Band : Richie Kotzen
Album title : Bootlegged In Brazil
Label : Frontiers
Distributor : Rough Trade
Release date : 05/12/2008
Release : DVD

Either the people at Frontiers thought December is a month for presents (and why not provide some nice presents themselves), or things just happened to come out this way…but along with their usual bunch of monthly CD releases, the Itallian label also brings us no less than 3 DVDs this month! With what’s being offered being somewhat varied (within the genre), they offer something for every lover of Melodic Hard Rock. With Richie Kotzen, we turn back the clock to a Hendrix based/ influenced Blues Rock kinda music, albeit brought with Mr. Kotzen’s rather specific (‘80s Motown) Soul-influenced high-pitch voice! In a way, I also feel maybe Kotzen got influenced somehow by the vocal stylings of Glenn Hughes…because I hear a lot of similarities, you know!

Early Summer of this year, there was already the release of Kotzen’s Live In Sao Paulo album…and as can be assertained from the title this was a live recording…to which the label claims this DVD would be a good complement! Well, it’s a complement to a certain extend! You see, with 12 songs, the CD already had a length of 79 minutes, but apparently still had a couple of songs (“Go Faster”, “Losing My Mind”) missing from the set, with which the DVD is now opened! However, for some dark and mysterious reason the label omited to make the track-list complete, and three songs that wére on the CD track-list (“Shapes Of things”, “I’m Losing You”, and “Stand”) are now missing on the DVD…making for a concert length of 69:20 only! In exchange, you get a “bonus” section which includes a picture slideshow (which lasts as long as the length of the studio version of “Fooled Again” – off the 2007 Go Faster album – released in Europe in Oct. ‘07 through Frontiers with altered title Return Of The Mother  Head’s Family Reunion…and with European bonus track) and a truly (tóó) short interview (don’t quite understand why they even bothered to put that on there, really), making the disc end at a mere 75:15!

Frankly, at the price it’s being sold I would feel somewhat short-changed in the deal, but then again the fan who would get this as a X-Mas (or New Year’s) present would never complain! DVD, so no rating!

Tony.