If you want to see a young Sheryl Crow and her young band (yes they look very young) perform in London, this is the DVD to watch. You also get to see Ms. Crow playing the accordion on Strong Enough, and Eric Clapton doing his guitar thing on Ordinary Morning.
In November 1996, Sheryl Crow and her band played some concerts at The Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England and this DVD features songs from her first album 'Tuesday Night Music Club' from 1994 and her second album 'Self Titled' from 1996.
So you get all the songs you’ve grown up listening to from Hard to Make a Stand, Everyday is a Winding Road, Leaving Las Vegas, A Change Would do you Good, to Run Baby, If it makes you Happy, Sweet Rosalyn, Redemption day, All I wanna do and many more. So what you have here is her popular songs, but not all, as this is a little closer to the beginning of her career. But this 15 track set is a good full concert for those who love Crow.
Regarded as one of the greatest female rock musicians of our time Sheryl Crow, the set at the concert almost looks like it was filmed at a dark nightclub, but it was actually filmed at the historical music venue with a crowd of just 2000 people.
What's so cool about this recording is that being her second tour so it is a small venue, the crowd is very connective with her all the time.
The video quality of the DVD is almost the same (or the same) as the newer DVDs. So it looks fine on 1080 high def TV. But because the stage is usually dark, the darkness, (as one would expect), lends itself to be grainy. But it’s a great transfer to digital and the outcome is marvellous.
So are there any Special Features on this DVD? Too actually many to keep your busy. So you have ‘An interview with Sheryl Crow’ (6 min) that shows excerpts from an interview with the singer, in which she talks about the tour. Amsterdam is also briefly discussed, where she gave a concert in Het Paradiso on 3rd November, 1996. There’s also ‘Behind-the-scenes footage’ (3½ min) with all kinds of images of various things that are part of a tour, including a 'photo shoot'. As for the bonus videos, you have Everyday Is A Winding Road (music video) (4 min) and If Makes You Happy (music video) (4½ min).
One highlight is the Juke Box section where you can select up to eight songs from the concert here, which will then be played in the order you selected them. There’s also a Concert Audio Option Only where you can listen to the concert without video. There is only a static screen with the track listing. Sound is DD5.1 only. So you could also just turn off your television.
This is Sheryl Crow at her best.
DVD Release: 1996
Duration: 92 minutes
Rating: ****
Reviewed by Verus Ferreira