Live Aid (4 Disc Set)
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Movie Reviews of Live Aid (4 Disc Set)
Movie Review: Best. Concert. Ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was at the Live Aid show at JFK, and it was an amazing day (also amazingly hot!). Some have complained about certain artists being left off the DVD (Zeppelin, Santana), and that's a shame, but it was either the artist's decision or due to technical problems. What is on the DVD is pretty amazing stuff, for the most part. You can't expect all of the performers to be perfect in such a huge show. Crosby, Stills, & Nash were horrible. Bob Dylan, a notoriously inconsistent live performer, was awful (and I'm a huge Dylan fan). Madonna wasn't very good. The one funny thing about her performance was left off the DVD. Live Aid happened just a few weeks after her nude photos were published by Playboy. She came out on stage, on a very hot day, wearing a long jacket, and said, "I ain't taking s--t off today!" Mick Jagger wasn't too great. The Thompson Twins/Madonna version of "Revolution" was ghastly.
But there was so much great music. Paul Young was great--excellent voice and great stage presence. U2 was absolutely phenomenal--the best of the many great London performances. Dire Straits was awesome, as always. Queen owned the Wembley crowd, especially with "Radio Gaga." David Bowie was great, especially "Heroes." The Pretenders, The Who, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Neil Young--all excellent. It was cool to see Phil Collins doing "In The Air Tonight," even though it was just him on piano. When he came to the part of the song where the drums kick in on the studio version, half the crowd at JFK started playing air drums. You don't see that on the DVD, unfortunately. And Hall & Oates doing old Temptations songs with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin--priceless! When Ashford & Simpson brought out Teddy Pendergrass for his first perfomance since being paralyzed, that was quite an emotional moment, and a great song.
But perhaps the best performer at JFK was Patti Labelle. Her performances of "Imagine" and "Forever Young" are jaw-droppingly amazing.
All in all, a great concert. By far the best concert I've ever attended. And I love the DVD. It's for a good cause, so buy lots of copies.
Movie Review: Heavily Edited, But I'll Take It!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was only eight when LIVE AID occured, and yet the memory of that day is one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. I can remember my mother waking me up at 7am and walking downstairs to our living room and watching the majority of the concert the rest of the day with my cousin. It left a lasting impression on me and I, like many others, have been waiting years for this.
Was it worth the wait? Yes, of course. Even in its heavilty edited form, I can still say that something is better than nothing.
Watching this DVD is like flipping through an old rock or fashion magazine from the summer of 1985. The hair, the fashion, the music- it's all there! The fact that most of these performances haven't seen the light of day in nearly twenty years makes it all the more special.
While there are several highlights, there is no denying that the show is stolen by the likes of QUEEN and U2. But even the bands that sound bad are still entertaining to watch!
Much has been made about the fact that there are several hours worth of performance footage missing, and I too would have liked to have seen more, but the fact that LIVE AID was ever released commercially is a miracle in itself. Bob Geldof didn't even want the BBC or MTV to record the event. It was his intention to have it be a one-off "global jukebox" and then disappear into history, only to be talked about by those who remember it.
If there is one thing I would have liked to have seen, I suppose it would have been some of the backstage interviews and antics. I wish they included some of the begging and pleading that the artists and announcers made to the viewers at home. It would have been nice if they had recreated the whole pandemonium, chaos and energy of the day by including some of these backstage moments.
With a few shortcomings aside, it's wonderful to finally have LIVE AID on DVD. July 13th, 1985 was possibly the most important day in rock and roll history and it's great to be able to relive some of the madness, tackiness and good music of that day....even if it's just in small doses!
Movie Review: The best music DVD I own.....
Summary: 5 Stars
Somebody mentioned to me that there was this great music DVD from the 80's about to be released. At first I was a little skeptical....you see I love 80's music and the thought of seeing all these bands live...well....
I bought it, and sat down in a comfy chair with a cup of tea...sure in the knowledge id just helped out some hungry people....and then it happened....my head got blown off by a visual/sonic onslaught that did not waine for over 10 hours. I was hooked. Not only is the video --> DVD tranfer superb....but the sound quality is amazing. It captures the atmospher to a 'T'. For me (someone who's into modern electronic music making with synthesizers)...I was just over joyed by the sight and sound of seeing classic synths on stage. If any of you are an analog or digital synth geek like me....then this DVD is as sacred as the Bible itself. You can clearly see the keyboardists of various bands playing with (including amazing close up footage):
Roland Jupiter 8's
Jupiter 6's
Prophet 5's
Pro-One's
MemoryMoog's
Oberheim OB8's and OBXa's
DX7's and a DX1 (OMG!!!)
