(Eagle Vision, 103 minutes)

www.eaglerockent.com

BY BILL HOLMES

Luther Dickinson is a monster.  If I had to create one of those famous tag-line quotes that sum up a release in ten words or less, that would be it. For as tight as The Black Crowes are, as great as the song selection is (and mostly as much as I wish I had been basking in the magic at the Wiltern Theatre in March, 2008), the overwhelming takeaway from watching this DVD is just how perfectly Luther Dickinson fits into the ensemble. To say he is the sparkplug in every song would be remiss - he is the fire.

I freely disclose that I rated Warpaint as the Best Album of 2008, but if anything that made me approach this DVD more critically. As excited as I was to enjoy a live performance, I also had higher than average expectations. Warpaint Live does not disappoint. If anything, it reinforces how beautifully the album flows from song to song; the masterful sequencing is equally credible live. Like the album, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" starts as a slow burn and accelerates to a thick and enveloping pulse that finds the Crowes pistol-hot by song's end.  Chris Robinson is in deep soul mode throughout; standout vocals lift songs like "Evergreen" and "Locust Street" to new heights.  And if the crowd didn't get the gospel thrust of "God's Got It" from his passionate singing, the Salvation Army drum drove the point home. The entire set boasted an atmosphere far beyond a normal stage show.

The encores - six songs in all - feature crowd favorites like "Darling of the Underground Press" and great covers of The Rolling Stones ("Torn and Frayed") and Moby Grape ("Hey Grandma") among others. The lighting is not the best, but as evidenced by soloists occasionally being outside the spotlight, that is the fault of the crew, not the transfer. The sound is crisp and full, with Pipien and Gorman's solid bottom accentuating Adam MacDougall's versatile keyboards and Dickinson's tour-de-force fretwork. Slow or fast, acoustic or electric, this edition of The Black Crowes is masterful. Perhaps the ghost of The Faces once hung in the air, lately a whiff of The Allman Brothers' spirit might be detected, but this is a deep and honest legacy being created in front of us.

Special Features:  none.