Customer Reviews

270 Miles from Graceland - Live from Bonnaroo 2003

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"270 Miles from Graceland - Bonnaroo 2003"

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Talkatif
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals - Temporary Remedy
Warren Haynes - Beautifully Broken
The Polyphonic Spree - It's the Sun
Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon - William Powell
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Sleeper
Widespread Panic - Papa Johnny Road
Medeski Martin and Wood - Uninvisible
My Morning Jacket - Lowdown
Robert Randolph & the Family Band - I Need More Love
Jack Johnson - Mud Football

Tortoise - Tin Cans & Twine
Nickel Creek - I Should've Known Better
Sonic Youth - Bull in the Heather
The Roots - You Got Me
The Dead - Sugar Magnolia
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot
North Mississippi Allstars - Be So Glad
Yonder Mountain String Band - Mother's Only Son
Ben Kweller - Walk On Me
The Allman Brothers Band - Desdemona
James Brown - I Feel Good
Scratch - Freestyle

Don't forget the great Bonus Footage:
-Backstage Pass with artist interviews and practice sessions
-Press Pass with artist interviews from the press tent
-Photo Gallery
-Artist Info with pictures, bios and setlists
-Portraits with a montage of unused video from the film
-Film Trailer

Oh boy, twenty-three performances! That's a feature? That's twenty-three songs from how many hundreds that were performed? And there isn't one untouched live song with the crowd heard, no slow motion, all the words matching the singer's mouth, etc. Filming creativity is fine, but give me a few moments completely live. And since the producers were too cheap to give us a decent insert with a correct order of performances or song names, I took out the second dvd thinking ooh, maybe some better songs on this one. Wrong. No songs on this one. A performance schedule, some photos, and other useless - but mildly interesting- filler. People want to see live music. A legend like Neil Young plays at Bonnaroo, and a concert movie trailer is more important? Weak! On two dvds there should be hours of performances for this kind of money.

It would be hard to match the content of last year's DVD, and this one does not do it. It contains some awesome performances: Warren Haynes, Polyphonic Spree, Flaming Lips, etc. But last year's truly documented the performances while this year's takes those performances and makes them serve as sort of a music video for the entire festival. There are songs cut short here: Yonder Montain and Robert Randoph have longer versions of their songs cut short in the interest of keeping things moving along.

I will not complain about the missing performances. You always will have someone mad about one performance or the other being shafted (and moe. got the shaft this time around), but my complaint is that the DVD is more about cool looking images during songs and not about the actual performances.

I thought it was very well made. It had some good backstage stuff with the Dead and Ben Harper. And the segue from Nickel Creek to Sonic Youth was pretty cool.

One last thing. When they actually do talk to people in the campgrounds, think about this. There are 80,000 people there, but they use the same fat guy in two different segments. Was there NO ONE ELSE to talk to?

To those who don't know too much about Bonnaroo and the importance of it, I say one thing: "buy everything with the Bonnaroo name on it!" You'd be hard pressed to find any better collection of music than any of the 3 CD's (one single disc and two double's) or either of the double DVD sets. This is modern music's Woodstock. Along with all the classic acts' opportunity to show the world why acts like The Dead, Allman Brothers and James Brown have been entertaining millions for decades.

This DVD features great song highlights by groups like Ben Harper, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Jack Johnson, The Roots, The Dead, Flaming Lips, Allman Brothers Band and James Brown among many others. The only complaint I have is that with this 2003 DVD the video director took a lot of artistic liberties which draw away slightly from the enjoyment of the pure musicianship that was the sole focus of last year's Bonnaroo 2002 DVD. Aside from this minor difference the DVD still highlights the great performances and the over-all enjoyment of all involved with this festival on behalf of both performers and audience alike. This a must have great music/festival DVD that should only be passed up for only one reason: Buying the 2002 DVD first. -peace

The bonnaroo 2002 dvd was great, but this dvd features too many pictures of hippies on the swingset and not enough shots of the bands who are actually playing. My thoughts on Bonnaroo have always been that the music is awesome, but the Superfly-related aspects are clearly an exploitation of the fans (more in 2003 than in 2002, and a trend that I expect will continue), and this dvd is an example. They cut some songs (such as YMSB's "Mother's Only Son"), and the camera sometimes made me dizzy as it went from hula-hoops to bubbles to dreadlocks without really showing the crowd or, most importantly, the bands. Also, the bonus disc is useless (worth watching once I guess, but only once), and was clearly made to make even more money off the dvd. As someone who attended this festival, I must say that I was severely disappointed by this dvd. They made some bad choices of which bands to feature, but I guess that is a matter of each reviewer's opinion (still, you would think that headliners such as the legendary Neil Young would be on it). I guess Superfly just assumes that everyone who attended the festival will buy the dvd, and they are probably right, but those who do will also be unhappy with it. I was frequently trying to find myself in the crowd shots, or see the band playing up close, only to find that there are few shots of either. I'll see you at bonnaroo 2004, but only for the music, and I don't think I'll be buying the dvd to that one (unless I see it first, which I urge everyone to do with this one before buying it).

