Live at the Metro, September 27, 1995 - Blind Melon

Released ten years to the day after the concert it chronicles, Blind Melon's Live at the Metro, September 27, 1995 presents a full-length show held at the Cabaret Metro theater in Chicago during the band's final tour, less than a month before the death of lead singer Shannon Hoon. (Six of the video's performances previously appeared in the 1996 home video Letters from a Porcupine; 13 are previously unreleased.) It's easy to see why Blind Melon couldn't continue without him. Undeniably charismatic, he looks disheveled on-stage in an untucked-in button-down shirt, his mascara already running as the concert opens, his appearance recalling a wasted version of the young Steve Forbert or, to those watching the video in 2005, perhaps John Mayer. He throws himself around the stage like a puppet, singing in a sandpaper tenor songs with quirky lyrics including "Skinned," about a serial killer's fascination with body parts; "Galaxie," introduced as being about "my first love," which may or may not be the car of the title; and "Dumptruck," with its chorus, "Nothing's ever gonna come between my dump truck and me." The band accompanies him with hard, rhythmic rock and, occasionally, folk arrangements, but they never speak or do anything to upstage the frontman. The 76-minute performance is accompanied by three performances in the television studios of the Canadian MuchMusic network on which the group is accompanied by an uncredited conga player (for "Toes Across the Floor") and cellist (for "Change" and "Soup"). ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide