The Sunflower Superjam 2012

The Sunflower Superjam 2012In 2012 a very special concert took place at the Royal Albert Hall – The Sunflower Superjam.  The Sunflower Jam is a charity, whose goal is “To work towards providing access for all to complimentary and integrated treatments in the fight against cancer and other diseases by funding and supporting research, treatment and education”.  After holding several fundraising concerts in a smaller venue they moved in 2012 to a much bigger venue due to popular demand, and you’ll soon understand why there was such demand when you look at the lineup.  The concert was filmed and has now been released as a DVD

The concert featured a stunning array of musicians including Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Brian May, Alfie Boe, Kerry Ellis, Steve Balsamo, Sandi Thom, John Paul Jones, Uli Jon Roth, Brian Auger, Ian Paice, Mark King, The Temperance movement, Micky Moody and many more.  That’s one hell of a lineup, and featured collaborations such as Alice Cooper performing with Brian May.
The DVD sadly doesn’t include the entire concert but instead picks a number of highlights from the show in order to fit it onto a DVD – you still get around an hour and a half of music though.  In addition there is a second disc which includes a few more songs from the show as well as around 90 minutes of highlights from the 2011 concert which featured artists including Joe Bonamassa, Jon Lord, Danny Bowes, Micky Moody, Rick Wakeman, Newton Faulkner and many more.

What can I say – this really is a stunning lineup of artists and it’s a great DVD.  Personally I’d have preferred to have both discs containing just the 2012 concert so they could fit in all of it (maybe even needing a third disc) as the whole show was so special that trying to pick highlights suggests that other bits weren’t so good but the whole show is worth seeing.    That’s the only criticism I have of the release though – what they have released is still superb and is packed with top artists performing together.  The fact that the money raised by DVD sales goes to help the charity is a bonus.

http://thesunflowerjam.tmstor.es/index.php?page=products&section=all

 

About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.