The Spencer Davis Group were filmed playing live in front of a small audience somewhere in Europe (probably Germany) in 1966, just prior to the departure of Stevie and Muff Winwood, who left to form Traffic. Though this was clearly a controlled environment, we still see the band, in their prime, performing some of their greatest songs, and they sounded pretty fine. Stevie Winwood, in particular, is mesmerizing. Still a teenager, he was already a brilliant performer, and watching him get down and bluesy on guitar is a bit of a revelation to those who picture him forever trapped behind a Hammond B3. Of course we love the music he made on that B3 with SDG, and it's great to get a chance to see a no-overdubs, no-lipsynch performance of tunes like "Gimme Some Lovin'," "I'm A Man," "Georgia On My Mind" and "Keep On Running." They take a break for lunch and interviews halfway through, and though the interview process breaks down right away, this segment is fun because it gives you a feeling of hanging out with these intelligent, funny guys. You also feel like you're going to suffocate because you can barely see anyone through all the cigarette smoke. How did they taste their food? Oh well.

The second half of the DVD is a documentary filmed for German television just after the Winwoods left, as Davis began the process of putting a new band together. Sadly, they couldn't really make the magic again. Part of the problem was that Davis seemed to be trying to find another Stevie, and all he found were pale imitations. His main vocalist really had trouble staying on key, let alone sounding like Stevie. Still, they soldiered on, performed, recorded and filmed this documentary in which they did a lot of acting silly and posing, and even more attempting to pretend things were great. (Shed no tears for Spencer. He went on to a stellar career in production and A&R.)