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Better off not being seen

I enjoy music DVD's and if they're well recorded, find them the most realistic form of music reproduction. That being said, I recently come across some dreadful DVD's that might be enough to sway anyone off the concept if they were the first ones they saw. My take -

Diana Krall - Live in Paris - my first exposure to her. Assumedly my last. I trust the CD's are better, or else I don't understand the attraction.

Eagles - Farewell Tour. As good as the first DVD was, this one should be called "Once more without any effort". Yes the production is excellent, but the performance is like sleepwalking, and Joe Walsh unfortunately makes a complete buffoon of himself, with Don Henley as smarmy as ever. Yuck. For absolute diehard fans ONLY.

Fleetwood Mac - The Dance - Great production, but Stevie Nicks and her one-octave, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice makes the off button the only safe place on the remote. The quicker the better.

Any other DVD's to avoid like the plague before I invest $25?
snofun3
12 responses Add your response
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Dreadhead, I saw it on one of the many "History of Rock & Roll" specials. I don't know if the footage has ever been released commercially. When I say bad, I mean Sid Vicious in his post Sex Pistols hitting bottom bad...except that she was WORSE on this night!
dreadhead
353 posts
 
Fatparrot, where can I see this Grace Slick video?? I love the Airplane and would like to see the self destruction of the lead singer. Kind of like looking at a car accident, you should look but you can't help it.
bigjoe's avatar
bigjoe
693 posts
 
man is grace slick cool as hell,i love thay old shot gun tote'n broad.
leedistad
104 posts
 
In addition, I quite like Sarah Brightman's La Luna on DVD.
xiekitchen
821 posts
 
Yes "Keys to Ascention" concert recorded somewhere in CA around mid 90's... the DVD sound quality is very good, I think, but the video "interpretation" is a very weak "artistic" effort reminnescent of a freshman's film school project. Really bad, video wise, but if you're a YES fan, like me, you'll probably still buy it.
Much better is the new 35th anniversary tour Yes DVD concert.. great sound, great performances, except of course everybody's quite a bit more "tammed" especially Steve Howe. Compare him on the "Yessongs" footage recorded around 1973 or so... MUCH more dynamic performance(but REALLY lousy sound).

Also a real letdown was Bob Marley's DVD concert recorded in CA around 1979. Poor sound and video quality, and poor Bob seems just too "lost" in his trance.

Something I'd like to recommend: The Doobie Bros. "Live at Wolftrap" I bought this on a lark with low expectations but WOW! what a show.. They've never been better, with great sidemen.
danlib1
819 posts
 
Fatparrot- I've seen that footage...wow! I think that's when Grace realized she had a couple of issues. And let's face it, Airplane without Grace would be awful. Almost as bad as what Starship became!
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Did anyone ever catch a clip of Grace Slick's last performance that caused The Jefferson Airplane to break up?

It was in Germany, where she baited the audience about being Nazis, and spewed other nasty assorted insults. She was so stinking drunk that she could barely stand, and her "singing" sounded like alley cats fighting...no wait...that's an insult to alley cats. The concert ended prematurely, after a riot nearly ensued.
kck
184 posts
 
Forgot to mention, speaking of the Krall... try watching her in DeLovely. OMG, what a fright!
kck
184 posts
 
Speaking of Eagles, there was a Don Henley concert that was so bad we cried. Not only did he phone it in, he used a tin can to do so! We shut off after 2 songs.
Thankfully I have forgotten the name of that miscreation.

Also have to admit I shut off Coldplay's concert after about 5 minutes. That camerawork was suitable for a kindergarten project, no more.

OTOH, Peter Gabriel's Secret World, wow. Now THAT's the way to put on a show.
robm321
932 posts
 
You made a good point. I think one thing missing in audio is actually seeing the performance. I imagine audiophiles in an ideal situation would have a holograph of the group and that coupled with a 3d sound presentation would be pretty amazing.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
"Eagles - Farewell Tour. As good as the first DVD was, this one should be called "Once more without any effort". Yes the production is excellent, but the performance is like sleepwalking, and Joe Walsh unfortunately makes a complete buffoon of himself, with Don Henley as smarmy as ever. Yuck. For absolute diehard fans ONLY."

I 100% agree as I just watched it for the first time. Terrible is the word on this one.
leedistad
104 posts
 
makes the off button the only safe place on the remote

Very nice, I'll be using that.

Regarding Diana Krall: Live in Paris; the biggest problem with that video is that she appears to be as high as a kite through the entire thing. Generally, substance abuse amongst jazz musicians is to be expected, perhaps even encouraged, as it seems to result in better music. However, her dopey-lidded eyes, and slurred whispering not only ruin the music, you keep worrying that she's going to pass out and hit her head on the piano.
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