Various Artists - Return to Sin City: A Tribute To Gram Parsons [DVD]

In the summer of 2004, an incredibly diverse, gifted roster of musicians and vocalists congregated at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheater for what turned out to be a rousing, emotional, and long overdue celebration of Gram Parsons' work. Return to Sin City: A Tribute To Gram Parsons is a 21-song salute that blazes from its rocking take of Dave Dudley's 1960s favorite, Six Days on the Road (courtesy of the Sin City All Stars, the gig's wonderful core house band) onward and never becomes guilty of filler or tedium; only the recently similar Concert for George can compare in quality and emotional intensity.

It's hard to pick favorite moments from among this stellar lot: Jay Farrar's searing take on Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man; a pair of kick-ass performances from former X leader John Doe, beaming with unbridled enthusiasm on Hot Burrito No. 2 and a positively gorgeous We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning (the latter featuring a wonderful backing vocal from the rapidly rising Kathleen Edwards, who's literally a star waiting to happen); an aching Sleepless Nights, an underground Everly Brothers classic Gram resurrected, here courtesy of a rarely better Lucinda Williams; the legendary Keith Richards reaching the vocal peak of his career (in his sixties, for crying out loud) on both Love Hurts (another Everly classic, teaming him with Norah Jones for some killer harmony and stellar instrumental support from steel guitar wonder Al Perkins and former Parsons/Elvis sideman, James Burton), and an absolutely heartfelt Hickory Wind, which I guarantee will move you to tears, just like it nearly does the so-called rock and roll bad boy, who was kind enough to let his old friend Gram record Wild Horses nearly two years before the Stones issued it on Sticky Fingers.

All this, as well as super appearances from Dwight Yoakam, Jim Lauderdale, Jim James, Raul Malo, and Steve Earle. And I will leave some untapped joys for you to discover in what will definitely rank as one of the most talked about and much played concert DVDs, not just of this calendar year, but for ages to come. ~ Full Review at Digitally Obsessed