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Molly Hatchet: Live In Hamburg (DVD/CD)

Legendary Southern Rockers Molly Hatchet give their fans a CD/DVD Combination with Live In Hamburg, a concert recorded at Hamburg Harley Days in Germany. The Hatchet has been a continual presence in the genre for over 25 years but unlike their peers in Lynryd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, had held a little heavier format to their style of music. Southern feel of course but more Hard Rock than one would expect them to be. The lineup of the group in 2005 finds only one original member in Dave Hlubek (who recently returned to the band) as over the course of their history most of the lineup had moved on. Today the group is made up of Bobby Ingram ( guitars), Phil McCormack (vocals), Dave Hlubek (guitar), John Galvin (keyboards), Jimbo Manion (guitar) Tim Lindsey (bass) and Shawn Beamer (drums) who despite the changes have kept the signature sound the same. McCormack is a great replacement for original singer Danny Jo Brown as he sounds exactly like him. Sadly the music world lost Brown in early 2005. I feel the keeping true to the sound has kept the audience attending and supporting the music more than ever which does proud the original founders of the name. This concert DVD is chock full of the bands classic numbers as well as newer tunes from their recent SPV Records release Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge. The CD was home to a couple of great new tracks such as "Son Of The South" and the moving song for Ingram's departed Wife "The Rainbow Bridge".

There were a surprising amount of solos during this DVD and I honestly felt there were a bit too many when you consider they cost the listener songs. You have one from the drummer, the keyboardist and then Ingram does his guitar solo and as good a player he is I felt his was the most annoying since it was more feedback and craziness rather than a musical solo. I would have preferred to hear a more passionate solo from a player of his quality. The 16 full songs (solos deducted) take you across the bands catalog up until their newest stuff and the crowd seems ever attentive to it all and having a rocking time. My favorites came from the older stuff primarily as I remember it from growing up with friends who enjoyed Southern Rock (while I was the Metal head). Despite this, good music is good music and that is the attitude one should keep at all times. As mentioned earlier there is a companion CD included that features 16 of the tunes from the DVD. This allows you to either play it in the car or load it up on your iPod. My one critique of the CD is that it also features the solos and as result omits the signature tracks "Flirtin' With Disaster" & "Journey". They should have passed on including the solos on the CD to give the listener a full concert of tunes and no personal displays of expertise.

Bonus Features on the DVD include an interview with guitarist Bobby Ingram which is the best of the additions which also showcases backstage fun, biography and discography information. Not a lot of stuff to be honest and it would have been nice to see what some of the other members have been up to since their departure. Given the passing of Brown it might have been interesting to get Bruce Crump's or Jimmy Farrar's thoughts on his work and the band continuing. I think a full feature as biography instead of text would have been more fun to watch as well.

The DVD is good and a definite must have for the hard core Molly Hatchet fan. The new listener/viewer can also appreciate this as it includes a nice sampling from the new CD and a varied dose of their classics. It seems that the South has risen again.


Track Listing DVD

  1. Intro
  2. Whiskey Man
  3. Bounty Hunter
  4. Gator Country
  5. Moonlight Dancin' On A Bayou
  6. Fall Of The Peacemakers
  7. Devil's Canyon
  8. Drum Solo
  9. Beatin' The Odds
  10. Son Of The South
  11. The Creeper
  12. The Rainbow Bridge
  13. Keyboard Solo
  14. Instrumental
  15. Guitar Solo
  16. Dreams I'll Never See
  17. The Journey
  18. Gone In 60 Seconds
  19. Jukin' City
  20. Flirtin' With Disaster

Added: April 21st 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Molly Hatchet Website
Hits: 5395
Language: english

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Molly Hatchet: Live In Hamburg (DVD/CD)
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-04-21 20:18:11
My Score:

Molly Hatchet sure are a different beast now as compared to 25 years ago when they first burst upon the Southern Rock scene. Always a bit heavier than their peers like Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Specials, The Outlaws, and The Allman Brothers Band, the band teetered on hard rock and metal much like Blackfoot, but still had that Southern sound. After the implosion of the band in the late 80's, guitarist Bobby Ingram (himself not an original member) basically took over the group and kept it going with an ever changing line-up. Original singer Danny Joe Brown passed away recently after a long illness, but the band has had vocalist Phil McCormack with them for a a few years and he sounds just like Brown, keeping the spirit of the classic songs in check. Original guitarist Dave Hlubek has recently come back to the band, and they also have long-time keyboard player John Galvin on board as well.

This show, recorded live at a festival in Hamburg, Germany (where the band is still very popular), covers many of the bands most popular songs, as well as some of the new tunes from the bands latest CD Warriors of the Rainbow Bridge. The band is pretty hot throughout, and some of the highlights are "Dreams I'll Never See", "Whisky Man", "Bounty Hounter", "Devil's Canyon", "Beatin' the Odds", and "Son of the South". It's pretty obvious though that this is Ingram's gig now, even though Hlubek is back in the band there's no dual lead guitar work happening here, as Ingram takes all the solo spots and let's Hlubek handle the meaty rhythm guitar work.

All told, Live in Hamburg is jam packed with fiery Southern Rock in front of an appreciative audience, and there's some fun bonus material included as well. Molly Hatchet shows no signs of slowing down, and it looks like they will be "beatin' the odds" and "flirtin' with disaster" for many more years to come!



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