Chickenfoot – Get Your Buzz On Live!

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Eagle Vision/DC3 Music Group
Produced by Daniel E. Catullo III, Lionel Max Pasamonte II & Peter James Bowers

The formation of Chickenfoot and the release of their debut album was probably one of the most significant rock events of 2009, particularly when the album turned out reasonably well, and their live tour was very successful, so a DVD from it is no surprise.

Their decision not to play material from most of their past lives and parent bands (e.g. Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers or vocalist Sammy Hagar’s solo albums) limited their set in some ways, and as such ten of the eleven tracks on their self-titled album appear here, along with unreleased track Bitten By The Wolf and covers of My Generation by The Who and Bad Motor Scooter by one old Hagar band, Montrose. They do spin some of the album tracks out into longer versions with additional solos, mostly from guitarist Joe Satriani, but essentially this is just a playback of the album and anyone hoping to hear something different from them is going to be let down.

The sound quality and clarity of the recording is superb, the band are on good form for this show in Phoenix, particularly Hagar, and the camera-work is excellent, but the distortion around a lot of curved edges like drums and shoulders is a little disappointing by modern standards. When viewed on a good television from the other side of the room, as most fans will probably do, this won’t be an issue though. The desire to stick mostly to their own material is admirable, but because of that a live DVD after perhaps a second album might have been a better idea.

In terms of bonus features there’s really only a short documentary, which is mostly a collection of backstage footage from the tour and interviews. Sammy Hagar talking to legendary guitarist/singer Bob Weir didn’t offer as much as it could have, and the short, incomplete clips from their Rock And Roll Hall of Fame performance only highlighted the fact that the complete performance was missing. Chad Smith asking clueless pedestrians in the street if they knew who any of the members of Chickenfoot were from a photo was funny, but only once. Like most DVD bonus features, it doesn’t bear repeat viewing.

For Chickenfoot fans this is the culmination of what was a great year in 2009 and is well worth the purchase. New fans are best advised to start with the the album and go on to this if they’re completely sold on that.

“ the band are on fine form ”

Tracklist: Avenida Revolution / Sexy Little Thing / Soap On A Rope / My Kinda Girl / Down The Drain / Bitten By The Wolf / Oh Yeah / Learnin’ To Fall / Get It Up / Turnin’ Left / Future In The Past / Bad Motor Scooter / My Generation
Bonus Feautres: Photo Gallery / Documentary

Photo(s): Christie Goodwin | www.ccphotoart.biz

Written by Andy Lye
More: Hard Rock, Live DVDs, Chickenfoot