Derek’s Last Stand (Mid Valley Records MVR 399/400/401)
HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA – March 18, 2007
Disc 1: Audience, Tell The Truth, Key To The Highway, Got To Get Better In A Little While, Little Wing, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, Driftin’, Outside Woman Blues, Nobody Knows you When You Are Down And Out, Running On Faith
Disc 2: Audience, Motherless Children, Little Queen Of Spades, Anyday, Wonderful Tonight, Layla, Cocaine, Crossroads
Disc 3: Soundboard, Key To The Highway, Got To Get Better In A Little While, Little Wing, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, Driftin’, Nobody Knows You When You Are Down And Out, Running On Faith, Motherless Children, Cocaine, Crossroads
Another stunning release by the MVR gang. Captured here we have the last show the US Tour which saw Derek Trucks as a member of EC’s band before joining the ABB. And how it was captured!!! We get a 3CD set this time: two of them cover the complete show in one of the best audience qualities you will ever come across and then we get a third disc featuring 10 of those tracks in soundboard quality. I am not an expert but bearing in mind the amount of hiss you can hear there I guess this could have easily been sourced from the ALD (Assisted Listening Device) as well…
Either way, the sound is great no matter where it was sourced from. The only shame on the soundboard recording is that it is NOT complete ;-) Will it be being hoarded? It will probably show up eventually but if that doesn’t happen, it’ll be just okay because, again, the audience recording is just as great!!!
After the mistake on the back cover of the Grand Finale 4CD set where “Motherlesss Children” was omitted on discs 2 and 4, MV makes a mistake again on the back cover mislabeling “Further On Up The Road” to “Anyday.” Apart from that, the artwork for this set is still okay. MVR could have done a much better job, but it still is okay.
As for the music is concerned, here we find fantastic renditions of “Got To Get Better” and “Little Wing” a nice interplay between EC and Derek Trucks on WDLGTBSS and “Running On Faith” featured a great Doyle on guitar – how brilliant his guitar work there is!!! – and I prefer listening to this one on Disc1 rather than on Disc3. The audience recording is just so A M A Z I N G !!!! Did I say this before??? Also, we are treated to a 16+ minutes version of Little Queen Of Spades, with great solos from each guitar player but also a nice one from Chris Stainton on keyboards.
Overall, a great night captured in stunning quality. How happy I am to have this in my collection! This is without doubt, another must have from MVR!
