Robin Trower - Living Out of Time: Live (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)After waiting for months, my copy of Robin Trower's new DVD, "Living out of Time" arrived yesterday and went straight into the DVD player. Man, it was sure worth the wait!
If you love Robin Trower -- or electric blues guitar in general -- you simply cannot go wrong with this DVD. It contains a good balance of the classic Trower songs from the James Dewar era and his newer material, including one song so new, it's not on any album yet! There's also a bonus section with a neat photo gallery; actual photos, not just stills from the video (many have some nice time-laps and processing effects). There's also a nicely shot and very informative interview with Robin (did you know that at one time, he had the same manager as the Beatles, or that the development of his sound took place in San Francisco AFTER the death of Jimi Hendrix, or that he didn't feel he took the guitar seriously until after he left Procol Harum?). Learn how Robin became a "Strat-Man" and why Robin feels he is living out of time, and proud of it! Good stuff. But I didn't buy this DVD for the bonus material...
Folks, I have many, many live concert DVDs and the quality varies greatly from one to another. In many cases the mix between instruments and vocals isn't balanced correctly or the audio is not crisp and clean. In other cases, the video has problems (i.e., too dark, or fuzzy and grainy, cameramen who don't know how to video a rock performance -- or good camera work ruined by bad video editing) etc. That is not the case with Living Out of Time! Not only is the performance superb, but the DVD production is one of the best I've seen and heard. The audio quality is fantastic (apparently right off the main board). The kick drum is solid, the snare and cymbals are tight and clean, the bass and vocals are sharp and bold and Robin, well, he sounds as good as I've ever heard him on any recording.
...And the video is outstanding! Very bright and clear, with great close-up shots of Robin's fantastic scales, multi-note bending (with and without whammy bar) incredible finger vibrato, and overall "fret board gymnastics" -- but there's even shots of Robin's foot-pedal work! I also wasn't expecting anything unusual about the stage lighting, just a standard club set-up. Again, not the case here! There are some great lighting effects and unusual graphics projected on a full stage screen behind the band. While the lighting is unique and interesting, it does not detract from the performance, but instead, enhances it (check out the lighting effect on the close-up shots of Davey during "Please Tell Me").
Drummer Pete Thompson (of the 70's / 80's British band Shotgun and long-time Trower collaborator) has just the right sound and style for this material. Bassist Dave Bronze is another long-time Trower collaborator (in addition to Eric Clapton, Sting, Procol Harum, Phil Collins, Jeff Beck, Stuart Copeland, Bo Diddly, Roger Daltry, David Gilmore, Brian Ferry, George Harrison and Ray Davis, to name but a few) sounds smooth, fat and `dead-on target'! Oh, did I mention Dave was also voted British Blues Connections 2000 Bass Player of the Year? :-)
As others have mentioned, Davey Pattison does indeed sound reminiscent of the late/great James Dewar. But he adds his own stamp of character and style to the vocals. I have also been a long-time fan of Ronnie Montrose and Davey Pattison's band Gamma, and I can hear the Gamma sound -- along with Dewar's -- in this performance. There's also a lot of the classic, bluesy, 1960's Eric Clapton / Cream sound to Davey's vocals (think "Crossroads"). It all comes together quite nicely.
While staying true to his sound, Robin doesn't just replicate the older versions of his classic songs, instead he add a great deal of new licks, breaks and modulations that really kept them interesting. His newer material is right up there with the best of his classics.
Highlights include the up-tempo, blues-rock "Rise up Like the Sun", the pensive and moody "Breathless" -- where Robin takes a turn at lead vocals as well (and to my surprise, has a very effective voice for this style). There's also some amazing new soloing and breaks in classics like "Daydream" and "A Little Bit of Sympathy" -- and a perfect recreation of the mystifying guitar sound of "Bridge of Sighs" that I fell in love with so many years ago (with new interpretations of the classic licks).
So, if you loved the unique, swirling, gliding, vibrating, sustaining, double-stopping, wah-wah'ing sounds of Robin Trower, well, here they are in all their glory! I don't generally evaluate anything at the maximum available points, but I can honestly think of nothing they could have done to make this DVD any better - so I must give it 5 out of 5 stars. I guess the only surprise was the polite, but much retrained reaction of the German audience (definitely not an American crowd - they would have been goin' nuts)!
I had understood Robin Trower had retired a while ago, if true, I'm sure glad he changed his mind! If you love Robin Trower (or classic Cream, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy, or the bluesier side of Jimi Hendrix) this DVD is not only a winner, but a true "must have". I've heard that Robin and this line-up are working out a U.S. tour in mid-to-late 2006; don't miss `em (I'll definitely be there)!
Cheers!
"The Doctor"
(Somewhere in California)


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This fascinating 13-song performance was recorded by the famous WDR Rockpalast on Robin Trower's 60th birthday, March 9th 2005 at the Crossroads Festival in Germany.Trower's career has spanned more than four decades and he is considered to be one of the

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