As a huge Allmans fan, I was anxious to hear the newest entry in the string of live discs they've done. What a disappointment! The sound quality is horrible. I really can't believe that a major label released it. It's truly an embarrasment quality-wise. You know what it reminded me of? When I sat second row at the Beacon last year, off to the side, right in front of the speakers. I literally had to wear ear plugs.....and that's exactly what this disc sounds like. Like listening through ear plugs. The song selection is pretty good, especially if you like the early bluesy Allmans. But it's really hard to get past the crappy sound. If you own (and enjoy)either of the last 2 live Allmans discs, you'll be mighty disappointed with this baby.

Over the summer I read about the bootin' of Dickey out of the band. The reason stated was his playing was not up to par. According to one member, "just listen to the Beacon tapes." If that is so (and I read that in interviews with a couple band members other than Dickey) then why would you put something like this out if it isn't up to snuff? Perhaps they needed to fulfill a contract obligation or they needed more cash. Live ABB always seems to sell pretty good, eh?

I bring all this up for a reason. Upon listening to this, my first reaction was the music was OK. The sound isn't that great. They should have had Mr. Tom Dowd more involved with the process. He is a master behind their recorded sound and it shows here that his touch is badly needed. The song selection was kind of, eh. Live versions released before. It's not bad but after 3 new albums in the 90's, how about some obscure tracks from them.

My other peeve with the track selections, is 8 out of 10 songs are Gregg's. I'm going to say since Dickey is out of the picture, he had nothing to do with the song selection so they threw on as many Gregg songs as they could. Yes, his vocals are good, albeit somewhat muddied. But, that doesn't hilight much of the band, or I dare say, the brotherhood.

All in all, it's an OK album. More for completists than for the casual fan. I put this on the level of the notorious Wipe the Windows... live album from the 70's after their first split. My comments are what I think but the diehards, such as myself, will probably be dismayed by all this. O.T.F.W.

Members of the band have confirmed that this is just a contract

obligation filler. They wanted out of their deal with Sony, so they said you get what you get and here it is. Quote "None of us are proud of 'that thing'". Now they're hunkering down to put out a new album of new material with Warren back in the line up and creating their own label. Masters of their own destiny.

Vanity or not, at least there's new material on the horizon.

Overall the performances are great, even if the band used these performances as a means to can a member. The real shortcomings come in the way of sound quality. At times the sound is fair to good, but other times it is muffled. Sometimes the vocals are out in front, sometimes they're buried deep in the mix. Personally, I have better audience tapes of concerts that sound clearer than this official release. Don't get me wrong, the playing is top notch and the cd is worth having, just know that the sound quality is shakey.

I have listened to every era ABB and though the lineup here is one of my favorites, the recording isn't. Though average Allmans is better than most other bands . You can do better than this. For the collectors only. I am amazed this is all they could come up with after have many night to pick from. Dickey might not have been hitting the note on this one as they claim, but he is back in form now. saw him live twice in 06 and he has lots to offer. He needs to put out an album with his current lineup IMO the best he has had outside the Allmans.