Chris Farlowe At Rockpalast (DVD-Video)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Concert: B-

 

 

Starting in the 1960s as a singer and session musician working with the likes of Eric Burdon, Chris Farlowe had been in bans like The Thunderbirds (not to be confused with the later band of the same name) and Colosseum.  Building a long career now spanning over a half-century, his 3/22/06 concert At Rockpalast for German TV is not a bad set.  Leaning more towards Blues than Rock, he does go back to his early days with hit Out Of Time and Handbags & Gladrags, later a song associated with Rod Stewart.

 

Why the leaning more towards Blues, I don’t know, though even his Rock is leaning on the Blues side.  The concert is good, but it makes the same error most Blues concerts do in being shot flat and static as the performers don’t do much more than play their instruments.  That is more than sufficient if you like the music, but if you are going to do a DVD, you have to be more creative with the camera and not be worried about damaging something to the extent that you seem slow and lazy with it.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is on the soft side and has some Video Black and even color limits.  Otherwise, it is passable and shot in the usual set of similar angles.  The PCM 2.0 16bit/48kHz Stereo is actually a little better than the slightly harsh Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 mixes.  Extras include a brief interview piece, slideshow and bonus music clip.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo