Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Speaking of Music DVD's

And, while I am on the Music DVD's thing, here are a couple more that I picked up recently.


Joni Mitchell - Shadows and Light. Great Sound, Great Band.


Drive By Truckers - The Dirty South, Live at the 40 Watt. I've just been turned on to these guys, and am quickly grabbing everything I can find. Hard Rockin' Southern flavored stuff. They really burn it up on this one.

The Pretenders - Live in LA. A Great sounding DVD, but for some reason the performance seems a little sterile. Not sure why. It seems to be in a smallish studio sort of space, and not a real Concert Hall or Club. More viewing required.

Finally got the SRV DVD from Austin. It is terrific. Will have to get the others. We also discovered that The Sweetheart is a SRV fan! It had never come up, and somehow I had never put any on while she was around. Odd.

Rust Never Sleeps - Needs no plug what-so-ever.

With the new system, I am finding that my jones for live music can be sated somewhat with these Live Concert DVDs, since I simply do not seem to be able to come up with the time to go out to see as much live music as I used to. Which is a shame, because quite a few good bands come through and play C-Ville.

Here's two to avoid:

ELO at Wembley. Absolutely atrocious. I picked up this one in a fit of nostalgia at Tower one day. The price was cheap and I thought it might put a grin on my face. The video is horrible, the sound is horrible (insert jokes about the band here), and the editing cuts are a bunch of godawful Don Kirshner-type disco looking swipes. To be avoided at all costs.

Cheap Trick - Silver. Ugh. What a disappointment. Lousy sound, lousy video. The performances aren't bad, but it looks like it was filmed on Super 8 and it sounds worse. And this is only a few years old!

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A few recommendations:

David Gray at The Point. Very nicely done. A little trippy-dreamy at times, but a great document of one of his shows. The documentary in the extras section is definitely worth a look.

Richard Thompson -- Live in Providence. Boy, oh boy...if this won't convert you, nothing will. There were only four cameras, but the picture quality is great and the sound is terrific. And there is some savage guitar work here. Buy it for his workout on "Can't Win" alone.

Cyndi Lauper -- Live... At Last. DON'T LAUGH. This was another one of those $9.99 discs, and I thought my girlfriend would like it. As it turns out, this is a stunning performance. I would have shelled out $9.99 just for the version of "Money Changes Everything".

In reply to:

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Cyndi Lauper

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i have always liked her.. there is a very honest and humble quality to her voice. she is no great singer, but she can convey a lot of emotion and feeling in every word.

i always thought her song 'time after time' from the 80's was an extremely well written song. and then willie nelson did a cover of it a few years ago on one of his albums. i thought that was a great tribute of him to give to her. even if you dont like his voice, there is no question he is one of the greatest song writers of his time. so, for him to cover someone elses songs, thats a great compliment.

bigjohn

In reply to:

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she is no great singer, but she can convey a lot of emotion and feeling in every word

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Amen to that. Sort of. I know what you mean -- she's not great in the sense of a (insert your diva here), but man, has she got a set of lungs on her. She is on her game in a big way in this DVD. She's not the goofy, multi-colored, garish Cyndi from the 80s. This is a lady who has evolved into an amazing performer -- but her energy level is still the same as it was 20 years ago. Good stuff.

it think it would be more fair to say that she has a unique 'texture' to her voice. it is distinctly her own.. like a macy gray or bjork. i would limit myself to call them great singers, but definitely very unique.

and i have seen cyndi perform on a few TV programs, and i was impressed. i might see if i can find that one to rent.

and i guess since we are on the subject, and it is slow around here today.. might i suggest the new Los Lonely Boys DVD called Texican Style.

i know i have a special place in my heart for these guys cause they are from my hometown, but this really is a great DVD. the concert was recorded live in austin on the final night of the SXSW festival in 2004. it a super hot set of music, and does a great job of capturing their lively and energetic stage show.

bigjohn

I saw Cyndi on a show or something not too long ago and was very impressed, of course even though I never bought any of her music I've always like listening to her.

Los Lonely Boys...I heard that was an awesome DVD, thanks for the reminder!

i think with you being an SRV fan, you would like this DVD very much. it really highlights the superb guitar techinques of henry garza. he really knocks out some awesome fret work, and makes it look effortless.

a definite must DVD for any true guitar aficionado.

bigjohn

Thanks john, this DVD is definately on the hit list for tomorrow...or maybe even tonight!

Actually I was listening to their cd a day or so ago and they sounded truely awesome on the 60s.

This past weekend, I openned up my system to a friend that wanted to try his speakers on my system, he was thinking about buying a new amp. He had been to my place before to listen to the system over a year ago. He owns Polk RTi's....he brought over four RTi-38's, the matching center, and some stands.

He has a very nice collection of hi-res music, and our tastes in music are similar. We spent about 3.5 hours just listening to music and chatting...I gave him full control to do what he wanted with his speakers and the music..I just kicked back.

Great music, in fact, I ordered he following discs while he was here:

Natalie Merchant-Tigerlily DVD-A
Peter White-Glow SACD
The Eagles-Hotel California DVD-A
Mickey Hart-Over The Edge and Back--he Best of Mickey Hart DVD-A

He went home and ordered his amp.

A win, win situation.

>>Natalie Merchant-Tigerlily DVD-A

Ahh, didn't know that was on DVD. I hate it when I already have the CD Now what ...

>>Peter White-Glow SACD
>>The Eagles-Hotel California DVD-A

Yeah that one's awesome.

>>Mickey Hart-Over The Edge and Back--he Best of Mickey Hart DVD-A

Check out Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon -- It's on every list of best SACDs I've seen! (and yes I agree with that opinion)

Also recently got Rolling Stones-Let It Bleed

I believe it's a stereo SACD but great sound and -- as always -- begs to pump up the volume