Music DVD Review: Black Crowes - Warpaint Live - Page 2

I'd also be remiss if I didn't say that Luther Dickinson is one hell of a guitar player. His slide work in particular is just jaw-droppingly good — and there is plenty of it here. From the fluid touches he adds to the gospel driven "God's Got It," to the hard riffing heard on "Wee Who See The Deep."

Basically, I already knew this was a pretty good performance — I just had no idea it was this good. After years of struggling to find a musical identity — from the early days as kind of a Faces knockoff, to their mid-period as something of a modern day Allmans or Dead — the Robinson Brothers have settled into a real nice place that really suits them well.

Call it kind of a funky, southern-fried stew that mixes the best elements of blues and gospel with the greasy southern rock of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett and Duane-era Allmans. Whatever you choose to call it, the bottom line is it's finger-lickin' good.

I haven't talked much about the video aspect of this release because, quite frankly, while there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, there's nothing particularly special about it either. The camera work is fine, and you do get to see pretty much everyone doing their thing here. But the colors are also a bit dark and washed out looking in places — at least during the early parts of the DVD. In fairness though, this does improve as the show goes on. The shots of Chris Robinson from behind, facing the crowd with the house lights up during the encores are pretty cool looking too. 

Anyway, maybe I just need to see this on one of those Blu-ray thingies.

But the sound is amazing. If you are looking to hear the Black Crowes do their album Warpaint live, and have a decent home theater set-up, skip the CD and get this. If nothing else, you don't even need to watch it. Just turn the sound up. Loud.

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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