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SHOW
BY ZOË GEMELLI
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This limited-edition package of Allison Moorer’s Show couples her new live CD with the DVD version of the same performance. But only the CD reaches the magical plateau that’s won Moorer acclaim as one of the new breed of folkish country singers. Her voice, framed with a capable band of professional players, is stunning, and her versatility as a songwriter allows her the flexibility to straddle the lines between country pop and country folk while throwing in some blues rock every now and again. On "Yessiree" and "I’ll Break Before I Bend," she plays the blues-rocker. "A Soft Place To Fall" shows a friendly face toward country radio, as does "Send Down an Angel" (either could be a Nashville hit if covered by the right artist). Her folk side emerges on the eerie-sounding "Dying Breed": "No one grows old in this household/We are a dying breed," she sings with a hint of irony, given her history. (She and her sister, Shelby Lynne, lost their parents to a murder/suicide at their father’s hand.) Things heat up on both the CD and the DVD when Shelby comes out to sing on three songs. There’s a mesmerizing moment during "Is Heaven Good Enough for You," which they wrote about their mother, when two voices cut from the same cloth blend together. Kid Rock shares the stage for a spirited final encore of "Bully Jones." But what makes the DVD slow going is the front-and-center blandness of the stage performances, even when the guests arrive. More often than not, it’s Moorer’s voice that carries these performances. And you don’t need a DVD to hear that.
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