Shared Darkness

Notwithstanding his signature clock neckwear, other than offer himself up to the sloppy kisses and gropings of various bickering skanks looking for a celeb-reality hand-out, emaciated rap jester turned habitual parolee Flavor Flav hasn’t really had anywhere to be in years, so is it any surprise that Flavor Flav: Live in Concert is such a jumbled mess?

Where to begin? This sparsely produced disc, taken from a 70-minute 2008 show in Switzerland, of all places, runs through a couple of Flav’s Public Enemy highlights (“Can’t Do Nothing 4 You” and “911 Is a Joke,” though the latter is amusingly billed as “All Is a Joke,” perhaps the result of some typo/Swedish error in transcription). The bulk of the material here, though, is from Flav’s much more erratic solo career (“Wonder Why,” “No One Can Take Me Down”), and is of therefore considerably less interest. Further complicating matters is the fact that Flav performs under a pre-recorded backing track. This might be somewhat forgiveable, but it’s downright weird when — in the introduction — he just stands there with the microphone at his side, mouthing the words.

Whenever Flav veers too far close to completely derailing the show, DJ Lord typically steps in to save him with some random curiosity, whether it’s a scratch-and-mix solo set in the middle of the concert or an interlude with a French-speaking rapper built around the same stuttering, scrambled, keyboard-and-hi-hat sample that powers Nas’ “Made You Look.” Still, the sad fact remains that Flav — absent the counterbalancing intellect of someone like Chuck D — isn’t a top-shelf showman, and many of his crowd-wrangling, get-hyped gimmicks (pulling a dozen girls up onstage for “Shake Your Booty,” for instance) come across as more desperate than rowdy and fun. That’s underscored when that number breaks up, and the girls begin to meekly file offstage. Despite Flav exhorting all the girls to stay for the next song, only three or four do; one just shrugs and walks off. Damn, playa! That wouldn’t happen to Jay-Z, would it?

Housed in a clear plastic Amaray case, Flavor Flav: Live in Concert is presented on a region-free disc in a 16×9 aspect ratio. Its Dolby digital audio track is fairly solid, and in all honesty the video is clear, and well shot, if simply frequently too jumbled and kinetic in its editing and construction. There are no supplemental extras, just 16 chapter stops on a static menu screen. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. D (Concert) D (Disc)