Peter Frampton - Live in Detroit
Look before you snicker. The prospect of a cutting-edge concert DVD from  a '70s rocker who's mostly been MIA during the intervening decades might seem  baffling to all but his staunchest fans. But Peter Frampton's particular 15  minutes of fame were rooted in his sturdy prowess as a live player, and that  crowd-pleasing instinct kicks into gear quickly onLive in Detroit.  The  expatriate British guitarist, singer, and songwriter cheerfully admits that this  well-shot, crisply recorded concert from Pine Knob amphitheater is banking on  the lack of any video companion to his epochal live double album,Frampton Comes Alive, which  broke sales records following its 1976 release. Accordingly,Detroitserves up a set list featuring the earlier set's high points and preserving the  front man's affable, enthusiastic rapport.Those virtues won't entirely neutralize the initial shock of seeing the former  rock heartthrob as he crowds 50. The shoulder-length locks that made him a  poster boy (and supplied a then-chic androgyny) are gone, his hair now close- cropped and white, and he wears small wire-rim glasses that reinforce a  comparatively clerical look, even in dark jeans and T-shirt.  But when Frampton  and his current quartet launch into old arena workhorses like "Baby (Something's  Happening)," or signature hits like "Show Me the Way" and "Baby I Love Your  Way," he shows his singing and lead guitar playing are both unchanged.In short, meat-and-potatoes musicianship, an eager-to-please affection for his  audience, and that archetypal song book of '70s radio favorites all play to  Frampton's strengths and to his audience's expectations, right up to those  talkbox effects that sounded anachronistic until Cher dusted them off for her  Europop-inflected comeback.  For DVD music fans of a certain age, that  translates to a canny mix of nostalgia and show-biz professionalism.--Sam  Sutherland