Molly Hatchet: Live In Hamburg (DVD/CD)

Legendary Southern Rockers Molly Hatchet give their fans a CD/DVD Combination with Live In Hamburg, a concert recorded at Hamburg Harley Days in Germany. The Hatchet has been a continual presence in the genre for over 25 years but unlike their peers in Lynryd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, had held a little heavier format to their style of music. Southern feel of course but more Hard Rock than one would expect them to be. The lineup of the group in 2005 finds only one original member in Dave Hlubek (who recently returned to the band) as over the course of their history most of the lineup had moved on. Today the group is made up of Bobby Ingram ( guitars), Phil McCormack (vocals), Dave Hlubek (guitar), John Galvin (keyboards), Jimbo Manion (guitar) Tim Lindsey (bass) and Shawn Beamer (drums) who despite the changes have kept the signature sound the same. McCormack is a great replacement for original singer Danny Jo Brown as he sounds exactly like him. Sadly the music world lost Brown in early 2005. I feel the keeping true to the sound has kept the audience attending and supporting the music more than ever which does proud the original founders of the name. This concert DVD is chock full of the bands classic numbers as well as newer tunes from their recent SPV Records release Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge. The CD was home to a couple of great new tracks such as "Son Of The South" and the moving song for Ingram's departed Wife "The Rainbow Bridge".

There were a surprising amount of solos during this DVD and I honestly felt there were a bit too many when you consider they cost the listener songs. You have one from the drummer, the keyboardist and then Ingram does his guitar solo and as good a player he is I felt his was the most annoying since it was more feedback and craziness rather than a musical solo. I would have preferred to hear a more passionate solo from a player of his quality. The 16 full songs (solos deducted) take you across the bands catalog up until their newest stuff and the crowd seems ever attentive to it all and having a rocking time. My favorites came from the older stuff primarily as I remember it from growing up with friends who enjoyed Southern Rock (while I was the Metal head). Despite this, good music is good music and that is the attitude one should keep at all times. As mentioned earlier there is a companion CD included that features 16 of the tunes from the DVD. This allows you to either play it in the car or load it up on your iPod. My one critique of the CD is that it also features the solos and as result omits the signature tracks "Flirtin' With Disaster" & "Journey". They should have passed on including the solos on the CD to give the listener a full concert of tunes and no personal displays of expertise.

Bonus Features on the DVD include an interview with guitarist Bobby Ingram which is the best of the additions which also showcases backstage fun, biography and discography information. Not a lot of stuff to be honest and it would have been nice to see what some of the other members have been up to since their departure. Given the passing of Brown it might have been interesting to get Bruce Crump's or Jimmy Farrar's thoughts on his work and the band continuing. I think a full feature as biography instead of text would have been more fun to watch as well.

The DVD is good and a definite must have for the hard core Molly Hatchet fan. The new listener/viewer can also appreciate this as it includes a nice sampling from the new CD and a varied dose of their classics. It seems that the South has risen again.

Track Listing DVD

1. Intro
2. Whiskey Man
3. Bounty Hunter
4. Gator Country
5. Moonlight Dancin' On A Bayou
6. Fall Of The Peacemakers
7. Devil's Canyon
8. Drum Solo
9. Beatin' The Odds
10. Son Of The South
11. The Creeper
12. The Rainbow Bridge
13. Keyboard Solo
14. Instrumental
15. Guitar Solo
16. Dreams I'll Never See
17. The Journey
18. Gone In 60 Seconds
19. Jukin' City
20. Flirtin' With Disaster

Added: April 21st 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Molly Hatchet Website
Hits: 5485
Language: english

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