There’s only six tracks, so unlike other live albums of the era, many of which were gargantuan double/triple album length extravaganzas, this is short, sweet, and to the point. The bookend tracks are, yes, “Fool for the City” and “Slow Ride”. What else would they be – “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Singing in the Rain”? One thing I will say about both songs performed live is, stripped of all of their studio enhancements, they do sound slightly subdued in a live setting. But generally, the group delivers the tunes and gives the fans what they paid for. In between, they include tracks from their first two records – nothing, sadly, from Rock & Roll Outlaws or Night Shift, which are two records I really like, and I thought contained better material than what was on their first two albums. The second track is “Home in my Hand” which I’m pretty ambivalent about. The disc takes a tick upward with the third track, their cover of “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, which also was the group’s first hit. I’d go as far to say that, on sheer energy alone, this track is the highlight of the disc, and it definitely spills over to the next two tracks, “Road Fever” and “Honey Hush”. I can understand why this album was Foghat’s biggest seller, because it amply demonstrates that above all else, they were a very entertaining live act. My one quibble here is - why is this disc on single LP length and why has anyone not seen fit to release an expanded version of this performance? It just seems to me that even on what should be easily their strongest platter by a long shot, the group got shorted, somehow…or maybe I’m reading too much into this?
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