Of all the footage to pick for a DVD...
Doc | Dearborn, MI USA | 01/06/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Let me first lay this out on the table... I am a die-hard Church fan. I've got just about everything ever released by its members, past and present, and have seen the band perform live on several occasions. They continue to enlighten and amaze both in the studio and on the road, after over 20 years, and remain one of the largely undiscovered gems in the music industry. I really really wanted to enjoy this, the first real concert release from one of my fave bands ever.
It just wasn't meant to be. Having owned and watched hundreds of DVD's by artists big and small, I think I can safely say that this is one of the worst productions I have had to sit through.
VIDEO: I'll tackle the video problems first, as this is what contributes most notably. I realize that the footage comes from a bootleg source to begin with, but I think it must've been shot with a VHS-C camcorder with the lens cap on. The the entire video is so blurry you can't make out any of the band's features. What little motion there is from the camera adds to this problem. The exposure is horrible - during the many passages where the theater is darkened, the band is completely hidden. When the lights change, the camera cannot adapt fast enough to make anything more than a washed-out mess of the footage. I found myself skipping ahead hoping that the problem would correct itself further into the show, but it doesn't.
AUDIO: The audio on this disc fares a little better than the video, but not by much. The audio format is PCM, which I suppose is to be expected considering the low quality of the source recorder. In my book if you're going to do a tape translation though, at least give the time to encode in Dolby 2.0 - this seems to liven up the dead sounding audio from the source tape. Steve's voice sounds muted throughout, which is probably attributable to both the equipment setup and the recorder. This could have been fixed in production though. Lastly, the drop in ambient crowd volume during the applause is very noticable and annoying.
PERFORMANCE: This disc has a very nice arrangement of songs from the classic Church era - enough to satisfy most hardcore fans. Unfortunately, this isn't one of the band's best nights. Perhaps they are melancholy about Peter's imminent departure, the fact that they don't have a regular drummer, or that it's the last show on the tour? In any event, Steve overimprovises most of the lyrics in this show, to the point where he's always either ahead or behind Marty and Peter, both of whom shine through with more-than-passable axe work. Jay Dee Daughtery's drumming is for the most part basic and unspectacular. As I mentioned, the setlist should please most fans, just don't expect it to be performed to the quality you might expect worthy of a DVD release. Pick up a copy of Steve Kilbey's "Acoustic & Intimate" CD if you'd like to hear a performance that should have been produced on DVD.
Sadly, there isn't much here to make me want to pop this in my DVD player very often. The blurriness is the biggest detractor; I can't imagine why this one bootleg tape, out of the many that must be in existence (not to mention some professional shoots!) was chosen for a live DVD.
BOTTOM LINE: The band still rocks - hopefully the footage for the next concert-to-DVD translation will be more carefully chosen!"