The Black Crowes – Freak ‘N’ Roll … Into The Fog (Blu-ray)

 

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

 

 

In what seems like a new blitz of Black Crowes material as the CD format continues its decline, their 2005 reunion tour may have had its success, but one can never be certain what that means for the band as they never seem to stay together on any permanent basis.  Recorded live at the Fillmore in San Francisco in August 2005, Freak ‘N’ Roll … Into The Fog shows the band performing the following songs as shot in digital HD:

 

1. (Only) Halfway to Everywhere
2. Sting Me
3. No Speak No Slave
4. Soul Singing
5. Welcome To The Goodtimes
6. Jealous Again
7. Space Captain
8. My Morning Song
9. Sunday Night Buttermilk Waltz
10. Cursed Diamond
11. She Talks To Angels
12. Wiser Time
13. Non Fiction
14. Seeing Things
15. Hard To Handle
16. Let Me Share The Ride
17. Mellow Down Easy
18. Remedy
19. The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down'

 

 

They are a decent band and at least formidable versus so many similar Rock bands, but the question always surfaces as one watches as to what era they are coming form or are in.  Are they Summer Of Love-type flower children or just continuing the natural progression of that spirit of Rock and performing?  Any genre can have artists who enjoy drugs, though that situation is so far removed from what it was in 1967 that any joy in represents is tenuous to say the least.

 

Chris Robinson’s voice is still in good shape and may never sound better than it does here, thanks to modern recording technology.  After the outtakes CD and rough DVD-Video compilation we just covered, combined with all the other ways to hear Robinson and the band, fans in particular will be pleasantly surprised.  The previous review can be accessed at:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4459/The+Black+Crowes+–+Who+Killed+That+Bird+Out+On+Your+Window+Sill?+(DVD-Video)+++Lost+Crowes+–+Tall+Sessions/Band+Sessions+(CD+Set)

 

 

 

We never covered the DVD version of this title, but there is no way the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 DVD could match the clearer and more colorful 1080i digital High Definition image here.  Not that it is perfect, but is just rich enough to edge out such material on DVD.  Of course, Blu-ray is a 1080p format, so you can still see limits, but this is nice enough that the first nationally distributed Blu-ray demo disc features a clip from this show.  I think Eagle’s Pat Metheny Blu-ray (also reviewed on this site in Blu-ray, as well as issued in HD-DVD) looks better, but Rock still sells and that is why it was the chosen clip.  Some have complained about the image since the HD-DVD review and I agree with the limits, but I have seen much worse when considering the low points here.

 

The sound formats (PCM 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1) are the same as the previous discs, with the DTS sounding the best.  Robinson and company were serious about delivering a professional state of the art concert and the combination is pretty good, but the sound just bests the picture in each song.  As for extras, there is a behind the scenes piece, as well as a paper foldout inside the Blu-ray case.

 

Though I was not blown over by the concert performance, the playback quality is impressive enough, especially at this early stage of this new HD format.  Even if you are not a fan, but a technophile and home theater enthusiast, you will likely want to give Freak ‘N’ Roll … Into The Fog a look.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo