Elly Roberts reviews
John Hiatt: Full House (Rock Show)
Distributed by
NDR-Studio Hamburg (through Wienerworld)
- Cat.no: WNRD2346
- Released: February 2006
- Format: DVD 5
- Rating: 8/10
- Running time: 76 minutes
- Region: 2, PAL
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 / Stereo 2.0
- Classification: E (Exempt)
- Languages: English & German
- Retail price: £15.99
- Extras: John Hiatt interview, October 9, 1987, Hamburg
Even though US singer-songwriter John Hiatt,
has never managed to make a big
commercial splash in the UK, he's always been regarded as an iconic figure.
Best he could do here was three top 100 albums - Stolen Moments (1990),
Perfectly Good Guitar (1993) and Walk On (1995) out of 34 official
releases up to 2005's Live From Austin TX.
This DVD precedes those releases. Filmed around the time of Bring The Family
in 1987, Hiatt shows why the coveted writer has been admired and covered by
the Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop, Three Dog Night, Dave Edmunds,
The Searchers amongst others. Ironically, his sales have never matched his
reputation, though this excellent concert might solve the problem.
A big fan
of the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, he struggled to find his own niche for
nearly a decade. Having started his solo career in 1974, the Indianapolis
troubadour gravitated towards a more direct and stripped down presentation
than previous albums. It synthesised the blues, folk and Rock'n'Roll with
great effect, found on this disc.
Bring The Family, his third release, became a turning point in his career as
it peaked at 107 on the Billboard Hot 200 charts, his first entry. It
included legends Ry Cooder (g), Nick Lowe (b) and Jim Keltner (d) it was
quickly knocked together over a few of days, still bringing his best reviews
up to then. Capitalising on its success, he toured America and Europe.
For this show in Hamburg he opted for his regular touring band the Goners -
Sonny Landreth (g) Dave Ranson (b) and Ken Blevins (d). Keen to plug the new
album, Hiatt and co pull out all the stops across a well balanced set of 14
songs. There's impressive bottleneck blues work by Landreth on up-tempo
opener Memphis In The Meantime, the slow blues of Tip Of My Tongue,
highlight of the show, and Thank You Girl dedicated to his wife.
Folk and
country influences surface on Learning How To Love You, a tale of young love
in turmoil, and Lipstick Sunset. Rockabilly pops up in the shape Tennessee
Plates.
Closing a bumper set, Hiatt tackles the keys on tear-jerker Have Little
Faith In Me. The German crowd loved it.
A polished performance, from a seriously underrated songwriter.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.