Year of the Flood [Region 2]
![Year of the Flood [Region 2]](/images/Year-of-the-Flood-Region-2-B0016M2NP6-L.jpg)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: RunrigDVD: Region Code 2
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Import, PAL
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-06-24
Audience Rating: Unrated
Movie Reviews of Year of the Flood [Region 2]
Movie Review: You've Got to See It to Believe It
Summary: 5 Stars
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights...."
OK, the downpour at Runrig's August 2007 "Beat the Drum" concert on the banks of Loch Ness wasn't quite of Biblical proportions, but it was the rainiest day in living memory for the area. Footage during the introductory electronic bagpipe melody (composed by Malcom Jones) shows 17,500 die-hard Runrig fans gleefully standing, dancing and even rolling in the mud while sheets of rain came pouring down.
Reportedly, the extreme moisture actually shorted out some of the recording equipment, so Runrig incorporated actual fan footage to flesh out the "holes" in the concert. This works nicely, giving the viewer a sort of "you were there" kind of feeling, especially with some of the grainy lower-resolution video.
I may be descended from hardy Scots and Vikings, but I'm not so sure I'd be up to the damp and cold of that night, even if I could afford to go all the way to Scotland to see Runrig perform live. Thanks to "Year of the Flood", I can be there vicariously instead. The name is appropriate, not just because of the dreadful weather, but because it matches the first song in the concert; the introduction segues right into it. It was a fortuitous choice indeed, made probably months in advance of the big day.
The music is top notch, and Runrig puts on an awesome show. Because they're still writing fresh tunes, their concerts tend to focus on an even balance of their newest works, along with their perennially popular classics. If you're a Runrig fan, you know about "Pride of the Summer" ("Beat the Drum"), "Skye" and "Loch Lomond", along with "Every River" and "Protect and Survive". Celtic people love to sing, and Runrig obliges them by encouraging sing-alongs of several of the favorites. I must have at least half a dozen recordings of "Loch Lomond", spanning almost three decades, and all of them are different but equally fun to listen to.
Seven or eight of the tracks are taken from Runrig's 2007 album, "Everything You See". This includes "Clash of the Ash", a song about the Highland game called shinty, played on grass, an ancestor of ice hockey. The guest accordion player was none other than Gary Innes, the man featured on the cover of "Everything You See" and a well-known shinty player, and also, as Bruce Guthro says, "a hell of an accordion player".
Also featured is a guest violinist named Laura McGhee playing in "Proterra".
Most of the singing was handled either by Rory MacDonald, including the Gaelic lyrics, or by Bruce, the lead singer. One track, "Something's Got to Give", is sung by Brian Hurren, the keyboardist, a young man. He has a gorgeous high tenor voice, and I saw a couple of girls in the audience moved almost to tears. (Or maybe that was just the rain.)
I think the most awesome track of all was "A Reiteach". Four of the band members strapped on drums and completely went to town. I was ready to light a bonfire and dance around it, the primal ancestral memories, encoded in my DNA, resonating with the pounding Celtic beat, screaming to be let out. My mother and I remark, almost daily, that we were "born on the wrong side of the Pond".
One thing I love about seeing Runrig on DVD is the way the players interact with each other and with the audience. These aren't just Scotsmen wearing kilts, though I saw a few of those. A long-time tradition has been to wave the flag of one's country of origin. Besides Scotland, Runrig's biggest fans are in Germany and Denmark, and I saw flags from a number of other Scandinavian countries, plus the Spanish province of Valencia, plus Canada -- Bruce's homeland. I've yet to ever see the Stars and Stripes, but the fact that I'm writing this shows that Runrig's appeal extends even to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. If ever they were to play at Red Rocks, I would be ecstatic.
As Bruce sings in one of the new songs: "Here we stand, in Scandinavia. We stand right now". We are all, on some level, one people, with a common culture and a common love of music.
To further connect with the audience, any of the band members handling acoustic instruments ventured out at one time or another into the rain at the edge of the stage. Truly it was a shared experience.
One note about the DVD itself: I bought mine directly from Runrig's official UK web site. It is Region 0, meaning any DVD player in the world should be authorized to play it. However, it is also in the European PAL video format. My 2007 white iMac can play it, as well as my three-year-old portable Radio Shack player (which can be hooked up to the TV). My regular living room DVD player, on the other hand, cannot handle it.
I bring this up as a caveat of sorts. Amazon lists this item as NTSC, which means that it SHOULD work with standard North American DVD players. But, since Runrig does not list such a DVD on their site, I do have to wonder where Amazon is getting their supply from. I suppose you'll just have to trust their word.
Summary of Year of the Flood [Region 2]
[Non-U.S. Format (PAL) Region 2 U.K. DVD - This will not play on U.S./Canada DVD players or those from most other countries outside of Europe. You would need a "multi-region" or "region-free" PAL compatible DVD player or computer.] Scottish rock band Runrig perform live at Loch Ness in 2007. Tracklist 1: Intro Music 2: Year Of The Flood 3: Pride Of The Summer 4: Road Trip 5: Proterra 6: The Ocean Road 7: An Toll Dubh 8: Scna 9: The Engine Room 10: Every River 11: A Reitench 12: In Scandinavia 13: Clash Of The Ash 14: Skye 15: Hearts Of Oden Glory 16:Something's Got To Give 17:Protect And Survive 18:On The Edge 19:Loch LomondSimilar DVD Movies
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