James - Seven... The Live Concert. Review

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Without a doubt, James is one of the greatest bands of all time. The three times that I've seen them live are three of the best shows I've ever seen. This week's featured concert film is James: Seven... The Live Concert. Filmed in December of 1991 at NW England's Warrington Hall, the band performs their upcoming Seven album in its entirety.


The show begins with an acoustic version of 'Protect Me' - just Tim and Larry, before the whole band joins in on 'Bring A Gun.' Until the band reunited in 2008 for the brilliant Hey Ma LP, the Seven tour was the last that we'd see of the band's amazing, 7-piece lineup: Tim Booth (vocals), Larry Gott (guitar), Saul Davies (violin, guitar), Jim Glennie (bass), Mark Hunter (keys), Andy Diagram (trumpet) and Dave Baynton-Power (drums). 'Bring A Gun' and 'Live A Love Of Life' have always been the weak spots on the album, and they stand out as the weak spots in this performance.

'Ring The Bells,' 'Sound' and 'Seven' are three of my favorite James' songs and they are the definite highlights of the set. Tim Booth's vocals are great as always, and James is not James without the trumpet and stage presence of Andy Diagram. 'Born Of Frustration' and 'Don't Wait That Long' also sound fabulous.

As I mentioned before, the entire purpose of this show was to perform the Seven album before its release. While it's a solid gig, if I had to recommend a James DVD for you, it would be Getting Away With It...Live - it's one of the best concert films of all time, filmed on their 2001 'Farewell Tour.' [Link posted at the bottom of this page.] 


Overall, the audio, the footage, lighting and stage backdrops on this DVD are outstanding. Bonus features include the music videos for 'Come Home,' 'Born Of Frustration,' 'Sound' and 'Seven.'


Track Listing:  Protect Me (acoustic) / Bring A Gun / Ring The Bells / Sound / Mother / Live A Love Of Life / Next Lover / Heavens / Protect Me / Seven / Born Of Frustration / Don't Wait That Long
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Social Distortion Live In Orange County. Review

Hello everyone! Here is this week's Concert Film Of The Week. If you'd like to keep up on my daily postings, head on over to the Life On This Planet Facebook Page and click LIKE. Thanks for stopping by.

Recorded live at the Anaheim House of Blues on January 19, 2003, this is the only official DVD of Social Distortion. At the time the show was filmed, it had been 7 years since the release of a new album, and just a couple of years since the tragic death of guitarist Dennis Danell.


I've seen Social D. several times over the years, and their live shows are always high energy - this show is no exception. The presentation begins with the band anxiously waiting in the stage wings, as singer Mike Ness explains the doo-wop song from '65 that is playing over the PA, before the band takes the stage. Opening with the country song 'Making Believe' - which appeared on 1992's Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell - the band is thunderous and tight.


The show hits all areas of their career at this point, including two really early ones - '1945' and 'Mass Hysteria' from 1981. 'Mommy's Little Monster' - the title track from Social D's 1983 debut - is dedicated to Danell. With the backdrop for that album proudly displaying behind them, the band also plays three other additional cuts from Monster.


It would still be well over a year before the release of 'Sex, Love and Rock 'N Roll,' so it's a treat to hear a couple of songs from the upcoming (at the time) album. 'Footprints On My Celing' - dedicated to Ness's wife - sounds great, as does one of my favorites by the band - 'I Wasn't Born To Follow' - dedicated to the late Joe Strummer (of The Clash) and Joey Ramone.

There are some cool bonus features added on to the DVD, including a backstage acoustic performance of 'Bad Luck,' how to play dice with Mike Ness, interviews, soundcheck, photo gallery, etc. Definitely grab a copy of this for your collection.

Track Listing:  Making Believe / 1945 / Sick Boy / Telling Them / Bad Luck / Footprints On My Ceiling / Don't Drag Me Down / I Wasn't Born To Follow / Another State Of Mind / The Creeps / Mommy's Little Monster / Mass Hysteria / 99 To Life / Ring Of Fire / Story Of My Life

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Jimi Hendrix Live At Monterey. Review

Last week I featured a different concert film every day of the week. I decided to continue with this concept, but bringing you one each week. If you'd like to keep up on my daily postings, head on over to the Life On This Planet Facebook Page and click LIKE. Thanks for stopping by.

I've been listening to a lot of Hendrix this week. As a matter of fact, I have the Valleys Of Neptune album spinning on my turntable as I type. Anyways, this week I was able to sit down and enjoy Jimi Hendrix's American breakthrough performance at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 18, 1967. At this point, Hendrix was virtually unknown in his native country, yet over in the UK he was championed by The Beatles, The Stones and Clapton. Jimi's appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival came just after the release of his brilliant debut album Are You Experienced.


The film begins with a documentary on Hendrix, and of the history of the Monterey Festival - which includes interviews with members of The Mamas and Papas, festival coordinators and other key figures. The fun begins when the late Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones steps up to the microphone to introduce The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It's great to see the original band with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. The band is on fire, tearing through covers of Howlin' Wolf's 'Killing Floor,' BB King's 'Rock Me Baby,' and Dylan's 'Like A Rolling Stone.' Hendrix is confident - a total seasoned pro as he jokes with the crowd in between songs.


