Search - Joe Jackson - 25th Anniversary Special on DVD

A Disappointing DVD

Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 03/24/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"In one of the bonus features of this DVD, Joe Jackson reads the first chapter of his book, "A Cure For Gravity." He tells the audience not to worry, assuring them that the reading will be followed by the full two hour concert. Unfortunately, this DVD only contains thirteen songs, barely lasting one hour. Those attending the concert got their money's worth, while those of us who bought this DVD did not. The other bonus feature of this DVD is a Joe Jackson interview. All that he said should have been confined to that segment. Instead, almost every song in the show is interrupted near the end by a snippet of Joe Jackson talking. This interrupts the flow of the concert, not to mention having to listen to him talk while the song is still going on. In addition, the song "Glamour And Pain" is sung by the female violinist in his band. While she has a pleasant enough singing voice, I would have preferred hearing another song sung by Joe. Given the fact that several songs performed in the concert were left off the DVD, the decision to include that particular song is even more puzzling. A good quality bootleg tape of the entire show would be more enjoyable to watch than this heavily edited DVD concert."

Why is this so bad?

alankler | Westfield, NJ United States | 03/28/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is just an awful DVD. For starters, the sound quality is inexcusable and represents absolutely no production care or effort whatsoever - think bootleg quality (one fave part of mine takes place in the second verse of Real Man when Jackson is playing the piano and you hear all band and absolutely no piano, none). If that weren't enough, the video quality is inconsistent and poor. Finally, the content is so limited that in the end you're sure that you've ended up with the salvaged parts of a failed production effort; one which should have been scrapped.I saw this tour in San Francisco and thought it was mediocre to begin with. I was prejudiced though: One year prior I saw Jackson at the Bottom Line in New York where he played only with Burke and Maby, parked his butt behind a piano, and gave one of the best live performances I've ever seen (that mini-tour is captured on the Summer In The City:Live In New York CD). A concert on DVD can be nothing short of spectacular: James Taylor's Live From the Beacon, Dave Matthews Band's Listener Supported, and many others take full advantage of this incredible medium to use unprecedented sound and video quality to create a truly unique experience for the viewer. Why then are there so many horrible concert DVDs? Because some concert DVDs are about a process dedicated to capturing the live experience and therefore consider elements such as appropriate equipment, great sound production, video production, lighting, direction, editing, mastering, and other things which cost money. Other DVDs are just about getting the artist onto a DVD as cheaply as possible to make some quick cash. Nobody is asking for producers to break out Scorcese and crank out another Last Waltz, but if anyone thinks consumers aren't going to see through the process of showing up midtour and filming a few nights of a band's performance without further forethought or preparation, well then, they're just wrong.(...)"

Big disappointment

Aldo Pignotti | Winchester, MA United States | 05/27/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Sorry, this isn't really a concert, it's some songs interupted by interviews. There's barely a complete song on the whole DVD. The interviews are actually very interesting. Joe Jackson is one of those people who never settles into a rut. I always like to hear his opinions, he's a real free thinker. I just wish there were some complete songs on this DVD. Also, the recording quality of this DVD is almost poor. All I can figure is that the recording companies are afraid that if the DVD is too good, people won't but the cds. I have a couple "live" DVDs where all the songs are interupted by interviews. I saw one show from this tour and the sound was just stunning. I think Joe must put a lot of effort into rehearsing and getting his sound "just right" for live shows. Too bad that more of his music didn't make it to this DVD."

The title is a bit of a misnomer

Geena | Metro Atlanta, GA | 03/05/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Three things:

First, this is a re-release of an earlier DVD.

Second, the title is a deeply weird choice, given that this is taken from two concerts in Seattle and Portland from mid-2001 (two years before the 25th anniversary date trumpeted in the title).

Third, the person bitching about Allison Cornell's performance on "Glamour and Pain" is out of his/her mind! Her performance is one of the high points of the show (and almost makes up for the songs being constantly interrupted).

Okay, four things: anybody who liked the performances in the show(s) should look for the CD Two Rainy Nights, which features the same two shows.

All in all, an okay DVD for the money (although I'd rather have an expanded version of The Big World Sessions; my LaserDisc is far too short)."