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Music Dvd Review. Chili served Irish style
Publisher: Warner Vision
Thu, 1 January 1970
by: Mugwai
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SPECS:
Dolby digital 5.1 Surround Sound.
DTS 5.1 Surround Sound.
Dolby Digital Stereo.
Pal 16.9 & 4.3 Ratio
The Red Hot Hot Chili Peppers have always been a band that I’ve held in high regard, even in their metamorphism from rapid fire funk to their later deeper and mellower creations. Unfortunately they have also had some rather dubious live performances, some where Anthony Kiedes’s vocals are totally out of key and the mixes sound like the sound engineer smoked some serious angel dust and longed for the next friggin’ Eagles tour.
Have no fear here, the Chili’s are ON. Kiedes sounds the best he has in years and the band is supertight and their most resonant sounding. With guitarist John Fruiciante’s return and his refuelled songwriting passion, the band has revitalised it’s magic and it shows.
Filmed at the famous Slane Castle in Ireland, the performance moving from twighlight to night is beautiful to watch and film quality and camera work is excellent (and a ton of cameras were utilised). Camera shots shift smoothly from member to member to the whole band and the obligatory crowd (hey we love your band) shots. Every so often, as to punctuate a powerful accent in a song, a camera will change to a half motion / freeze frame making for a cool visual which compliments the music and the band.
As mentioned before, this is a brilliant performance. Flea is always animated and exciting, Fruiscante is a master craftsman and equally impressive to watch (though he does the guitarist’s trademark of looking like he’s ejaculating or constipated when soloing). Chad Smith’s drumming is impeccable, never missing a beat and always funkin’ the groove while Kiedes jumps, thumps and spins like a top during the entire show.
The musical highlights include “By The Way” and the slammin’ “Around The World” featuring some tasty bass solos by resident nutter Flea. “Throw Away Your Television” with it’s incredibly rocking outro and “Don’t Forget Me”s soulful and textured sounds display Fuisciante’s amazing talents (and much improved vocal ability). The ever so funky “Give It Away” brings the house down and just listen to the crowd go batshit when they hear the intro to “Can’t Stop”. The tribute to Fugazi’s “Latest Disgrace” that melds seemlessly into “Parallel Universe” is very cool.
Another testament to the musical prowess of the band is that most of the songs are not played verbatim to the album, songs are altered, extended and improvised making for a richer and more interesting experience. It is also really refreshing to see a band that really performs and has fun doing it. Throughout the entire set the Chili’s smile and laugh and you can sense their enjoyment (none of this “I’ll stare at my sneakers for an hour and a half in a morose manner” bullshit) and love of playing.
Now we get to the negative stuff, although there isn’t much to complain about concerning the main feature. Old school fans may be disappointed that there are no cuts played predating “Blood Sugar Sex Magic” and we only get three songs from that album. It would have been nice to hear some material from “Mother’s Milk” or “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan”, the majority of the music coming from the last two albums (“Californication” & “By The Way”). It’s still all good though and you can’t really fault a band wanting to play their new material.
My only other gripe with the concert is the bass could really be a little louder in the mix. This is a band where the bass is quite prominent and when you’ve got such a funkster like Flea, let’s hear more of him goddamnit!
Okay, extras, here we have less choices than a Welsh fish and chip shop. I know on movie dvd’s sometimes all you get are shit five minute interviews with everyone saying how great the directors and actors are while the same preview footage is repeated ad nauseam, but on a music dvd I like to see what the bands get up to. Stage set up, soundcheck, band kicking it backstage, extravagant riders, ho’s, crazy antics, ho’s, it makes it all the more enjoyable and gives you a better insight to your favourite musicians. Well all we receive is some animated stage projections which can be chosen to watch with the live audio, they actually look quite cool (more so if you got a date with the crack pipe) but you will become bored with this feature in about two minutes. Disappointing.
Don’t let that you deter you from the purchase of “Live at Slane Castle” it is an exceptional live performance (with exceptional picture and sound) and supplies all the goodness you can receive from Red Hot Chili Peppers without the next morning’s burning ring of fire.
by: Mugwai
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