Peter Frampton - Live In Detroit
Performance 
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Peter Frampton - Live In Detroit
Performance |
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FRAMPTON LIVES! My sister in law, who is visiting from Spain, was watching concert DVDs with my wife and I, and to my surprise she said that she had never heard of Peter Frampton. WHHAAAAAT?? I had to frustratingly explain to her that back in the late 70's Frampton was probably the most popular rock star in the world. Frampton Comes Alive was on its way to selling a bazillion copies and he became so popular that Hollywood decided to stick him, along with the Bee Gees, in the famously terrible (but guilty pleasure) Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. Almost all of the songs from Comes Alive were played so frequently on the radio back in the 70's that I realized, while watching this DVD, that I had unwittingly memorized most of the albums lyrics and melodies. My sister in law, on the other hand, who is fairly musically diverse, had never even heard of any of these songs. Not even "Do You Feel Like We Do", or "Show Me The Way"! A true measure of how great this DVD is, and how great most of the tunes are, is the fact that she is now a big Frampton fan, who is the proud owner of a new Frampton Comes Alive CD. This is the typical outcome for everyone I have played this DVD for. My eagerness to see this DVD had been peaked a few years prior from watching the Ringo Starr video, Ringo Starr And His All Star Band. In this particular installment of his all star band, was non other than Peter Frampton on guitar. I had not seen him perform anything since, well, the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. I was curious to see him again, in much the same way someone is curious to see a car accident. I had very low expectations for this video, but it completely blew me away, mostly due to Frampton's performance. His trademark long, blonde, mane has been replaced by some gray stubble, but the guitar chops, voice, and charisma are all still intact. He and Ringo's band performed a spectacular, full version of "Do You Feel Like We Do" that inspired me to go out and buy the remastered Frampton Comes Alive CD. I still have the original double album of course. That brings us back to this DVD. It simply has it all. Great audio, great video, great camera work, great songs, and a great performance by Frampton and his excellent band. He even has Bob Mayo on keyboards ("Bob Mayo on the keyboards...Bob Mayo"), which inspired his reenactment of the famous line from the Comes Alive album. The concert was filmed at the Pine Knob Amphitheater, in Detroit, and the excellent DTS 5.1 surround makes you feel as if you were there. The Dolby 5.1 surround was equally impressive. This is one of those all-too-rare DVD concerts that actually has great camera work and captures the live atmosphere perfectly. The camera shots were usually from just the right distance to be able to capture the whole stage show, and camera changes were well paced. Close-ups shots were used effectively and were never distracting to the performance. The video quality is stunningly clear and sharp. I have read that the video was transferred from an HDTV recording, which would account for the superb quality. Don't expect to hear many new songs during this concert. Most of Comes Alive is covered, as well as two classic songs from his pre-solo days when he was a teenage guitarist for the band Humble Pie. The encore of Humble Pie's "I Don't Need No Doctor" was especially heavy, as Frampton cranked up the distortion and did his best Steve Marriott impression. This was a great version that left the crowd, and myself, wanting more. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - May 2004 |
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Running Time: 100 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - May 2000 |