Free Forever - Free DVD Review
Photo:Elly Roberts
DVD Review
Time to drool over Universal Music Group’s simultaneous releases, as they dig out impressive visuals and sounds from the Free back - catalogue. It marks the first ever official release of rare and legendary performances, and the 30th anniversary of Paul Kossoff’s death. The deluxe 2 disc DVD set is the second most impressive music release of the 21st century, after Led Zeppelin’s DVD. Free – Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke, Andy Frazer and Paul Kossoff should have been the biggest band on the planet – a mixture of internal problems put pay to that.
This superb 2 DVD set brings back fond memories of their journey to near global success, using rare and previously unreleased material running 275 minutes. Disc 1 ‘In Session’, a mix of live recordings from the famous German programme Beat Club from 1970, a British TV concert in the same year and videos. Free, the least flashy of bands, was all about ‘the music’ - understated at that, with the Beat Club visual effects looking dated. Thankfully they don’t distract from brilliant live versions of Mr.Big, Fire And Water, with All Right Now’s solo by Kossoff a memorable experience despite the OTT effects. Granada TV’s Doin’ Their Thing in colour (July 24 1970) finds them at their peak, doing five live songs including Ride On Pony I’ll Be Creepin’ and a mind-blowing All Right Now.
Disc 2, ‘In Concert’ is their legendary 1970 Isle Of Wight gig, a peculiar mix of audio and film footage. Audio only, covers seven songs, whilst the film has three – Be My Friend, Mr.Big and, as per usual, a blistering All Right Now, all faithfully restored using multi-angled shots, split screen, aerial views, with 5.1 surround sound bringing the music bang up to date.
Interviews with surviving members Rodgers, Kirke and Frazer give a fascinating insight into the formation of songs, particularly All Right Now, considered the most cocksure air guitar anthem of all time, even though the band wasn’t sure about its release. It did, however, provide them with much media attention as it went to number 2 in the UK, and gave them regular gigs for the next two years.
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