and he proves himself to be one of the best Blues Rock singers of our time. There is such a passion in every note he utters here without question. Joining the Robinson Brothers is a truly killer band that features Luther Dickinson who not only offers up additional conventional guitar but also some amazing slide guitar as well. The concert captures you right from the get go with “Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution” and it was one of my fast favorites from both the studio and live release. It was interesting to find the Robinson Brothers delivering this full release to the apparently very interested audience and it just goes to show you that not every bands following deals with such a project the same way. I say this because Iron Maiden presented their entire “A Matter Of Life And Death” for their fans a couple of tours ago and where chastised for it while bands like Dream Theater often do their full new release these days and have fans attending two or three shows in a row. Maybe those Southern Fried Blues Rock fans and the Progressive ones are a little more giving than the straight ahead Heavy Metal ones. I don’t know.
Similar to the CD, the full “Warpaint” presentation is followed by a number of covers and rarities from the bands repertoire. A couple of these songs were found on the “Brothers Of A Feather” recording that they did a couple of years ago, but I don’t think anyone will mind hearing them again with a full band as opposed to just acoustic guitars and piano. As we lined out in the CD review, the covers come via the likes of Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and more. All very worthwhile stuff that fits perfectly into the set of the bands own material. The booklet that is with the DVD is slightly different in that it offers the home viewers one or two more photos but nothing else to speak of. I highly recommend this release to any Rock music fans based on the overall music quality that we get and if you enjoyed the CD version then there is no way that you will not appreciate the video release. My concern is why these things are still being delivered separately because Eagle Vision would be doing the fans a favor by taking these incredible live films and offering up the CD audio versions as bonus inclusions. Readers don’t need me to tell them that the audio music sales are dropping and how most of the brick and mortar stores offer us less and less in terms of selection while video releases seem to continually rise based on home theatre setups and the new high definition technology that people are getting into. Check this one out even if you only opt to rent it because it was a good one. It makes me want to catch The Black Crowes in concert and perhaps it will have the same effect on you.
Since there are no differences between the originally released standard DVD I feel that the only reason you would need to purchase this one is if you don’t already own the regular one and are slowly moving towards a higher definition way of life in terms of your music and video collection. I am officially loving the Blu-ray format at this point in time, and I use the PS3 to enjoy them. I just wished that we were getting a lot more content for the buck as opposed to direct transfers of the same films with just a better audio and video. This is an amazing medium and its potential still has not been fully tapped.
Track Listing:
1. Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution
2. Walk Believer Walk
3. Oh Josephine
4. Evergreen
5. We Who See The Deep
6. Locust Street
7. Movin’ On Down The Line
8. Wounded Bird
9. God’s Got It
10. There’s Gold In Them Hills
11. Whoa Mule
12. Poor Elijah – Tribute To Johnson
13. Darling Of The Underground Press
14. Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye
15. Don’t Know Why
16. Torn And Frayed
17. Hey Grandma
Official Website: www.blackcrowes.com