Paul Rodgers - Live In Glasgow
Performance
Production
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Paul Rodgers - Live In Glasgow
Performance
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This could have easily been called Free - Live In Glasgow, since over half of the songs on the DVD were taken from that legendary rock band's catalog. Hell, if Rodgers and Simon Kirk could call their Merchants Of Cool performance Bad Company, then why not call this one Free. It's not like Rodgers played any of his solo stuff here either, aside from one Muddy Waters' tribute, but then again - who cares what the hell it is called! How did I get off on that tangent? It is just great to finally get a good Paul Rodgers concert DVD that includes more than just the obligatory "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well" from the Free years. Well all right now! The last time I saw Paul Rodgers he was fronting Queen. FRONTING QUEEN!? Yeah, I know. I didn't quite know what to make of it at first either, but if you haven't seen their Return Of The Champions DVD of 2005, then you are missing out on one hell of a cool performance. Obviously the Queen songs sounded pretty, uh, unique with Rodgers singing them, but those couple of Free and Bad Company songs they also served up have never sounded better, thanks to some epic Brian May guitar chords leading the way. Live in Glasgow was filmed on October 13th, 2006, at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, Scotland, during Rodgers' sold-out U.K. tour. Rodgers surrounded himself with a killer four-piece band consisting of former Heart guitarist Howard Leese, current Collective Soul drummer Ryan Hoyle, bassist Lynn Sorenson, and 17-year-old guitar prodigy Kurtis Dengler - although it seems that 17 is over the hill these days to still be considered a guitar prodigy. Rodgers wasted no time getting to those classic Free songs, opening the show with "I'll Be Creepin'" from their self-title second album of 1969, and once again I was reminded of what a great time for music the late 60's was. Leese and Dengler have got about 40 years age difference between them, but they locked in on this song like they have been playing it together for at least that many years. Free's Highway album gets a couple of nods next, with "The Stealer" and "Ride On A Pony", before getting to the biggest surprise of the night, "Radioactive" by The Firm. I still don't quite know what to make of those two Firm albums. I was devastated by Led Zeppelin's demise in 1980, after the death of drummer extraordinaire John Bonham, so when Rodgers and Jimmy Page announced the formation of their new supergroup in 1984, I had great expectations of a second coming. Rodger's was one of the preeminent frontmen in rock, and Page was practically a god, so when they teamed up with the rhythm section of Chris Slade and Tony Franklin, I was pretty thrilled, to say the least. My reaction to the "Radioactive" performance on this DVD, pretty much sums up what I feel about the Firm when I look back on them, and that is ho hum. After yet another Highway number, "Be My Friend", Rodgers introduces a brand new song in the name of "Warboys (A Prayer for Peace)". He plays the acoustic guitar throughout and sings about his desire for mankind to finally get past its need for warfare. This is easily one of his finest moments since leaving Bad Company, which proves that he still has some creative spark left. Speaking of Bad Company, Rodgers finally breaks out some "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Bad Company" for the crowd, but I just could not have been less impressed with these performances. Although Paul's vocals were as good as ever, the thick power chord crunch of Mick Ralphs' guitar was completely unrivaled by these performances, even with two guitarists tag teaming the parts. You would think that these live versions would sound more powerful than the old studio versions, but they sounded downright anemic. "Can't Get Enough", which closed out the first encore set, faired only slightly better, thanks in part to the marvelous harmony lead section laid down by Leese and Dengler. Rodgers' introduces "I Just Want To See You Smile" with "here's a new, old song", since it was a complete reworking of an old reggae song he wrote while down in Jamaica several years ago. Rodgers also revisits "Louisiana Blues", which he first covered on his excellent Muddy Waters tribute album of 1993 titled, Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters. Now this one absolutely rocked the house, the way the Bad Company stuff should have. A trio of Free classics bring the first set to a close, climaxing with a smokin' audience participation fueled performance of "All Right Now". Free's "I'm a Mover" and "The Hunter" carried the encore set and they simply tore it up. If you have any doubts as to whether this Dengler kid can hold his own with the big boys, then check out his impressive performances on these two numbers. The show closes with a fairly lackluster version of "Can't Get Enough", and then Rodgers comes back out for a solo performance of "Seagull", just him and his acoustic guitar. I never did think that a ballad was a good way to end a rock concert. The production quality of this DVD was excellent overall. Three audio options are provided in the flavor of DTS 5.1 surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and Dolby stereo. The two Dolby options were more than adequate, but the DTS track really sounded exceptional. The picture was presented in anamorphically enhanced, widescreen, high-def video, which to us laymen simply means that it looked pretty damn good. The DVD does have one of the worst layer change gaffes that I have ever come across, occurring smack dab in the middle of "All Right Now". There's no excuse for that. The bonus features include three separate interview segments; one with Rodgers, one with the band, and one with the fans. You also get to see Paul's son Steve, who opened for him on the Glasgow shows, give a solo acoustic performance of the song "Sunshine". Wait until you see how much this guy looks and sings just like his dad. It was scary. Scary good. The DVD also comes with an excellent 15-page color booklet that includes some great photos and several band member comments that were given throughout the tour. The booklet also indicates that Gary Moore made a special guest appearance during the Royal Albert Hall show, which would have made this DVD worth the price alone had they been able to include that in the bonus features. I can also guarantee that my Bad Company comments would not have been necessary had those songs been placed in Moore's capable hands. Oh, that would have been good. Live In Glasgow is certainly good enough just the way it is to get a strong recommendation from me. This DVD shows that Paul Rodgers is still at the top of his game, even though he is closing in on 60 years of age. You'd swear he is barely 50 from the looks of him. Hopefully that is an indication of more good things to come. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - August 2007 |
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Running Time: 80 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - May 2007 |