Let’s get something straight right out of the gate: I love Sugarland. I love just about everything about them and everything they do. This new CD/DVD package Live on the Inside is no exception. The CD gives us 10 live tracks while the DVD showcases their concert appearance at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY.

Beginning with the richly coalescing track “Love” and winding down with the heart-wrenching poignancy of “Stay,” the audio half of this set is inspiring. The songs in between those bookends cover a wide range of musical styles, for you see most of the songs are live recordings of cover songs; songs they play on a regular basis at the shows. The variety of artists they cover shows the range of influences this duo has and how they view the musical landscape. There are outstanding covers of Pearl Jam’s “Better Man”, and R.E.M’s “The One I Love” with the Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” being the crowning jewel. Those aren’t the only covers on the CD; they also squeeze versions of Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” and The B-52′s “Love Shack,” as well as two more of their hits—one of which has another partial cover as an intro.

The DVD portion of this package is even better than the audio only part. It catches Sugarland in all of their unabashed joy of performing, doing what they so clearly love. Jennifer Nettles is at the absolute peak of her game for this performance, both in voice and in command of the audience. Kristian provides his usual spirited counterpoint, accentuating Nettles’ intensity. While the staging of this concert is similar to the last time I saw them live, in person, it was still very fresh and alive, and was in many ways light years beyond it. The DVD provides 15 glorious performances of Sugarland hits plus a few favorites and covers to boot.

The only complaint I have with this release is it is only available at one major retailer (Walmart) and nowhere else. Having said that, if you are a Sugarland fan, this combo platter of audio and video is an absolute must have for your collection. If you are only a casual fan, then I suggest you go out and get this so you too can be sold on how incredible these two are and how much joy, life and love they give to their craft. In other words, just go out and buy it—I cannot recommend it more.

You can buy the set from Walmart here.

Author's Rating

Author: Thomas: I'm a Florida native who loves music, theatre and the outdoors. I am a scuba diver & I hope to be a Scuba Instructor someday. I work in the performing arts as the house carpenter for an historic theatre.