HOLLYWOOD REVIVE

Disc One:  1. Scottish Bagpipe Intro, 2. Forever Young, 3. This Old Heart Of Mine, 4. Some Guys Have All The Luck, 5. Addicted To Love, 6. Young Turks, 7. Rhythm Of My Heart, 8. The First Cut Is The Deepest, 9. Downtown Train, 10. Betty Davis Eyes (Ruby Stewart on Vocals), 11. Brass In Pocket (Ruby Stewart on Vocals), 12. Stay With Me (w/Ronnie Wood), 13. Every Picture Tells A Story (w/Ronnie Wood), 14. You Wear It Well (w/Ronnie Wood), 15. I'm Losing You (w/Ronnie Wood), 16. I'd Rather Go Blind (w/Ronnie Wood), 17. Proud Mary (band only)

Disc Two:  1. Hot Legs, 2. It Takes Two, 3. Reason To Believe, 4. You're In My Heart, 5. Introduction, 6. As Time Goes By, 7. They Can't Take That Away From Me, 8. The Nearness Of You, 9. Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered, 10. Tonight's The Night, 11. Have I Told You Lately, 12. The Way You Look Tonight, 13. Pennies From Heaven/On The Sunny Side Of The Street (band only), 14. Maggie May/Gasoline Alley (w/Ronnie Wood), 15. Having A Party (w/Ronnie Wood), 16. Twisting The Night Away (Ruby Stewart on Vocals w/Ronnie Wood & Ian McLagan), 17. Ooh La La (Ronnie Wood on Vocals)

The whole feel of this concert is like a Variety Show. This was the last show of the American leg of the tour. The recording is quite good as our taper found a nice spot to capture all the ambience of the show. The excellent acoustics at the Hollywood Bowl certainly helped! Having said that, the recording does sound a bit distant at times. I found that listening to it on headphones increased the enjoyment considerably. This is the first release from the L.A. Express Label, perhaps just a one off opportunity with this recording. You never know when you are talking about "underground" releases.

Back to that "Variety Show" statement. Rod has so many interchangable parts to this particular production that the show is broken up into little segments which allow him to either change clothes or get a drink. While his voice since the throat cancer operation in 2000 has tended to be a little flat, making his interpretation of his hits marginal at times...he is in great form this evening and the Standards he's been recording are certainly where his passion lies now. No pun intended but he certainly does lend an amazing interpretation to all of these "American Songbook" classics. Before we ever get to these tunes though, we get all the hits, a couple of cover tunes from Rod's daughter Ruby, a great mini Faces set between Rod and Ronnie Wood...and a rollicking "Proud Mary" from the band that showcases the awesome talents of the 2 female backup singers, Ester and Natasha. So, you get the idea. The songs with Ronnie Wood are really nice to hear. Particularly "I'd Rather Go Blind". It sounds just as it did 30 years ago! For the finale, Rod is joined again by Mr. Wood for classic renditions of "Maggie May" & "Gasoline Alley". Then, 17-year-old Ruby Stewart is brought back out to handle the lead vocals on "Twisting The Night Away". But this joyous end to the 4-month American Tour has one more surprise. Old friend and fellow Faces member Ian McLagan is brought onstage to join in for the encore of a rare, Ronnie Wood-led version of "Ooh La La"...with Rod & company doing the back up vocals on the chorus. A moving and fitting moment to what was certainly a great evening for all.

A recommended title for Faces fans due to the rare, perhaps historic, reunion that occurs in this performance. It's a feel good show in very nice quality.