Traffic - The Last Great Traffic Jam
Performance
Production
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Traffic - The Last Great Traffic Jam
Performance
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Watching Steve Winwood's Traffic-loaded Soundstage performance from last summer really had me primed for this much delayed DVD release of his old band's final tour. The Last Great Traffic Jam is a documentary of Traffic's 1994 U.S. tour and features original members Winwood and Jim Capaldi joined by Randall Bramblett (woodwinds, keys), Walfredo Reyes Jr. (percussion, drums), Mike McEvoy (guitar, keys), and one-time Traffic bassist Rosko Gee, who had played on their final album When The Eagle Flies. This tour was in support of a new album, Far From Home, released earlier that year, twenty years after their last album, and twenty years after they officially disbanded. The eleven song setlist was disappointingly short, but the song choices provided an excellent overview of the various styles of music you will find in this band's eclectic catalogue, including psychedelic rock, melodic pop, English folk, R&B, and the occasional hints of jazz. Every Traffic album, except 1973's Shoot Out The Fantasy Factory, was represented here by at least one song, and every one of these classic old songs sounds fresh and rejuvenated. Steve Winwood has never sounded better, both vocally and on the guitar, which was his instrument of choice throughout most of the concert. He only occasionally took to the Hammond B3 and piano. Unfortunately this video was made nearly unwatchable by an unrestrained filmmaker who decided to make this thing his very own psychedelic art experiment. It wasn't enough to just show the incredible performances of this legendary band, but this genious felt compelled to mix in every annoying special effect imaginable. Hell, during the first song alone, an otherwise scorching version of "Pearly Queen", you are bombarded with images of traffic lights, the American flag, psychedelic inkblot pictures, soundcheck footage, and numerous flower children under the spell of some acid-induced dance. And that's besides all of the hyper-fast edits, overused crossfades, and terrible camera angles. The majority of this DVD is actually just the audio track serving as a backdrop to a bunch of video montages, and things that have nothing to do with the music being played. Hey, I've got a crazy idea. How about showing the full concert performance uninterrupted, and then provide all of this additional footage and film school projects as a bonus feature! Much of the behind the scenes footage is great, but not when it is spliced throughout the performances in no logical manner. If only Winwood had used the same producer/director from his Soundstage performance, this could have been the concert DVD of the year. Instead, we end up with what looks like a parody of some bad sixties video most of the time. For many of the shows on this tour, Traffic opened up for the Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia returned the favor by lending his guitar to the song, which the Dead had practically made their own, "Dear Mr. Fantasy". Garcia appeared slightly dazed and confused during the performance and was really a non-factor guitar-wise, adding only a few touches of slide and the occasional arpeggios. Sadly, Garcia died the following year. Winwood turned in a surprisingly incendiary guitar performance throughout the entire concert, but no more so than on this killer performance. I never realized he was such a good guitarist. The only song performed from the new Far From Home album was the percussion-heavy "Mozambique", which if you close your eyes will have you swearing you are listening in on some Woodstock-era Santana performance. Go ahead and add Latin-rock to Traffic's long list of styles. My favorite Traffic epic has always been "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys" - that subtle piano riff; the somber sax riffs; Winwood's soul-drenched vocals - and this incredible version was one of the show's biggest highlights. Other aspects of the production were mixed. The audio was excellent overall, with a clear and encompassing Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, as well as a strong and satisfying PCM stereo option. The video looks pretty decent during the occasional moments that you actually get to see the band performing live and in color. The camera work is simply terrible - constantly jumping around, zooming in and out, never focusing on a key solo, and never giving you the feel of what it must have been like to be at the show. There was a bonus CD also included that contains loose acoustic performances of "40,000 Headman", "John Barleycorn (Must Die)" and "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys", which were recorded at Netherturdonic Studios on February 11, 1994. The CD also includes links to the video of these same performances, with Capaldi on congas, and Winwood on vocals, piano, and guitar. The songs are incomplete and there is talking during the songs. The sound quality is also rather poor. Unfortunately, it looks like this really was The Last Great Traffic Jam seeing that Jim Capaldi died last year. At least would got one last rousing "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" out of him. This appears to have been an outstanding final tour for this legendary band, as most of the music on this DVD was amazing. It's just a shame that filmmaker Simon Vieler gave us such a poor look at it. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - March 2006 |
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Running Time: 103 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - September 2005 |