| Stereophonics' first official live recording captures them out on the road in the USA--specifically, Dakota, the inspiration for their 2005 UK No.1 single--knocking out the Everyman anthems that, if the ecstatic crowd reaction here is to be believed, stretches far beyond their genesis in the sleepy Welsh valleys. Stretched over two CDs, Live From Dakota cuts through every strata of Stereophonic' career, from recent album moments like "Superman" and "Doorman"--played here as a bristly one-two opening salvo--to forgotten gems like "Carrot Cake And Wine", a B-side dating all the way back to Word Gets Around. The sound is crisp, belying little of the cavernous arena it's captured in, and crowd noise is generally unobtrusive, aside from when Kelly Jones vacates the microphone towards the close of "Traffic", the audience chorusing the words back with perceptible American twang. Inevitably, affairs end with a breezy run through "Dakota", capping a live set that should satisfy fans and work as a good entry to newcomers before that inevitable Greatest Hits materialises. --Louis Pattison |
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