Band : Tommy Emmanuel

Album Title : Center Stage

Label : Favored Nations Acoustic Records

Distributor : Rough Trade Records

Release Date : 31/10/2008

Release : DVD

Tommy Emmanuel is a fine guitar player. Aside from his incredible technical facility on his instrument, he plays with an emotional depth that’s just gripping to experience. This Australian artist has been performing professionally for four decades. This DVD is mixture of originals and cover tunes. And they handle about every imaginable style on the guitar. His originals range from folk, blues, traditional to even new age-influenced works. The cover tunes are all surprisingly done such as Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” or Merle Travis’ classic “Nine Pound Hammer”. One of the most astonishing songs on this DVD is “Mombasa” with a fascinating acoustic guitar performance. And the fact that Steve Vai said he was stunned into silence is remarkable. After Tommy Emmanuel joined on stage for several numbers by harmonica player Bob Littell and they tear through such classics as “Workin’ Man Blues”, “Georgia On My Mind” and “House of the Rising Sun” it’s clear that this guy can truly cope with multiple genres. Musically there’s nothing wrong with this DVD but visual there are some quality problems. The image quality was a little unfocused throughout whole the DVD. The menus were fuzzy and the concert itself was just a tad lacking in image clarity. But besides r-that it is an amazing and totally engaging performance by Tommy Emmanuel.

80/100

Guido Claes.