War – Loose Grooves: Funkin’ Live In England 1980 (DVD-Video)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Concert: C+

 

 

After leaving The Animals, Eric Burden had the band War as his backup until 1971 and even cut the huge, enduring hit Spill The Wine, which helped the band establish themselves with that great hit and several million-selling albums and Gold records into 1978.  At the end of their run at United Artists Records, they switched to MCA before becoming a legacy act and turned up in this 1980 concert in the U.K. Loose Grooves: Funkin’ Live In England 1980 now on DVD.

 

The concert is about 50 minutes and they pretty much cover all their original hits as follows:

 

1)     Spill The Wine/All Day Music

2)     All My Sorrows

3)     Low Rider

4)     Cisco Kid

5)     Gipsy Man

6)     I’ll Be Around

7)     Me & My Baby Brother

8)     Why Can’t We Be Friends?

 

 

Maybe it was a bad night or at the latter end of some tour, but though they are good and all the original members are present (except Burden, of course) playing with the intent of fun and showmanship, this never quite works out.  Maybe it is the limited playing time or a mixed night, but the results are uneven and only for fans.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is soft and hard to watch, looked at best in the dark.  Guess this was the only condition the source material survived in, but it is rough.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is barely stereo and the combination can be very trying to watch.  There are no extras.

 

Audiophiles can take heart, however, because the War catalog was issued in Gold CDs that are now out of print but around and are on regular aluminum CDs otherwise.  The Super Audio CD of The Animals Retrospective that includes Spill The Wine and PCM CD tracks for all CD players is one of the best 2-channel releases in the format.  You can read more about it at the following link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1287/Animals+Retrospective+(SACD)

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo