DVD Review: Low in Europe
The Ledge and I have this appalling habit of buying music DVDs and then waiting months, if not years, to watch them. We have yet to watch the DVD of Morrissey’s first Manchester gig in 10 years. We have at least 2 REM DVDs, a couple of Pixies DVDs and a Death Cab for Cutie DVD all in the “To Be Watched” pile. I find I have to be in the right mood to watch live music on TV. Last night we finally both found ourselves in that mood and decided to watch the Low DVD Ledge bought last year.
Now, it started out promisingly enough, with the band talking about how the band were the opposite of the rock n’ roll lifestyle, how they just wanted to make music that shocked and challenged people. It was nice. Then a performance began. And then, abruptly, 2/3 of the way through the song, it stopped. And so it went. The interviews were interesting, especially as I’ve never read an interview with the band in my life. But, it seemed, for a music DVD there was very little music. Bits and pieces of the band on stage in Europe but without a single song being shown all the way through. Now, I realise this isn’t meant to be a DVD of the band performing but it’s bad enough watching any live performance on screen. It’s worse when you only get tasters.
Herein lies the whole problem with the concert DVD (or CD, for that matter). If you’ve seen a band live, you’re never, ever going to be able to enjoy them on screen in the same way. A live performance should be raw, visceral and interactive. Often shows are made or ruined as much by the reaction and behavior of the crowd as the quality of the performance given by the band. A live gig is about participating via sweat and shoving and singing and shouting and your eardrums throbbing. Watching a performance on your TV is about sitting back and witnessing. It’s incredibly sterile. It’s also when you notice all those little imperfections and mistakes. I find that when I love a band and I haven’t seen them live yet I can’t get enough bootlegs to satisfy me. The moment I’ve experienced that live show, I can’t bear to listen to the bootlegs anymore. It detracts from the experience because it distills it down into a brittle shell of what it actually should be. You crack it open and there’s no substance inside.
While ultimately I’ve never watched a live DVD that I’ve found particularly amazing, I’m sure we’ll continue to buy them, to maybe have the performances as a record of something that we experienced ourselves in a way, to remember the gigs after they’ve gone in the same way we take photos of them sometimes. But we’ll also probably continue to have an ever-expanding collection of those same DVDs that remain unwatched, or half-watched until some time in the distant future when the bands in question are only a memory that we miss so much that we’re willing to settle for second best.
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