Earlier this year, I wrote a review of this concert, which I have now to come to question. Allow me to explain...

Recorded last year at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, Warpaint Live comes exactly as advertised. It's the Black Crowes performing their latest album Warpaint live from start to finish, along with a few choice covers of songs by the Stones, Eric Clapton, and Delaney and Bonnie.

So anyway, at the time I wrote the review, this concert was only available in CD form. And although the review was a positive one, I'm now not at all sure I really gave this performance the justice it really deserves.

Having now seen, as well as heard this great show on DVD in glorious DTS surround sound (there's also a Dolby 5.1 mix), what I can tell you for sure is that hearing it on DVD is like hearing it for the first time. The sound on this DVD — particularly the DTS surround mix — brings out everything in a way the CD only hinted at. So the DVD wins that battle, hands down.

The mix of Rich Robinson and Luther Dickinson's guitars is crisp and sharp. Steve Gorman's drums crack like gunshots. And since Chris Robinson can still shout his pot-filled lungs out, the vocals come through loud and clear as well.

But Adam MacDougall's keyboards are a particular revelation. On songs like "Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution," MacDougall summons up the spirit of the great Nicky Hopkins on piano in a way I thought was no longer possible. Not in the year 2009 anyway. At other times, like on the positively greeezy sounding "Walk Believer Walk," his organ adds the sort of thick dimension that's like pouring syrup on an already smoldering griddle.

What also becomes clear, though, is just how formidable a live band the Black Crowes have become. In my original review of the CD, I said that there was a quality to the performance that suggested sort of a looosey-goosey groove. True enough to a point. But don't let that fool you. Hearing the mix here, these guys sound as tight as a well-oiled, fully fuel-injected machine. Like I said, hearing the performance with this mix is like hearing it for the first time.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. …

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