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DVD QuickTakes

QuickTakes Archive / QuickTakes Archive (pre-May 2008)

Paul Simon: Live from Philadelphia

If you’ve already purchased the Paul Simon “Live at the Tower Theatre” DVD that was released in 2003, then there’s no need to bother with “Live from Philadelphia,” because it’s exactly the same concert, transferred from grainy video footage to present the same truncated 10/7/80 show – something Eagle really should have done a better job of making clear on this “new” title’s packaging. If, however, you don’t own “Tower Theatre,” and don’t mind suffering through the vagaries of the poorly aged footage, then “Live from Philadelphia” isn’t a bad way to spend $10. For one thing, Simon was touring with a terrific band: Steve Gadd on drums, Tony Levin on bass, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Eric Gale on guitar, offering the same New York-spun mellow urban vibe that typified Simon’s recordings of the era. For another thing, Simon – usually not the most scintillating live performer – was in high spirits during this show, stopping to interact with the audience a time or two (at one point, he even tells someone whose view he suspects may be obstructed to just come down and stand in front of the stage, joking that he isn’t sure whether it’s against the rules, but “it’s okay with me”). The set list might dwell a little too heavily on One Trick Pony for some, and it certainly doesn’t include any must-hear versions of the 11 songs presented here, but it does provide a glimpse of Simon during a time when he was beginning what was to become a decades-long struggle to redefine himself, the performances are uniformly tight, and the price is right. Just make sure you don’t already own it.

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Jeff Giles
12/2/2008
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Keane Curate a Night for War Child

Recorded last fall, Keane assembled a handful of friends to raise money for War Child, a charity dedicated to the welfare of Iraqi children. The list of bands on the bill is an odd one, beginning with Teddy Thompson, Findlay Brown and erstwhile Raconteur Brendan Benson before going to more Keane-ish bands like the Pet Shop Boys and Lily Allen. The set lists are tiny – no one but Keane plays more than two songs, and the Magic Numbers only play one – and Keane only plays four, not including the part where they back up Allen. The performances are good and the piece is judiciously edited so the next song comes soon after the previous one. But one can’t help but wonder what songs were played that night that didn’t make the cut; Keane, for example, played “Is It Any Wonder?,” one of their biggest hits, but it did not make the DVD. It feels like bad karma to kick around a charity DVD, but this set, while entertaining, feels incomplete. (Eagle Vision)

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David Medsker
11/5/2008
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Dear Mr. Fantasy: A Celebration of Jim Capaldi

In January of 2007, a very distinguished set of musicians put on a concert celebrating the life and work of Jim Capaldi, a founding member of Traffic who died in January of 2005 of stomach cancer at the age of 60. The DVD capturing the event is pleasant enough and features performances and contributions from musicians who worked with and were inspired by Capaldi’s spirit, songwriting and musicianship. The list includes Steve Winwood, Capaldi’s Traffic bandmate, who delivers a solid version of the Traffic classic “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” and other luminaries such as Joe Walsh, Paul Weller, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) and Deep Purple alum and keyboard genius Jon Lord. The house band supporting these stars during the show included Bad Company alum Simon Kirke on the drums and multi-instrumentalist and band leader Mark Rivera (Foreigner, Ringo Starr, Billy Joel). The artists offer competent versions of Traffic and Capaldi solo material while adding a wrinkle or two of their own. Islam sneaks in a refrain of “Wild World” during “Man With No Country” and Walsh, ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and Jon Lord deliver a bluesy, soulful rendition of “Living on the Outside.” Solid, mellow and entertaining without a ton of bells and whistles, the concert delivers a fine tribute to a respected artist and his work from those who loved him the most. (Eagle Vision)

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R. David Smola
10/24/2008
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Classic Albums: Duran Duran, Rio

Man, do we love this series. Eagle gets away from their classic rock leanings and brings in four of the Fab Five – Andy Taylor, having left the band once again, does not participate – to dissect Duran Duran’s 1982 worldwide breakthrough album Rio, and while it doesn’t contain any of the bizarro production stories that were revealed in the episode dedicated to Def Leppard’s Hysteria, it is still a very entertaining and informative analysis of one of the biggest albums of the ‘80s. Nick Rhodes describes the origins of the opening sound on the album’s title track, and talks about how he remodeled “The Chauffeur” into an electronic track from its origins as an acoustic number. They even recruited David Kershenbaum to talk about remixing several Rio tracks to make them more “American” (smart move, that). John Taylor pulls out his bass and plays a few riffs, and reveals that he had to switch from his fingers to a pick and back on “Hold Back the Rain.” Russell Mulcahy is on hand to talk about the videos he shot in Sri Lanka (three videos in three days, yikes), and Bob Geldof is on hand to rave about the record, too. It’s a fine addition to an excellent series. May we suggest ABC’s The Lexicon of Love as a future candidate? (Eagle Vision)

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David Medsker
10/20/2008
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Talk Talk: Live at Montreux 1986

Is it just us, or is Talk Talk one of the most underrated bands of all time? Seriously, is there another band on the planet that had the growth trajectory over its first five albums that Talk Talk exhibited? (Your results may vary over the course of Talk Talk’s last two albums, but you cannot deny that they refused to do the same thing twice, come hell or high water.) This video catches the band both at their commercial peak (their third album, 1986’s The Colour of Spring) and on their last tour, playing Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival and bringing a small but packed house to its knees. Singer Mark Hollis was not one for small talk with the audience, or even doing much more than walking between the mic and the drum riser (or taking off his sunglasses, indoors), but when he starts singing, he shakes like a man possessed by the Holy Ghost, and with perfect pitch to boot. Even the band’s earlier, more synthesized fare is fleshed out by the eight-piece band, giving some unlikely songs a little welcome breathing room (“Call in the Night Boy” in particular). The set list is near-bulletproof – all the big hits, from “Talk Talk” to “Living in Another World” and “Life’s What You Make It” are here, along with their It’s My Life album in its entirety, save one song – though we wished that they had made room for “Happiness Is Easy” in the 14-song set. Then again, the band did what every great band does: they left us wanting more. This is a must-have for any fan of a criminally unappreciated band. (Eagle Vision)

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David Medsker
10/14/2008
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The Spice Girls - “Raw Spice”

The only real reason to waste your time watching this “unofficial” documentary of the Spice Girls before they made it big is to see Victoria Adams constantly smiling and with some meat on her bones. Other than that, this is just a cheap opportunistic piece of crap undoubtedly made by the group’s original management of Chris and Bob Herbert. Watching the same clips of the girls rehearsing a song called “We’re Gonna Make It Happen” in a dumpy little studio gets old fast, and hearing the various nobody-talking heads either trash or praise Geri Halliwell for her original instinctive drive to want to have the group become huge and get the hell away from Heart Management is completely uninteresting. Though hearing the girls talk about their aspirations and feelings towards each other is slightly fascinating, this is ultimately just boring archival footage with no Spice Girls tunes or input from any of the girls themselves. Another “unauthorized” waste of time you can easily ignore.

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Jason Thompson
6/20/2008
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