What's really fascinating about this show is that mostly every single person in the crowd is getting to witness Hendrix for the very first time, never hearing of him before his band walked on stage. The handful of songs the band plays from Are You Experienced are falling onto the crowd's ears for the very first time, so it's really cool to hear songs that have become classics, like 'The Wind Cries Mary,' 'Foxey Lady' and 'Purple Haze,' basically being debuted on American soil.


The real highlight of Hendrix at Monterey is the show closer - 'Wild Thing.' This is the moment that skyrocketed him to fame in America. You've seen the photo of Hendrix on his knees with his guitar on fire - it's all on this DVD. During the solo, he plays the melody to 'Strangers In The Night' with one hand, before strangling some foreign sounds out of his Strat. As his guitar burns on the ground, the camera pans to a few audience members, staring with their mouths opened - kind of frightened, kind of intrigued. It's history in the making.


The film was directed by D.A. Pennebaker, the man who brought you 'Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars,' Depeche Mode's '101,' and Dylan's 'Don't Look Back.' Besides the documentaries, the bonus features also contain some of the earliest audio/video footage of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, filmed live in England in early 1967.

Track Listing:  Killing Floor / Foxy Lady / Like A Rolling Stone / Rock Me Baby / Hey Joe / The Wind Cries Mary / Purple Haze / Wild Thing

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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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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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Peter Murphy - Live at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA, June 29, 2011 - Review

The Troubadour is a legendary Los Angeles venue, so when the opportunity came up to see Peter Murphy there, I couldn't refuse - even if it meant driving six hours! Hot on the heels of his newly-released album, Ninth, the LA show was the final performance of a short, California promotional tour.

Peter Murphy took the stage to roaring applause, opening with Burning From The Inside - the title track from his former band Bauhaus' 1983 album. An abrupt stop transformed the song into Ninth's Iggy-fueled Velocity Bird. Although the opening three songs were high energy, the show really took off with the performance of his new single I Spit Roses. The band, consisting of the same members that I've seen over the last couple of tours - Mark Thwaite - guitar, Nick Lucero - drums and Jeff Schwartoff - bass - are solid. Although I didn't notice any problems with the vocals, Murphy seemed to be having issues the entire night.

One thing that I noticed over the last couple tours is that Peter Murphy now really likes to talk on stage. Breaking down the barrier between performer and audience, he commands the stage as a seasoned pro. He took about a ten minute break to playfully tease the sound guy, have a male audience member grab his chest and then refer to himself as not a goth, but a 'vintage hipster.' LOL.

If you didn't already know, Murphy had a cameo in Eclipse - the third film in the Twilight saga. While filming, he struck up a friendship with an actor who happened to be a big fan of his music. That guy is Billy Burke, who portrays Bella's father in all of the films. Sure enough, Billy Burke comes out on stage to sing backup vocals on the Bauhaus tune Silent Hedges. Then Murphy switches to keyboards and starts up Love Hysteria's My Last Two Weeks, with Burke on lead vocals. These two guys seemed like old friends, and it was a charming moment to experience. By the way, Burke's vocals sounded damn good.

Nothing was played from his first album, or any other tracks from Love Hysteria. The Deep album was represented by Deep Ocean Vast Sea and a cool version of Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem with Murphy on 12-string.

Obviously the main focus of the show was on his new record - Peace To Each, Seesaw Sway, Memory Go and Uneven & Brittle - all sounded intense, with Brittle being my favorite from Ninth. In the live setting, it was nothing short of brilliant. An unreleased track from the Ninth sessions, Gaslight, had the vibe of some of the more ambient tracks from his 1995 album, Cascade. Hopes are for Nettwerk (his label) to release it, along with two other unreleased songs as an EP. Speaking of Cascade, an emotional version of I'll Fall With Your Knife was one of the show's best moments.

Other highlights were his phenomenal cover of The Stooges' Raw Power, and a really intense version of Stigmata Martyr from Bauhaus' first album - complete with PM singing backwards right before the ending invocation. The show ended with a dedication to his friend Trent Reznor before he belted out a stunning rendition of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt - check out a live video at the bottom of this post.

A huge thank you to Christy Borgman who was gracious enough to share her beautiful photographs here. Check out her other work at LA Woman Photography.

PM made it clear that he'll be back out on the road in September, so stayed tuned for tour date announcements. In the meantime, be sure to sink your teeth into his new album, Ninth. You can check out my review here. Keep up with daily postings by clicking LIKE on my Facebook Page. Cheers! - Bret

Songs Performed

Burning From The Inside

Velocity Bird

Peace To Each

I Spit Roses

Memory Go

Seesaw Sway

Silent Hedges (w/ Billy Burke on backing vox)

My Last Two Weeks (w/ B. Burke on lead vox, PM on keys)

Subway

Gaslight (unreleased song)

Deep Ocean Vast Sea

Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem

Raw Power (Stooges cover)

Stigmata Martyr

Uneven & Brittle

I'll Fall With Your Knife

Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover)

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