Nico - An Underground Experience / Heroine: Review

This week begins a new series on Life On This Planet - Concert Film Of The Day. I will be watching 5 live concert videos and then featuring one every day this week. Keep up on my daily postings by clicking LIKE over at the Life On This Planet Blog Page on Facebook.

For the price of one DVD, you get two concerts on Nico - An Underground Experience + Heroine. The first one is at an underground punk club with her full band, and the second at Manchester's Library Theatre.

Part 1: An Underground Experience.

An Underground Experience begins with a very 'dazed' Nico taking a deep, close-eyed drag from a cigarette, while the band launches into 'I'm Waiting For The Man,' from her old band, The Velvet Underground. The arrangements and instrumentation are very similar to that of her early 80s album, Drama Of Exile.

As you watch the performance, you can't help but be drawn into Nico's distant, slightly crazed eyes. The first real sign of emotion comes with the performance of one she sang with The Velvets, Femme Fatale. She pours her heart into it, closing her eyes and gently swaying. It's a beautiful moment.

Towards the end of this gig, an awkward interview interrupts the program with a nervous voice asking Nico silly questions about wearing sunglasses in The Velvets, drugs and Andy Warhol. In the background, you can hear Bowie's version of Jacques Brel's 'Port Of Amsterdam' as Nico tells the interviewer that her only regret in life is that she was born a woman.

The set closes with a cover of Bowie's 'Heroes,' ala the version that appears on her 1981's Drama Of Exile, and the song Saeta. Don't listen to the reviews saying the sound is bad - the audio is fine - the only glitches are some missing video frames where a few photo stills stand in for a couple of seconds.

Part 2: Heroine

The second concert is quite a contrast. Filmed at Manchester's Library Theatre, except for some minor accents, the entire concert is predominantly Nico with her harmonium as accompaniment. She opens with 'My Heart Is Empty,' which will eventually appear on her final album, 1985's Camera Obscura.

Nico looks relaxed in this setting and performs an intense, a cappella version of another song she sang with the Velvets - 'All Tomorrow's Parties.' The German song 'Mutterlein' sounds strong, but the best moment of the show is 'Afraid,' one of the saddest and most beautiful songs of all time - 'You are beautiful and you are alone.'

Another of my favorite Nico tracks, 'Frozen Warnings,' sounds particularly chilling in this environment. For the show closure, she steps away from her harmonium, to front the band in a jazzy rendition of 'Femme Fatale.' This part of the DVD lasts for just under an hour.

If you click on the bonus features, you'll enjoy another backstage interview with Nico, her discography and a life history. There isn't much footage of live Nico floating around out there, so be sure to grab this for your collection. [Scroll down for purchase link]

An Underground Experience Track Listing:  I'm Waiting For The Man / Vegas / 60-40 / All Tomorrow's Parties / Femme Fatale / Heroes / Saeta

Heroine Track Listing:  My Heart Is Empty / Procession / All Tomorrow's Parties / Valley Of The Kings / The Sphinx / We've Got The Gold / Mutterlein / Afraid / Innocent And Vain / Frozen Warnings / Fearfully In Danger / Tanamore / Femme Fatale

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Sinéad O'Connor - Good Night, Thank You, You've Been A Lovely Audience: Live In Dublin. Review

This week begins a new series on Life On This Planet - Concert Film Of The Day. I will be watching 5 live concert videos and then featuring one every day this week. Keep up on my daily postings by clicking LIKE over at the Life On This Planet Blog Page on Facebook.

In 2002, Sinead O'Connor announced her retirement from music - today's Concert Film Of The Day was to be her farewell. Filmed live in Dublin, in front of her hometown audience, it's an intimate show and begins as such, with a dedication of the Irish song, Molly Malone, to her 'daddy' who is in the audience. Most of the tracks performed at this show are taken from her most recent effort at the time, Sean-Nos Nua, which exclusively  featured reworkings of traditional Irish songs.

O'Connor's vocals are amazing, and it shows on 'My Lagan Love,' and a spectacular version of the song that put her on the international map - Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U.' The band is amazing, with a wide range of instrumentation, including concertina, violins and cello. 'John, I Love You,' taken from her fourth album, 1994's Universal Mother, shines even brighter with this band.

A performance of the Bono / Gavin Friday composition, 'You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart,' from the In The Name Of The Father soundtrack, is intense. Speaking of U2, Steve Wickham plays fiddle in O'Connor's band - you may have heard him play on a song called 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.'


The show ends with a dynamic version of 'The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance.' Thankfully, retirement didn't last long for O'Connor - she released a new album just a few years later.


The DVD has a documentary and six music videos as bonus content.


Track Listing:  Molly Malone / Oro Se do Bheathat Bhaile / The Singing Bird / My Lagan Love / I Am Stretched On Your Grave / Nothing Compares 2 U / John, I Love You / The Moorlough Shore / You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart / Paddy's Lament / Thank You For Hearing Me / Fire On Babylon / The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance

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R.E.M. - Tourfilm. Review

This week begins a new series on Life On This Planet - Concert Film Of The Day. I will be watching 5 live concert videos and then featuring one every day this week. Keep up on my daily postings by clicking LIKE over at the Life On This Planet Blog Page on Facebook.

Feeling a bit nostalgic since the announcement of their breakup, I decided to check out an old R.E.M. concert video called Tourfilm. Shot over 5 shows on R.E.M.'s Green Tour, it was originally released on VHS back in 1990.

Tourfilm starts off a bit awkward, with a tepid version of Green's huge single, Stand, but luckily they recover with a superb take on The One I Love. It's a joy watching guitarist Peter Buck spin on his heels, holding that classic black and white Rickenbacker.

The set list is heavy on Green / Document era tracks, with only one song represented from 1983's Murmur, and nothing from Reckoning. A major highlight is the performance of You Are The Everything, complete with Mike Mills on accordion, Peter Buck on mandolin and drummer Bill Berry on bass. Not only is it one of my favorite R.E.M. tracks, but this song is the predecessor of the sound that the band would explore to great heights on their next couple of records - in particular, Losing My Religion.

Deep album cuts such as King of Birds and I Believe really stand out on this show, as well as Document's lead-off track, Finest Worksong. After the brilliant performance of Murmur's Perfect Circle, the band takes the stage for a fun, but sloppy version of the Velvet Underground's After Hours - filmed at the very end of the last show of the tour.

Overall, it was cool seeing this era of R.E.M.'s career performed live. There are some other killer live DVDs available, scroll down for links. :)

Track Listing:  Stand / The One I Love / These Days / Turn You Inside-Out / World Leader Pretend / Feeling Gravity's Pull / I Believe / I Remember California / Get Up / It's The End Of The World As We Know It / Pop Song 89 / Fall On Me / You Are The Everything / Begin The Begin / King Of Birds / Finest Worksong / Perfect Circle / After Hours

Check out my list of The 20 Best R.E.M. Songs

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Depeche Mode - Touring The Angel Live In Milan: Review

This week begins a new series on Life On This Planet - Concert Film Of The Day. I will be watching 5 live concert videos and then featuring one every day this week. Keep up on my daily postings by clicking LIKE over at the Life On This Planet Blog Page on Facebook.

The last time I saw Depeche Mode live was in 1993, when The The opened for them at Phoenix Veterans Memorial Coliseum, on the Devotional Tour. One of my distinct memories of that show is from the very second DM hit the stage, being smashed against a circular, yellow cement barrier that the security guards stood in on the floor. The crowd was insane.

So last night, I grabbed Depeche Mode's Touring The Angel DVD off the shelf to give it a viewing. The entire show was filmed in Milan, Italy on the 2005/2006 tour of their excellent 11th album, Playing The Angel. The visuals and audio are fantastic - Anton Corbijn, amazing photographer / director, designed the stage set.