I found this years DVD to be a huge let down. Some of the best performances were left out. Missing are the Funky Meters (who put on a killer show), Neil Young (I will never understand this one, the guy was a headliner!!!), moe, sound tribe, Galactic, the Wailers, Partice and few others. Last years DVD made me want to go to Bonnaroo after this years I could care less. I also really enjoyed the interviews with fans and the shots of people camping and getting their perspective on the festival, there was very little of this in this years offering. I will say that what performances they do show are well filmed and the sound is excellent. Hopefully they get a new director for next years film.

If you were very pleased with last years DVD - with its clean good shots of the bands playing, and minimal but tasteful effects mixed in - you might not like this one. I was incredibly dissapointed for many reasons.

The director seems unable to hold any shot for more than half a minute. The picture constantly jumps from shot to shot, and more often than not you are seeing shadows, the moon, reflections of a drum kit, the band members dancing to another song - anything other than someone playing their instrument. I found this very frustrating, especially during performances like Mike and Leo when I really wanted to see their fingers.

He also really overdoes the annoying "cop drama" shaky camera thing. I don't want to relive dancing around - I want to see these bands up close which other than on a DVD I am unable to do.

And the bands - of course you can't please everyone and good music has to be left out but for the most part the song and band selections are terrible. Can you believe that "Sugar Magnolia" makes a repeat appearance on this disc? Even Panic comes off as being run of the mill because it isn't a great song they are playing. Where is Neil Young? "I feel good" - please, anything besides the most overplayed song of his. And most of the more unknown bands are pretty boring or even awful. Where are artists like Drums and Tuba or the Campbell Brothers that really added a lot to last year's disc? And what about big jams, or collaborations? That's what sets Bonnaroo apart!

I think the director really messed up on this one, and because of his treatment of the music I'm pretty positive he isn't a fan of the genre. He wanted to impress us with an artistic statement and really, really overdid it.

Highlights do exist - the performances by the Allman Brothers, Bela Fleck, and N. Miss Allstars are excellent. And I did enjoy the audience shots during Yonder Mtn. though I didn't see much of the group.

The bonus disc has some cool stuff on it but the interviews are heavily edited - they filmed the whole thing, why not give it all to us? And if they were able to give us visually uninterrupted performances from the artists' trailers, why not any from the actual festival?

The direction and editing of this film really detracted from the music, which is a shame because it's some of the finest music out there.

Who wants the footage from a camera fixated on each of the six stages with the full 12 to 18 hours of performances on each of the 3 days of Bonnaroo Music Festival? I WOULD!! That would make a killer DVD package... but that is NOT what this DVD is about! Danny Clinch has demonstrated time and again, that he is one of the premier directors of music-related material. Anyone who bashes this film cares nothing about the quality of the film-going experience and is looking for something else... such as something they would produce themselves.

The DVD of the Bonnaroo 2002 festival was much about the society of the event. This one is about the essence of the event. This is truly a DVD to be watched like a film. It unveils the momentousness of an incredible social gathering that is more diverse and immense than anyone can imagine outside of experiencing it in person. Bonnaroo is true "social freedom" with all the aspects of normal American culture scattered about and available to be consumed as much or as little as any attendee would want. Clinch highlights all of this with a eye on beauty rarely found in any type of film.

This DVD is not ONLY about great musical performances. Listen to what the artists say. Watch how the attendees coexist. Allow the film to transport you to a place far from your living room. This film is as innovative and powerful as Woodstock.

If you are looking for that 150-DVD box set I alluded to above... that is what tape trading is for and why it is encouraged in this music scene.

This year's DVD is awesome. I definitely reccomend that you buy it. There are some really great performances on there, especcially James Brown, MMW, Jack Johnson, and the thing that Scratch does at the end is really cool. As for the people complaining that their favorite artist isn't on there, I know how these things work, and it's due to artist permission, not Danny Clinch or Superfly. I would've liked to see Neil Young on there too, but there's nothing anyone could've done about it. With that in mind, with the performances they had to choose from, there are some really awesome clips on the DVD. Plus it looks and sounds great. Danny Clinch made this one awesome. I think its cool how its more like a movie than just a bunch of clips thrown together. If you've all seen the Woodstock movie, then pick up this DVD, it's totally worth it. Can't wait till 2004

After the long anticipation of its release, myself and the five people I went to the festival with, all agree that 270 Miles From Graceland is a misrepresentation of the spirit and energy of the festival. Everyone I know what was there feels that the performances on the DVD do not convey the upbeat groove that dominated the performances at the festival. They also failed to represent the ammount of collaboration and experimentation between the acts and artists in attendance. It seems that the main purpose of the DVD is to target people who were interested, but did not attend, and give them a popish, hollywood style 2 hour commercial about why they should buy tickets next year. I would rather watch any of the 6 hours of video that I shot there while I was wasted out of my mind.