Love – Live! On the
Sunset Strip DVD (Blue Castle)
I figured this week was as good as any to share some of my favorite music DVDs. The concert on this nearly impossible to find disk was recorded in 2003, the peak of Arthur Lee’s late career renaissance. As good as it is to hear shows from this period, it is better to SEE Mr. Lee’s charisma, power and unparalleled stage presence in action.
Love – Glastonbury 2003 DVD (BBC4)
Like the Sunset Strip show, this concert shows Love at or near the tippy top of its game. But this recording, by the BBC, is better. Great to see Love play to such an enormous crowd—and a young one at that. If Love had its stuff together in the late 60s and ventured beyond L.A. to play to huge audiences it’s much more likely that it wouldn’t be one of music’s best kept secrets today.
Love – The Forever Changes Concert DVD (Snapper)
This widely available DVD features the band accompanied by an orchestra. While the show is fantastic, with cameras rolling for an official release the band was perhaps a bit tighter and more self conscious. As great as Arthur Lee’s magical voice is here it touches heaven less often than in the other two shows.
The Stranglers – The
Video Collection 1977-1982 DVD (EMI)
Absolutely essential! Some great videos of the men in black at their peak.
The Damned – Tiki
Nightmare DVD (Union Square)
Tiki Nightmare sees the band playing in London in 2002 extremely well. And the song selection is excellent as is the quality of the shoot. But Dave Vanian’s singing, though fine, has been better and regretfully the band used a Tiki motif, which has absolutely nothing to do with the band from an iconographic perspective. Readers are best advised to wait until next month when the band releases
Machine Gun Etiquette—25th a double disk that
features a 2004 Manchester show and will have loads of extra material.
Devo – The Complete
Truth About De-Evolution DVD (Rhino)
The spuds from Ohio were video innovators long before
most.
The Residents – Icky
Flix DVD (Cryptic)
Vids from another innovator. Strange, bizarre and
incredibly original. A visual delight.
Robert Wyatt – Free Will and Testament DVD (Ellie)
This hard to find documentary spends significant time
with Wyatt in his home, a veritable music museum. His
personality and strong beliefs come sharply into focus
here. It’s also fun seeing Brian
Eno gush about Wyatt.
The Vandals- Sweatin’ to the Oldies DVD (Kung Fu)
The best thing about this double disk offering is not the music—it’s the entertainment provided by guitarist and lovable loon Warren Fitzgerald and bassist Joe Escalante’s smart, dead-pan narration.
Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story (NR) DVD (Shout
Factory)
A touching yet hilarious documentary.
