Flashback DVD Review #4 - Beth Hart - Live at Paradiso

This review was originally written for the Rock Is Life.com website back in 2005.

Beth Hart

Live at Paradiso

Koch Records - 2005

http://www.bethhart.com

What's The 4-1-1?

The singer-songwriter's Amsterdam concert in May 2004 is documented in this DVD. The 15-song concert performance is further enhanced with a 35 minute documentary, interviews, solo piano performances and an additional live performance. The DVD was recorded in Digital Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and is Region 0 coded.

Genre

Rock

The Good

The DVD may have been intended to simply showcase on live performance from Beth Hart. However, if that was the case, then they surpassed that by a mile. This concert performance is nothing short of pure musical perfection!

Hart shines her way through a variety of musical styles in this show. She opens with a previously unreleased song called "Hiding Under Water". It's just her at the keyboard in what can only be described as a very intimate setting. She's right up close to the edge of the stage and the fans are just smack dab in her face.

The next three songs feature just Hart and guitarist Jon Nichols in an acoustic set with the songs "Delicious Surprise" and "Leave The Light On". In betweenthose two songs is the Randy Newman written song "Guilty". It's one of two songs where Beth Hart's love of the blues really shines through. The other song was the sweat-soaked and dare I say sensually performed "Am I The One", where she was literally sitting on the concert floor with the audience sitting around her.

Throughout the show she interspersed comments about the tour, her sobriety and her appreciation of heavy metal music. She proved that last part by absolutely blowing the roof off the place with "Broken & Ugly", "Monkey Back" and a revelatory rendition of "Immortal". For someone who would never be mistaken as a metal artist, she's got the vocal chops to just let loose with the powerful screams like nobody's business.

She's even got the swagger of Robert Plant down when she puts the band through their paces with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".

The show is pretty simple in its design. It's the band on the stage with a regular set up for the lights. There's nothing fancy here and that's a good thing. It allows the viewer to just focus in on the music.

The bonus features include a bonus performance from the concert of the song "I Don't Need No Doctor". Hart mentions it as loving the metal band that did the song, but fails to mention the name of the band. It was W.A.S.P. However, the song was originally written and performed by the pop duo Ashford & Simpson.

The "rockumentary" features behind the scenes footage as they prepare for the concert plus an interview with Beth Hart. She talks about how certain songs came together, her past and more. The interview is spliced together with solo piano performances and still photographs.

The Bad

I don't know if its necessarily bad, but I was disappointed that the title screen of the DVD features the song "Sky Full of Clover" and its nowhere to be found on the DVD otherwise. The song is simply amazing and one of my personal favorite Beth Hart songs.

The Verdict

I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone, but just in case you haven't figured it out, I absolutely loved this DVD. I may not have actually been there, but everything I could possibly have imagined (and a few things I never would've expected) is encapsulated in this performance. Beth Hart has often been compared to Janis Joplin. Let me tell you something, that statement is not just hyperbole. She lives up to that hype with no hesitation. She's that darn good! This is one of the finest concerts I've ever seen and the DVD is something you should definitely get.

Did You Know?

The European director Mirko Cocco headed up the recording of this performance. He's worked in the past with Destiny's Child, Cypress Hill and Live.

The Beth Hart song "Delicious Surprise" was covered as the title track for the 2005 release by country singer Jo Dee Messina.

Rating: 5 out of 5