As smoking as Healey’s band is, the video production is a little less than enthralling. There are lots of old-school fades for one thing, and the camera seems to dawdle behind the drummer a little too much. Also, the track listing on the back of the DVD cover differs from the actual track listing on the DVD and menu slightly.
Even so, there are some zooms of Healey’s fretwork that can't be missed, like during his blazing “See the Light” solo. And seeing the guitarist in his element, sun on his face and killing his guitar, is well worth the ticket price.
The third CD is the most refined recording in the collection. It features a 1995 performance from the Hard Rock in Toronto.
The performance proves Healey as a master of the live setting, playing through a sharp, efficient set of eight songs. His playing is more fluid, with some stellar solos emerging on tracks like John Lennon’s “Yer Blues,” “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues” and, of course, “See the Light.”
Healey’s interactions with the crowd are also worth noting. After a group of young women combine their voices to shout out a request for “Angel Eyes,” Healey retorts “Yeah, in your dreams” and lunges into the next track without missing a beat.
Lovers of the blues, rock and good music in general simply can’t sleep on the late Jeff Healey. This anthology, even with its limitations, offers a glimpse at three different and vital moments in his career. As different as each recording is in style and substance, the consistency and sheer awesomeness of Healey and his band remains the same throughout Full Circle: The Live Anthology.
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