Search - :: Instant Live: The Fox Box

Mad Skydogs & Free Birds

Ron Maiberg | 10/31/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having recently read "Skydog", the late Duane Allman new highly informative biograpy, i was compelled to go back and taste some of the Allman Brothers old standbys. "The Fillmore Concerts" and "Eat a peach" immediatley came to mind, particularly since Duane still burns live on them. But even an old goat who's been glued to the Allmans since the late 60's, can reach a point in which he predicts the next bottle slide on Duane's Gibson and Dickey Betts response riff. it doesn't get boring necessarily. it gets predictable. Which is one roadmark on the way to classic rock's funeral.



Browsing through ABB's category on AMAZON, I cam across "Instant Live: The Fox Box". Nine (count them!) discs of two performances in Atlanta, Georgia. The price, 90$, seemed a bit steep, but i was quick to do the math: 10$ a disc. Call me crazy. Call me the Breeze. But i'm the lunatic who'd pay 10 dollars to hear Gregg Allman singing the "Band"'s "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down". Not only for removing the confedracy's flag from four Canadians and one American who gave it to us. But to hear the Allmans - in Atlanta of all places - make it their own. God bless Levon Helm and his sweet soulful voice, but the mature, sober and gravelly Allman, gives "Dixie" a brand new dimension. With the great Warren Haynes wailing on the right track while gallantly making way for Derek Trucks sliding on the left, the Allmans tear through most of their own repertoire, even manhandling Betts' "Blue Sky", which means war.



But the greatness of this particular exciting box-set is what the Allmans do to old "Derek & the Dominos" numbers, where Eric Clapton And Duane founded the twin guitars solidarity movement. Since I was Ipoding the Allmans, I couldn't halp switching back and forth between the Allmans and the Dominos versions of "Key To The Highway". No one in his right mind will detract from the greatness Clapton/Allman acheived in 1970, but Haynes/Trucks take this blues standard to a new plateau. And "Layla". I've recently saw Clapton and Truck in New York, and it's hard to watch Clapton prepping himself to give "Layla" one more twirl after 36 years. The Allmans tear it to pieces.

Nine discs and many hours later, totally ragged, shattered and torn, the

"Fox Box" leave you panting for more. wishing somebody had the sense to run video with this show, and spring a triple DVD on us, sometimes when we're the least ready."

So much bluesy goodness you probably don't want to eat it al

J. Chasin | NYC, NY | 08/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There will come a time when the current Allman Brothers Band line-up-- originals Gregg Allman (keys/vox), Jaimoe (dms), Butch Trucks (dms), plus Derek Trucks (gtr), Warren Haynes (gtr/vox), Oteil Burbridge (bass/sometimes vox), and Marc Quinones (perc/backing vox)-- will be universally hailed as the second classic line-up of this band. Haynes and Trucks are two of the greatest, hottest guitar players of our time, and it is hard to fathom that there is enough room in one band for both of them to shine. Haynes began his second stint in the band in March 2001, the last piece to the puzzle of this configuration, and within 2 years they had begun to alight into a realm of improvisational, smoldering jazzy blues that is truly magical.



Of course the best way to appreciate this band is live, and in September 2004 they touched down in Atlanta for a 3-night run at the beautiful Fox Theater. Thanks to the Instant Live program, these three shows were captured for posterity. It was a fantastic run-- I was at all 3 shows-- and if you have the bandwidth and appetite to consume a live 9-disc set, this will charm and delight and surprise you for years to come.



Over the course of these three nights, the band repeats only one song: "Dreams," which was played each show. But as Warren Haynes pointed out after the third show, "even those are all different"-- because a different player each night takes the extended and lyrical guitar solo that creates the drama and tension of the piece. The first night it is guest and former band member Jackie Pearson; the second night it is Derek Trucks; and the final night, Haynes steps out and shovels coal on the fire. And indeed, each player tells the musical story of the song in a different way.



The middle show (9/25) is the real keeper. The setlist was amazing, and it was the first rendition of "Blue Sky" since the song's author, Dickey Betts, had left the band (Allman handles the vocals; the song is back in its original key.) The opening of the show features a taste of the overture that begins "Les Brers in A Minor," and then deep into the second set they return and play the song, in stirring fashion, picking up precisely where the opening overture had left off. (Four days later the band would record a live rendition of their classic Eat a Peach album for XM radio; this gig was essentially a dress rehearsal of both "Blue Sky" and "Les Brers," which are both on that record.)



But all three shows are outstanding, and taken as a whole-- a movement in three nights, as it were-- the set is astounding. A skeptic might think 3 drummers is jamband excess, but listen to the intricate web they weave together, the elder Trucks driving the train, Jaimoe anchoring and accenting the rhythm (they play like one man with 4 hands), and Quinones splashing color over the top. You can hear Quinones to good affect on "Elizabeth Reed," in the way he helps create the Latin vibe at the song's outset. And the guitars are like liquid fire and ice for your ears.



If any of these 3 shows had been released alone and given a big record company push, you'd probably know it by reputation as one of the best live albums of the past 25 years. As it is, hear it like one of those grand Miles Davis quintet or Coltrane quartet live boxes-- a feast of group improvisational playing, quintessentially American (and southern) music.



If you're wondering about the sound quality, the Instant Lives are to my ears better than traditional live albums because they blend the fidelity of the soundboard recording with the ambiance of strategically placed audience mics. They sound great.



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A previous reviewer notes that this is not the Fox Box. Indeed, it is in fact the Fox Box. There is (as of this writing) an incorrect listing on this page which describes the "West's Best" set as opposed to the "Fox Box" set. But the cover art and the track listings make clear that this product is indeed the Fox Box, and that it is the product description that is in error."