War is a great band….in fact, War — the jazz, funk,
Latin, rock (and many other) styles seven-man hybrid — is a great band.
Enjoying hits with Eric Burdon and “Spill The Wine,” seminal 70s
funk numbers like the wild and wooly “Cisco Kid,” the mega pop
showstopper “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” and that all-time
great cruising song “Low Rider” — War has been part of our
popular musical landscape for nearly four decades. I’ve always regarded
this powerhouse group like the ubiquitous character actor, you know, that
guy you see in hundreds of movies, who always delivers a blistering performance
but you still don’t know his name? With War you hear their songs all
the time but maybe can’t recall who is performing them, let alone even
know the individual band members’ names. Watching the DVD Greatest Hits Live, I came away knowing once and for all,
who War is.
Recorded at a sold-out show in 2007 at The Grove in Anaheim, California, this
two-hour DVD is near perfect. The inspired camera work (we are on stage for
most of the show, right with the musicians as they are soloing and singing),
editing (no cut-up jagged moments, we get the show in real-time as it happened)
and sound mix (every instrument in War’s arsenal is featured and blends
perfectly in the overall mix) makes this first-ever War DVD worth the long
years of waiting. Beginning their set with the mellow groove of “The World
Is A Ghetto”, running through instrumentals like “”City
Country City” and the hits ”Spill The Wine” “The Cisco
Kid,” and a rousing “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” the
band makes easy work of all 21 tunes. Lead singer/keyboardist Lonnie Jordan
keeps the crowd engaged, maybe overplaying at times and a bit amazed by his
own showmanship, but the guy’s having a great time, is fun to watch
and his voice sounds great. In fact, if there was one thing I’d have
to compliment War on, beyond their musicianship, the great tunes and the fact
that after almost 40 years together, they are playing energetic two-hour shows! Practically
every member of the band sings and does it well. This is most evident
on tunes like “The Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends”
and “Get Down,” with the entire band rising in well-blended harmonies.
There’s a lot to highlight on Greatest Hits Live: “Ballero”
and “Gypsy Man” have some great guitar work from Stuart Ziff,
especially the latter with Ziff really showing his chops on acoustic; any time
sax and flutist Fernando Harkless is featured is a treat, but especially in
songs like “Spill the Wine” and “Get Down; I just love drummer
Sal Rodriguez’s vocals at the beginning of the “Lowrider”
medley, although this seven-song jam, which features band intros and snippets
from “Iron Man” “Doing It To Death” and “Shotgun”
(among others) does go on a bit longer then it has to. And not to forget the
youngest member of the band, Francisco “Pancho” Tomaselli who
has his hands full on bass, Marcos J. Reyes percussion and Mitch Kashmar’s
vocals and great harmonica work throughout (especially in “Get Down”).
With a fold out mini-poster of the band, some backstage bonus footage, slide
show and web site access, Greatest Hits Live is one of three
releases of live stuff War are giving their fans. This DVD is a must-have.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
