Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals - Live at the Hollywood Bowl
EMI/EMI .
R4 . COLOR . 113 mins .
E . PAL
Feature
Contract
Ben Harper sure comes across as a serious young thing, but at least he has a substantial bounty of talent that allows him to back it up. Armed with sideburns worthy of their own postcodes, he brings his unique folky, bluesy, soulful thang to the famed Hollywood Bowl, continuing his and band the Innocent Criminals’ admirable penchant for touring for the majority of the year, this time in promotion of the album Diamonds On the Inside.
Ben raids the Partridge Family's wardrobe...
He sure plays a mean geetaw, too; as evidenced by the two-hour set of 15 songs that’s been shoehorned onto this disc, coupled with occasional brief interview snippets between tracks. Doing the maths there you’ll figure that brevity is hardly the order of the day, but when these guys slip into one of their funky grooves it’s well worth going along for the ride. The big hits are all present and accounted for, and the coupling of some engaging chatter between songs truly adds to the whole live experience.
The track listing in full goes pretty much like this…
Glory and Consequence
Excuse Me Mr.
Brown Eyed Blues
Temporary Remedy
Gold to Me
Sexual Healing
Steal My Kisses
Diamonds on the Inside
Amen Omen
Burn One Down
With My Own Two Hands/War
Walk Away
Waiting On an Angel
Blessed to Be a Witness
Like a King I’ll Rise
Video
Audio
Extras
Contract
Being of such recent vintage, the 1.85:1 vision is as bright and shiny as you’d expect, suffering little at the hands of the usual bugbears thrown up from taping a live performance. The lack of anamorphic enhancement, however, is unforgivable in this day and age and ultimately doesn’t do wonders for the detail on offer.
At least the sound, available in choices of Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0, comes through loud and clear in all its chunky glory - and after all, when you pick up a concert disc, this is the most important factor. Few should be disappointed by the well-produced 5.1 mix, whilst those with only stereo capabilities will still be blessed with a decent audio experience.
A few things make up an extras contingent that’s ultimately of little consequence. A black and white photo gallery which runs for 4:22 with musical accompaniment offers a few snaps, a sound check performance of Ground On Down kills a few hundred more seconds and five minutes of backstage footage features a whole lotta guitar stroking and little else. Probably of most interest to fans will be two music videos from Ben’s latest album, those for Diamonds On the Inside and With My Own Two Hands.
In all this makes perfect accompaniment for the previously released Pleasure + Pain documentary, which featured little in the way of complete musical performances. Stick the two together and any fan of Harper’s aforementioned folky, bluesy, soulful thang should be a very happy camper indeed.
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