PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
This two-DVD live set was filmed with 14 HD cameras and 5.1 Surround Sound during the band’s debut tour in the summer of 2011. Over three nights, playing to packed venues in the German cities of Hamburg, Munich and Berlin, hardly Europe that lol, still it does sound better than “live in Three German cities”. The first dvd is the live concert, while the second dvd takes us backstage with a photo gallery’s from the tour, a “Behind the scenes” gallery and a documentary entitled “ Forging BCC”, so what do you get for your hard earned pennies ?.
What you get are four great musicians at the top of their game, Joe Bonamassa stalking the stage in his now trade mark shades, Glen Hughes singing like he is 21 again, Derek Sherinian, the brilliant keyboard player, and Jason Bonham following in his fathers footsteps by playing free form drums, if only every rock band was this good.
The dvd kicks on in fine form with “Revolution of the Machine” a nice little intro before “Black Country”, and their stand out track for me, “One Last Soul”, that song could have quite easily been a Hughes and Thrall track.
The production is sharp on this, with quick cutting camera angels to capture the on stage action, the sound in 5.1 is never dull, it’s powerful, yet crisp and clear, with a nice overlap from the rhythm section. I like the way a camera has been fitted to the drum kit, it shakes when Jason hits the drums, simple yet effective.
The first break in the BCC catalogue is “The Ballad of John Henry” from Joe’s solo work, though I would have liked “Sloe gin”, the “The Ballad of John Henry” has a more BCC feel to it. This version is simply stunning, with Joe giving it all he’s got.You will go back, as soon as the rest of the dvd has finished, and play it again, it is without doubt, the best version i have heard him play. Breathtaking.
Then its back to the BCC songs, before Joe takes us back in time with a fantastic opening solo, before crashing headlong into the opening riff from the Deep Purple classic, “Burn”, and its all over, just over 2 hours of high energy rock n roll. “Smokestack Woman” gets played out over the credits, which to me is silly, i would have rather seen the band perform this song live on the stage, rather than marry this track to a montage of slow-mo shots. However it is my only gripe, this is still a first class live dvd.
A Fantastic 9/10.
“Live Over Europe” track listing: 
01. Revolution of the Machine
02. Black Country
03. One Last Soul
04. Crossfire
05. Save Me
06. The Battle For Hadrian’s Wall
07. Beggarman
08. Faithless
09. Song of Yesterday
10. I Can See Your Spirit
11. Cold
12. The Ballad of John Henry
13. The Outsider
14. The Great Divide
15. Sista Jane
16. Man In The Middle
17. Burn
18. Smokestack Woman
Bonus Features
• Forging BCC – The Making of “Live Over Europe”
• Photo Collection – Live On Tour
• Photo Collection – Behind The Scenes
Black Country Communion, the English-American rock supergroup featuring the talents of bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath), blues rock guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater), will release their first concert DVD, “Live Over Europe”, on October 24, 2011 (Blu-ray to follow November 15)
Black Country Communion on the web HERE
