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Dvdivas
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“Loggins
and Messina: Sitting In Again”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne
Klein |
Genre: |
Concert |
Video: |
1.78:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen |
Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
Languages |
English |
Subtitles |
None |
Length |
121 minutes
|
Rating |
NR |
Release Date |
11/15/05
|
Studio |
Rhino Home
Video |
Commentary:
|
None |
Documentaries:
|
None |
Featurettes:
|
None |
Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
Interviews: |
None |
Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
Music
Video: |
None |
Other:
|
Six vintage
performances from 1973 “The Midnight Special” TV show |
Cast
and Crew: |
Jim Messina, Kenny Loggins, Shem
Von Schroeck, Steve Di Stanislao, Gabe Dixmon, Gabe Witcher,
Jeff Nathanson, Steve Nieves,
|
Written
By: |
Loggins and
Messina |
Produced
By: |
Jim Kraft,
Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina |
Directed
By: |
Jim Gable
|
Music:
|
Loggins &
Messina |
The
Review: |
Before he became famous for top
forty goop like “Danger Zone”, Kenny Loggins in partnership
with Jim Messina recorded a series of strong rock albums that
touched on country and folk. Although their best album “Mother
Lode” (the superb “Changes” is included and features an inspired
performance) isn’t very well represented here, this live concert
recorded by the reunited duo in Santa Barbara this year features
a generous helping of their best album tracks and singles.
Featuring a top notch band of session players “Sitting In
Again” is a terrific live document of the duo’s performance.
Messina and Loggins got back together purely by accident and
realized hat they could actually get past the difficulties
that they had had when they original performed as a duo in
the 70’s. There was an intense rivalry that drove their music
and allowed them to create a number of memorable songs and
albums. Messina who got his start with the Buffalo Springfield
(he was an engineer and producer for two of the band’s albums
and, ultimately, became their bassist before moving on to
co found Poco). When he volunteered to produce Kenny Loggins
debut album it was clear that the duo had chemistry and the
album that was supposed to feature Dan Loggins’ (Loggins wrote
“Please Come to Boston”) cousin instead became an album that
focused on both artists. The duo went on to have a seriesof
radio hits including “Your Mama Don’t Dance”, “House at Pooh
Corner”, “My Music”, “Danny’s Song” and “Angry Eyes” recording
8 albums before going their separate ways. Loggins had huge
commercial success on his own with “Whenever I Call You Friend”
(featuring Stevie Nicks), “Danger Zone”, “Footloose”, “I’m
Alright”, “Celebrate Me Home” and writing with The Doobie
Brothers’ Michael McDonald (“What a Fool Believes”, “This
is It”). Messina struggled with a solo career met with marked
indifference recording a number of strong albums (“Oasis”
being the best of them) never charting above the top 60. He
and Loggins got involved in a bitter disagreement which eventually
led to Messina composing a song not unlike John Lennon’s “How
Do You Sleep?” about his former partner. ***
It’s clear that these guys have
gotten past their difficulties and renewed their friendship.
The performances here are stellar with both in fine voice
and Messina’s distinctive guitar playing to the fore. Covering
most of their hits as well as a couple of obscure tracks from
their various albums, this concert represents the best recorded
performance available of the duo on video. While neither man
focuses on their solo material (which is appropriate) the
material from their studio albums more than make up for this.
---
|
Image
and Sound: |
The concert looks extremely good
with rich colors and natural skin tones. While there were
some issues with pixilation related to the compression, the
overall look of the show is very pleasing with extremely good
clarity. The issue with pixilation occurs most often when
the camera is moving around quite a bit suggesting that it’s
due to the digital authoring or not a high enough bit rate
for the visuals. Sonically this DVD is a masterpiece capturing
the tight band in top form and reproducing the performances
in rich 5.1 clarity.
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The
Extras: |
A real treat are a series of live
performances that the duo did for “The Midnight Special” during
their peak popularity in 1973. The video for this is quite
good with solid color reproduction and while the colors appear
smeared a bit due to the age of the videotape the clarity
is solid here as well. It was quite something to see the duo
in their hirsuit prime. They perform six songs on the show
including “My Music”, “Danny’s Song”, “Your Mama Don’t Dance”,
“You Need a Man”, “Coming to You” and “Sailin’ in the Wind”.
Both are in fine voice and the band is extremely good. The
sound is, not surprisingly, a bit tinny sounding because it
was recorded in mono. As a result, the sound comes across
a bit flat missing the full bodied power of the 5.1 mix for
the DVD reunion concert. Nevertheless, it is a real treat
to have these performances. ***
While the duo’s career is briefly
summarized at the beginning of this DVD, I would have loved
to see a featurette on their success and the trials and tribulations
that separated them at the peak of their popularity. ---
|
Commentary:
|
There’s no
commentary track and that’s just as well. The commentary track
on The Who set was distracting despite the fact that it provided
a lot of background on the band and the concert. It really should
have been a separate featurette or documentary. It’s no surprise
then that Loggins and Messina chose not to record a commentary
track. --- |
Final
Words: |
A terrific concert featuring this
popular 70’s duo, “Sitting in Again” is a marvelous concert.
The inclusion of vintage footage of the band from 1973 was
a masterstroke on the part of the producer/director (or the
artists themselves) and brings added value to this set making
it essential for fans.
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