The first sign of goosebumps appear on my arm during Precious. Written about his children as they suffered through Gore's recent divorce, it is extremely emotional when his voice and Gahan's join in harmony. Beautiful. Now normally I find it a bit annoying when the singer points the mic at the crowd to sing parts of songs, but in Enjoy The Silence, the sheer volume of the crowd is a bit touching.

I've only watched this DVD one other time, when I originally got it, and I have to say that I am quite impressed by the show. Another favorite from Playing The Angel, the Gahan-penned Suffer Well, is really nice with Gore playing the bass parts live. The show would not be complete without the addition of a couple of Depeche Mode oldies. 1981's Just Can't Get Enough and 83's Everything Counts get their moment during the encore.

Some additional observations.  Martin Gore wears a mohawk hat and black wings. Dave Gahan invokes Mick Jagger with shirtless, microphone stand twirls, and preacher-like shouts of 'yeah' and 'oh' - at any chance he can get.

The whole show runs for 21 songs - 23 with the two added bonus tracks - in just under two hours. If you get the deluxe version, shown below, there is an entire bonus DVD with a documentary, electronic press kit, the backdrop video stage screens, etc. AND there is a bonus live CD that contains audio for all of the songs from the show that are from Playing The Angel. It all comes in a beautiful digipak with a nice booklet.

Track Listing:  A Pain That I'm Used To / John The Revelator / A Question Of Time / Policy Of Truth / Precious / Walking In My Shoes / Suffer Well / Macro / Home / I Want It All / The Sinner In Me / I Feel You / Behind The Wheel / World In My Eyes / Personal Jesus / Enjoy The Silence / Shake The Disease / Just Can't Get Enough / Everything Counts / Never Let Me Down Again / Goodnight Lovers.  Bonus: A Question Of Lust / Damaged People.

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U2 - Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky. Review

Today begins a new series on Life On This Planet - Concert Film Of The Day. I will be watching 5 live concert videos and then featuring one every day this week. Keep up on my daily postings by clicking LIKE over at the Life On This Planet Blog Page on Facebook.

Here is my initial experience with U2 Live At Red Rocks. At some point in the late 80s, I popped in a VHS tape and recorded the concert off of either MTV of VH1 - that tape was cherished. At the time, U2 had just released the War album, so they only had three albums under their belts, but judging by the dedication of the crowd to withstand the weather conditions, U2 was already on their way to massive stardom.

The original video, which was commercially available on VHS, was not the entire show the band played that rainy night at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on June 5, 1983. The original began with the song Surrender, and was edited down to 12 tracks. In 2008, the band reissued the entire 17-song set in all of its glory. Although I bought the DVD when it came out, I never really sat through it, or its special features, in their entirety.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a remarkable glimpse of the band on the brink of worldwide success, so it is quite exciting to watch them with all of their youthful energy. The set now begins with three songs from their debut record, 1980's Boy. Although an official music video for Sunday Bloody Sunday was never made, the amazing performance taken from this show filled in the void on MTV.

This show was mostly everyone's first exposure to live classics like 11 O'Clock Tick Tock and Party Girl - both are just ridiculously rad to watch after all of these years. I should mention that Bono's inclusion of some of the lyrics to 'Send In The Clowns' still remains edited-out on this release. Check out the full set list further down the page.

I also took the time to listen to the audio commentary from director Gavin Taylor. It was quite fascinating hearing all of his stories about the goings-on of the shoot that due to the weather, almost didn't happen. Definitely worth the time to check that out as well. So obviously if you are a U2 fan, you've already seen this concert, but maybe not in its entirety. If you've never seen U2 before all of the ginormous TV screens and big stage productions, then you've gotta get Live At Red Rocks - purchase links are below.

Track Listing:  Out of Control / Twilight / An Cat Dubh - Into The Heart / Surrender / Two Hearts Beat As One / Seconds / Sunday Bloody Sunday / The Electric Co. / October / New Year's Day / I Threw A Brick Through A Window / A Day Without Me / Gloria / Party Girl / 11 O'Clock Tick Tock / I Will Follow / 40

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