The Long Road Home - The Concert[DVD]

Classic, a wonderful addition to my library!

This is an absolute MUST-HAVE for anyone who has spent the past thirty-five years enjoying CCR (and Fogerty's post-Credence work), while watching so many of their other favorite musicians grow old (or dead).Make no mistake, this performance is NOT a "Revival Reunion".No other CCR members participate here (we lost John's brother, Tom, back in 1990; Doug & Stu have been touring as Credence Clearwater Revisited).That's okay. The original band's show wasn't particularly high-energy even back in the '70s, consisting mainly of John moving from one part of the stage to another to stand flatfooted and sing up at the microphone (just like Willie would have, down there on the corner), while almost casually pulling an incredible repertoire of sounds out of whatever guitar he was playing at the time. The rest of the band hardly mattered; they were all competent, but he could just as easily have hired local musicians for his "travelin' band".Fogerty's current ensemble (a couple of whom bear an almost eerie resemblance to original CCR members) is similarly competent (although noticeably tighter than Credence was in live shows) and they find themselves similarly upstaged. Of course, that doesn't matter to professionals, and I'm sure it wouldn't have been an issue for the other "Poor Boys" either if they weren't all supposed to be partners with equal stakes in the music.So what's new? Practically nothing, except that John's singing, playing, and energy level have all increased dramatically as he got older. He still has his same stage mannerisms, but they're more animated, now that he's entered his second childhood. Which is a pretty accurate description of Fogerty's style. He acts as though it's Christmas morning and he just got all those guitars from Santa. Wow! Look at this! Watch me do this! John looks like he's having so much fun onstage that even his songs filled with pathos (and he's a master of those) make you wanna dance.All of which is beautifully captured by producer James Pluta and Martyn Atkins, director. The basis for the DVD was a concert held September 15, 2005 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Once a movie house at the corner of WILshire Blvd and WesTERN Ave. it was converted to a show theater in 2002. It maintains its old look, though, and makes a perfect venue for presenting artists whose success have made them stadium-style acts in the sort of up-close-and-personal atmosphere that allows an audience to experience them as they were when they first became so popular. In Fogerty's case, a theater like the Wiltern would once have seemed a step up from an Oakland street corner.There are some who might be a little put off by the fades between the songs, like tracks on an album rather than like a continuous concert performance, but that's because it probably wasn't a continuous performance. Although superficially documentary in style, the DVD really is a collection of John Fogerty performing his best works. It happens that John's best performances are in front of live people. And it also happens that entertaining a house full of live people often requires a different line up of songs than what you want for the best DVD. So, although all the "cuts on the album" originate from the Wiltern Theatre concert(s?), there is no between-song banter, no backstage goofing around, none of the roadies load-in/setup/soundcheck footage that always finds its way into rock concert documentaries. Just individual live performances that are as good or better as anyone has ever seen them. Captured forever. Thanks, Jim and Marty!In the liner notes, only five lines are given for the filming credits, while the sound recording credits include post-production, remixing, and mastering which shows how important getting the sound right was. And it shows. You wanna crank the ol' surround sound up to just below speaker-protection level for this baby. Every instrument is recorded clear and bright and you can hear Fogerty's every rasp. And every note that he bends and plays with until that exact moment when he feels like hitting it square. Who says white boys can't sing blues? Fogerty shows that SOME old white men can do it just as well as some old black men.You know all those DVDs (and VHS tapes, too. Go on - admit it) of all those concerts that are up in your closet providing a home for your collection of dust balls and house spiders?Well, this one isn't likely to end up among them.

I had the privilege to see John Fogerty and his band two weeks ago in Amsterdam, where he gave a rousing concert but to my amazement mainly CCR songs, which I surely liked, not being able to see Creedence way back in 1970 and 1972 live. Only a handfull of latterday soloalbums songs were played. I also saw him in 2005 when he played a more varied set of CCR and solo songs, more towards the Long Road Home CD/DVD programme. And I saw him (for the first time in my life) around 2001 when he played in Holland in the show before Tina Turner (with whom he did NOT duetted on Proud Mary). Anyway, this DVD is a fitting souvenir of his last tour in USA and Europe. However, I agree with other reviewers that alltogether Premonition is a better set. The musicians are more in tow but it is John playing to the fore. On the new one he tends to lean back and allows other players to shine, which is nice of course but not something fans of him want to see, for them he keeps to be the master. A wonderful musician, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and what's more one of the best guitarplayers on this planet with his own distinctive fat sound, easy recogniseable. May he soon visit the Netherlands again en be able to write en record new songs, which are eagerly awaited. In the meantime this DVD will do.

OK, we might be asking ourselves how he's managed to look younger than he did in 1968 but......this DVD is a real stunner for anyone who liked Creedence, or who simply likes great rock music, expertly performed.Fogerty has - like Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Don Everly, Emmylou - one of those very special voices which enables him to sound wonderful even if the songs were not of such a consistently high standard, which of course they are. He is and always has been a superb composer and he underpins his music with a cracking band of top-flight musicians. In essence, Fogerty has it all - great voice, great songs, great musical ability.For anyone who left him behind in Creedence days, his solo material - whether from the albums of the 80's or the more recent Blue Moon Swamp - is as strong as ever. He even manages an anti-war song, Déjà Vu All Over Again which sounds like vintage CCR and is as good as any of the offerings of radical musicians in recent times. But most of all, here are all the CCR classics - Up Around the Bend, Looking Out My Back Door, Lodi, Fortunate Son, Who'll Stop the Rain plus many of the others - and of course, Proud Mary. For sheer dynamism and energy, this concert can be compared with vintage Neil Young/Crazy Horse or one of the mega Springsteen efforts.Indispensable.

what an amazing gig. 3rd of tracks are from fogerty's solo albums, 2/3 of tracks from albums by c.c.r.. fogerty and the band are 100% brilliant. this is up there with live cd/dvd's by springsteen, manu chao .[honestly]. I'ed been put off fogerty solo ,for years by negative reviews,but if you ignore those ,you get some great music. this is an amazing live cd/dvd.with some awesome live versions of some [or all] of the greatest songs in the "rock and roll" back catologe.anyone with even the slightest interrest in r n r should own this, period.buy it now[dvd or 2xcd].buy it .NOW.

this is a great compilation of john fogerty's stuff, a good mix of creedence and his later solo stuff, and a very well filmed live DVD too.Some of the later stuff is maybe a bit too "Country" but when he rocks,boy can he rock!Played this for a few friends who all said "john who?" followed by "oh, I love this song! I didn't know that was him!". If you can get to see him live, then do so, if not not buy this dvd. or then again buy the dvd after going to see him live to re-live it!

Great

Wow what a adrenalin fueled concert john fogerty at 60 what a voice and every song good it was also delivered fairly quick and would use again

I thought this far better than the Royal Albert Hall DVD.That said, each to their own but I found the make up of songs better on this DVD.