Bonnie Raitt - Road Tested

Rating:
Summary: A MUST-own in-home concert DVD.
Review: Admittedly, I'm a big fan of Bonnie, and if I had any complaints about this live concert, it would be that there's not enough footage of her playing, BUT...
There is a GREAT selection of tunes (I bought the CD when it was first released), and throughout the entire concert, no matter how bluesy and heart-wrenching, Bonnie's face literally lights up at the audience reaction after each song. She truly feeds on it! Also watching the band - especially the percussionist - is a lot of fun while you're tapping your feet. A don't-miss is the beautiful fretless bass guitar that shows up a little more than half way through the concert.

Rating:
Summary: Great concert, poor editing
Review: Bonnie is one of my all time favorite artists. I was blown away by the Road Tested CD a few years ago and expected a lot from the DVD. The music, the sound, the stage, the lighting, the registration, the colors are all great indeed, but the editing is all wrong and annoying. A lot of the time the music and film are out of sync, but what is worse is that more than once shots belonging to an other part of the concert are used to fill up gaps elsewhere. I cannot believe that the editor actually thinks that the viewer is stupid enough to fall for these cheap solutions. The mistakes are often so obvious! It is not enough to show, let's say, a drummer who is drumming. NO! We want to see that that drummer is actually playing that particular part of the music that is coming from our speakers at that particular moment.
Still, as I said, the concert is great, and the DVD is worth 4 stars; a must have for all her fans.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: First of all, I'm not really what you'd call a Bonnie Raitt fan.
I didn't even know who she was when (some years ago now) I was dragged by a friend to a show at the State Theatre, & I remain truly grateful to that friend for introducing me to an incredible live performer!
Bonnie & her band do a first rate job! They're out here again in February, & that friend & I have front row tickets!!

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: First of all, I'm not really what you'd call a Bonnie Raitt fan.
I didn't even know who she was when (some years ago now) I was dragged by a friend to a show at the State Theatre, & I remain truly grateful to that friend for introducing me to an incredible live performer!
Bonnie & her band do a first rate job! They're out here again in February, & that friend & I have front row tickets!!

Rating:
Summary: Bonnie Raitt /GLORIOUS in best audio/video technology!
Review: I already have the VHS and CD versions of ROAD TESTED. Still, I have waited with great anticipation for the re-release of the DVD version. If you don't have a DVD player right now then this is a great reason to go out and embrace the relatively new technology. ROAD TESTED is somewhat of a career retrospective...and not just the hits. For me it is worth the minimal DVD price just for the medley of "Love Me Like A Man" (on classic acoustic guitar) and Kokomo Blues" (acoustic slide guitar)and the ballad "Dimming of the Day". This DVD captures Bonnie at the height of her tremendous vocal powers and displays her renowned virtuosity on both acoutic and slide guitar as well as keyboards. I have all of her LP's, CD, VHS, and DVD recordings. This is my "desert island" one release of her's that I would choose over all of the others. As usual, she has put together a great band with guests like Bruce Hornsby on the opening "The Thing Called Love" (accordian and vocals), Jackson Browne (guitar and vocals), Brian Adams (on "Rock Steady" duet with guitar and vocals....this cookin' song should have been a huge hit!) Classic rockers Ruth Brown and Charles Brown on a Ry Cooder style "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" and Kim Wilson (from the Fabulous Thunderbirds on harmonica and vocals on the foot stompin' "I Believe I Am In Love". I am listening/watching the DVD right now and still find "I Can't Make You Love Me" deeply moving. Luckily, I have seen most of the greats and Bonnie Raitt is the rare great live performer and song-writer who gets better with time. Brava!!!

Rating:
Summary: Bonnie Raitt /GLORIOUS in best audio/video technology!
Review: I confess to being a Bonnie Raitt fan, although a relatively recent convert in terms of her entire career. This concert starts with hits then the tempo slows down up to the halfway mark, then really picks up steam toward the end. It's not a "greatest hits" concert if you're a chart-watcher, but it could classify as a kind of "Best of" effort. "I Can't Make You Love Me" -- with Bruce Hornsby on keyboard -- brought tears to my eyes yet again. . . . followed by "Fallin" which may be erotically charged enough to require a cold shower as an encore. In addition to Hornsby, other guest artists include: Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne and blues legends Ruth and Charles Brown. Bonnie's band is outta sight! This is easily worth the bargain price listed above, so treat yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome for Bonnie Raitt fans!
Review: I confess to being a Bonnie Raitt fan, although a relatively recent convert in terms of her entire career. This concert starts with hits then the tempo slows down up to the halfway mark, then really picks up steam toward the end. It's not a "greatest hits" concert if you're a chart-watcher, but it could classify as a kind of "Best of" effort. "I Can't Make You Love Me" -- with Bruce Hornsby on keyboard -- brought tears to my eyes yet again. . . . followed by "Fallin" which may be erotically charged enough to require a cold shower as an encore. In addition to Hornsby, other guest artists include: Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne and blues legends Ruth and Charles Brown. Bonnie's band is outta sight! This is easily worth the bargain price listed above, so treat yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Bonnie at Her Best
Review: I just read the reviews of those of you who bought the audio-impaired DVD version of this spectacular concert. I saw it on VHS and there were no glitches of any kind. Can't remember a more exciting concert, live or recorded. This is Bonnie at her gorgeous, versatile, innovative best, performing all of her finest music live. An interesting twist--a la Carlos Santana, she shares her stage for some individual songs with numerous other artists, some famous (Don Henley, Jackson Browne) and some talented oldsters she just graciously wanted to honor who did very creditable jobs. The amazing thing was that none of these high powered talents overshadowed Raitt or diluted or morphed the music. And it remained unmistakably Bonnie Raitt music without her formidable talents burying her guests. Some of these artists she has performed with for years, and the mutual respect and affection between them will multiply your enjoyment of an already jaw-dropping concert. (The personal and musical chemistry between Jackson Browne and Bonnie is something you'll have to see to believe.) That DVD might make a great gasket for the oil pan of your Volkswagen, but get rid of it and get the VHS version. If you are a true Bonnie Raitt fan (or even if you just love red hair and sliding steel guitars!), you are going to be surprised at how quickly one vivacious superstar and a tight, explosively talented band can ignite an audience and even jack up your own mood six or eight notches.

Rating:
Summary: Emd/Capitol did Bonnie a disservice with this DVD release
Review: I waited a long time for this release in DVD and was very surprised that it was released without the DTS format that is available on the CD. The DVD audio is very poor. While viewing the DVD, closeups of the percussionist and hamonica player are shown BUT you can not hear their respective instruments. Knowing the quality of the CD/DTS, this is huge let down. Numerous contacts to Emd/Capitol Records's customer service department remain unanswered (why have such a department?) through their email and website. Bonnie is a great artist and this was a great concert. The DVD misses the mark badly. I'd give the CD/DTS version 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Emd/Capitol did Bonnie a disservice with this DVD release
Review: I waited a long time for this release in DVD and was very surprised that it was released without the DTS format that is available on the CD. The DVD audio is very poor. While viewing the DVD, closeups of the percussionist and hamonica player are shown BUT you can not hear their respective instruments. Knowing the quality of the CD/DTS, this is huge let down. Numerous contacts to Emd/Capitol Records's customer service department remain unanswered (why have such a department?) through their email and website. Bonnie is a great artist and this was a great concert. The DVD misses the mark badly. I'd give the CD/DTS version 5 stars.