Whoaaaahhh sweeet mama! Listen up all you hep cats and cool jacks with your Chevy runners and sexy mamas. The man with the plan and a screaming tin can is back in Japan where he wants to fry your goose and stir your juice loose from your big bad fat caboose.

Yes, Brian Setzer, the wailing one from the screaming hot trio, Stray Cats, is struttin’ it up with his wicked big band orchestra live on stage in this pretty little platter that matters. Before you can say “Mercy!� he’s blitzing his way through magic hits and memory trips like:

Hawaii 5-0
This Cat’s on a Hot Tin Roof
The Dirty Boogie
Jumpin’ East of Java
The Footloose Doll
Drive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder)
Caravan
Americano
I Won’t Stand in Your Way
Mystery Train
Gene & Eddie
Guitar Rag
Sleepwalk
Stray Cat Strut
Jump Jive an’ Wail
Pennsylvania 6-5000
Gettin’ in the Mood
Get Me to the Church on Time
Rock This Town
Rock This Town (’68 Comeback Special)

Brian Setzer might look a little older than you may remember, but he shows you that even though he’s getting on in years, he isn’t slowing down one bit. His backing band really knows how to cook these songs, and the young Japanese crowd have a ball with the show. I defy you to find at least one song that you won’t go back to over and over. From a Hawaii 5-0 that would have Steve Garret freaking out, to a fantastic version of Gettin’ in the Mood that I played five times straight. This DVD is a killer set that screams out to be played loud.

Music DVDs that are available in a widescreen format rather than full frame are always welcome in my house. For that reason, The Brian Setzer Orchestra Live in Japan earns an extra point from me because it is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Bad-ish bits first: a bit of aliasing, some edge enhancement and a bit of blocking visible in the darker bits of the backgrounds. Does it take away from the overall presentation? Not really. It’s all pretty tolerable for a music title. Colours, as far as live stage concert with lots of black outfits and bright lights go, are pretty good. Darker areas off stage are a little flat, but who cares - just keep your eyes on stage instead. This is definitely one music DVD you’re gonna be way too busy enjoying to give a shit about the minor faults with the picture.

Where it counts on this disc is the sound, and sweet mamma does it rock. Catering for all tastes, we get the concert screamed at us in 224 kbps DD2.0 stereo, 448kbps DD5.1 and 754kbps DTS 5.1. Yeehaaa! Crank this baby up and burn your system to the floor with cool sounding guitar riffs, screaming horns and wailing lyrics, all coming at ya crystal clear and thumping. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer DD or DTS, because they’re so similar you’ll forget about comparisons and just enjoy both.

Then, when you’re done enjoying the music and want to check out what else this DVD has to offer in the way of extra features, dive into the track selections and pull up two multi-angle songs with Caravan and Sleepwalk, each with two cameras to choose from. When you’re finished with them, go and have a look at life behind the scenes with the short Brian Setzer Orchestra Live in Japan featurette. Give these extras the once over, then get back to the music, because that’s what this DVD is all about.