When James Brown passed away on Christmas Day 2006, the world lost one of its most energetic and enigmatic voices. His loud, vibrant music was the stuff of legends and his live show was tight and relentlessly entertaining. The Godfather of Soul was truly the Hardest Working Man in Show Business and his vocals and enthusiastic movements made him an icon for all-time.
To see James Brown do his thing is to experience spiritual renewal. To listen to a James Brown record is to experience revival through the Fires of Funk. Whether getting on up or getting on down, nobody does it better.
With the Double Dynamite DVD, viewers are treated to a pair of shows that exemplify the energy and vigour of James Brown in the 1980s. From the glitz and coked-out glamour of Studio 54 to the historic Chastain Park, this concert DVD captures Brown in two very different venues maintaining the same liveliness and get-up-and-go he was famous for.
It all gets rolling at Studio 54, where everyone who was anyone came out to play. Brown takes to the stage in front of a crowd of movers and groovers more than acquainted with the wonderful wonderland of the “basement.” With its uncensored hub of drugs and disco music, Studio 54 was a notorious locale.
Brown’s presence on the stage is astounding. He is encased with his band, braving the March 26, 1980 night with his immaculate sense of showmanship and timing. With Brown just dumped from Polydor Records, the show found him in tentative times and looking for a miracle. But you wouldn’t dare know it!
The footage is suitably cloudy, with the smoke and mist of 54 swirling about. Brown and his impeccable band own the stage, working hard under the pounding red lights with endless hooks, jumps, kicks, and blasts. Brown comes across like a man in a rush, rocking the house down and tearing it apart at the seams with renditions of hits like “Sex Machine,” “Cold Sweat,” “I Got the Feelin’,” and “Get On the Good Foot.”
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