Asleep At The Wheel (Ohne
Filter series)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B-
Though
not the biggest fan of Country & Western music, I do appreciate the older
material over the glitzed, sexed-up and even somewhat sterilized version of the
great music genre. That makes watching
the April 26th, 2000 concert by the band Asleep At The Wheel so
interesting. They are a throwback to the
more traditional songs and ideas of the genre.
That includes blues, boogie-woogie, Hillbilly and even Jazz and Swing
elements that most current Country is miles away from.
Most
familiar will be Route 66, a classic
that seems to defy genre to some extent and has been with us for decades. Other songs revel in the placement of their
location, like Miles Of Texas, Take Me Back To Tulsa, You’re From Texas, Cherokee Boogie,
Boogie Back To Texas and even Big Balls In Cowtown. Even
the final song is about Texas.
Give or take whether you are fond of that location, especially lately,
this is a solid portrait of a more authentic Country alive and well, even if
this is very much about the genre in yesteryear.
The full
frame PAL image is not bad and recently taped, so it does not bleed like older
analog PAL (or NTSC) and is from a clean source. The two soundtracks offered are PCM Stereo
and a slightly more dynamic Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3 mix. This is easily one of the better sonic
offerings of Country music on DVD to date, so it has that edge. The storytelling parts of the songs are more
enjoyable as a result. The extras are
the usual biography of the music act, as is on all Ohne Filter DVDs, as well as
the same engineer interview, web link, producer interview, and guide to many
other Ohne Filter concerts on DVD. As
for the concert, the irony is that this good old Country music time takes place
in Germany and is purer than most of what we have seen lately in the United
States. For fans, this is a must,
running the usual near-hour all the episodes run.
- Nicholas Sheffo