Emulator II's
PPG Wave 2.2's
TR808's (drum machine)
The list goes on and on.....
Now, if you anything like me....your in for a real treat. Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran on his Jupiter 8. David Bowie and that amazing DX7 lead sound. Madonna and the DX7 overkill!! Ultravox and the amazing Emulator II and TR808 sound. Wow....I dont want to spoil it for you guys....but this DVD is compulsory viewing.
*Oh and just as a side note....one little observation Ive made. You know....back in the 80's there was alot of decent pop/rock music (can anyone say the same for todays?). All of the 80's artists were alot older....kinda in their late 20's and early 30's. Nowadays we have teenage brats with little talent filling the charts. Hmmmm....I smell a correlation here!
Hope you like my review....
Movie Review: Forget Woodstock. This is greatest concert of my time.
Summary: 5 Stars
Sure, Woodstock had some great acts, Jimi, ELP etc. . . but the concert wasn't taped in it's entirety (or at least ever released in its entirety). And as someone recently wrote, either is Live Aid, they list 85 songs missing.
However, Live Aid brought such a wide variety of bands together and intermixing of talents that alone makes it stand out as one of the all time greatest shows every presented. I recall spending all of my time watching it in 1985, but lacking the high quality recording gear, even a stereo VCR, I never had the opportunity to relive those moments.
Friends, knowing how much I loved music and how difficult I am to shop for, shocked me one Christmas when this first came out 20 years later. It was one of my favorite gifts ever.
It's fun to go back, see how silly the mode of dress was back in the day, parachute pants seemed to be all of the rage when looking back. The obligatory Mullets and other silly coiffed hair styles on many of the artists still performing today are a reminder, never let anyone take your picture or video when dressed in "trendy" cloths, they'll come back to haunt you years later.
It is amazing to sit there and see bands who you thought would be big end up being one hit wonders, other bands, quiet and unnoticed by many are now the enduring symbols of great sounds, professionalism, and the ability to change the music or change with the times.
Who would have thought that Simple Minds, (a very hot Irish band back than) would be replaced so quickly by another little know Irish band who also performed, U2?
I'll probably get in trouble for this, but I've ripped the audio out of the DVD's and carry many of the cuts on my Ipod, as its one of the few venues you can find some of the artists playing live on.
I hope some day they'll release a full CD version of the entire concert including the 85 songs listed as missing.
Movie Review: Huge Rock Milestone
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a freshman in high school in 1985. I remember hearing everybody talking about it, and sadly, I didn't have cable back then, so didn't get to see it. Now nearly 20(good grief) years later, I finally got to see (mostly anyway) what the buzz was about. First, for all the complaints I've read about missing sets or songs, be happy, VERY happy, this was released at all! This show was never intended to be released for home video at all originally. Second, yes, some of the artists in the shows weren't the best that day. That would explain why alot of them aren't around anymore, huh? The horizontal lines on screen during some numbers are annoying, but explained by the booklet in the set as produced by sound overload in the recording equipment, so just grin and bear it. I personally thought the picture quality to be quite good for the time and for the logistics involved. The sound really surprised me, being much better then bargained for. I agree that the Wembley show had a bigger share of great performances, and it seemed the Wembley crowd was much more inclined to party and enjoy themselves than the Philly crowd. Maybe the heat in Philadelphia that day had everybody reserving thier excitement. A few stand-out performances from the set include David Bowie, U2, Mick Jagger with Tina Turner, George Thorogood, Dire Straits. The best of the entire show, however, was Queen. Freddie Mercury was on fire! I enjoyed Queen's music for years, but I have become a big Queen fan now because of their 20 minutes or so of stage time in this show. I know some are harping of commercialism, of wanting to line corporate pockets with this release, but really this DVD is for a noble and great cause, just like the original show: to feed starving people. Any music fan should snap this set up for the historic event that it was, and for the performances that ensued, and for the reason it was done.