Rating: Summary: If you are a fan, you already know. Review: What a treasure this DVD is. If you are a Blasters fan, you already know that these guys are good. And you knew it twenty years ago. You propably hum the words to their songs while you are at work like I do. Worth the purchase price just to see and hear Dave Alvin play. Buy it and you will see what I mean.
Rating: Summary: Blast from the Past! Review: Woo hoo!Here's a major treat for Blasters fans, as well as aficionados of foot-stomping, gut-busting rock-and-roll with a rockabilly flavor. It seems that the original Blasters reunited for this wonderful concert in 2003 at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California. Yes, along with Bill Bateman, John Bazz, and Gene Taylor, here are the great Alvin Brothers sweating, grimacing, and playing their hearts out, covering all the Blasters classics, including Marie Marie, Red Rose, So Long Baby Goodbye, Border Radio, and American Music. Sadly, the legendary saxophonist Lee Allen, a leading member of the group's auxiliary forces, passed away in 1994, and this splendid DVD is devoted to his memory. Offering the Blasters support at this concert are a number of their mentors, including Chicago bluesman Billy Boy Arnold, rockabilly icon Sonny Burgess, and West Coast doo-wop originals the Calvanes and the Medallions. The video and sound quality here are top-notch, with a 5.1 surround sound audio mix. Special features on the DVD include a number of classic Blasters performances taken from the early eighties, plus interviews with all the band members and their guests at the show. The concert does wind down a bit near the end - there is a certain sameness to some of the up-tempo rockabilly numbers - but it concludes on a rousing high note with the closing numbers of American Music and One Bad Stud. What can I say? Along with John Fogerty's Premonition, this is simply one of the best roots-rock DVDs available and a must-own for rock-and-roll fans. Need I add that this DVD was made loud to be played loud?
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