Customer Reviews

Ben Folds Five - The Complete Sessions at West 54th

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am watching this DVD once more as I write this review. Ben Folds Five had great live shows- I know I loved going to them. This DVD features them in a more sober and intimate audience. Their performance is tight. We even catch Ben Folds himslef being slightly uncomfortable and maybe even nervous in this setting. The performances of Smoke and Missing the War are true gems- truly highlighting the depth of Ben Folds' talent at songwriting. Exciting to many will be the performances of "Theme From Dr. Pyser" and a Flaming Lips cover of "She Don't Use Jelly" interpreted as a lounge song. The mix of fifteen songs is great- though I was saddened to find that "Fair" was not among them. Don't be shy because you are looking for a a more frentetic live show- great clips are included in the spare Reels footage and Folds does manage to stomp on the keys and slam down on them with his forearm a few time during the West 54th performance. Even his trademark high-voiced "Are you ready to rock now" appears.
For those to whom the band was dear we find a poingant moment where we can watch a group of talented musicians that never quite fit anywhere- Somehwere in-between obscurity and fame, between indie-rock and pop, between promising debut in their self-titled Ben Folds Five and the critical acclaim(and commercial disapointment) of Rheinhold Messner.
For those who do not know the band- they were the most underrated rock band of the nineties- that provided a refuge both from the absurdly and psudo-morose rockings of the last gasp of "Alternative", the middle of the road mediocrity of Green Day and also a place of shelter from the gratingly mechanical glitter pop whose ressurection began in America with Hanson whose debut came around the time of this performance. Fortunately- still living under the dark clouds of the boys and blondes of Pop- I can kick back with my friends and watch great music being performed by a great band.

I'm at a loss for words. I'm beside myself after watching this video now for the first time. I am a huge fan of Ben Folds Five and am one of the unfortunate souls who never got to see them perform live. Nontheless, I am extremely pleased with this purchase and mad at the same time for not going out of my way to see them live when the were together.

After watching this DVD, it made me ponder one important question. Why did they break up? Obviously there's a reason, but the magic that is present in this performance makes you think they would be together for much longer than they were. Who knows? Maybe we'll see them back together soon.

I really wanted to catch the full effect of this show. Since I don't have Dolby 5.1 surround on my DVD player/TV, I decided to watch it on my computer with my headphones. I can honestly say I had goosebumps through the majority of the show. The camera angles and sound quality are, for lack of a better word, perfect. I might enjoy a widescreen version, though. No matter. It's still incredible. I could hear every little snare hit, finger slide, and breath of the concert. I don't believe one miniscule detail was left out of this performance. It is top notch in my book.

One thing I've come to expect from good bands is that they sound as good live as they do on record. How many bands make incredible albums, but just don't cut it when it comes to performing on stage? I can think of plenty. Not Ben Folds Five. They are as accurate as a band can get. There are several times when the guys go off track and experiment a bit. On the final track, "Song For the Dumped," Robert Sledge actually makes a trip hop beat with his bass. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

There is not one track on this entire disk that should be skipped over. If there were a couple of songs on the 54th Street portion from "The Unauthorized Biography," I believe this would be a perfect Ben Folds Five Greatest Hits album. I know that I'll be watching this performance for many years to come. I better buy a back up copy while I can to replace this one when it wears out.

Please do yourself a favor and get this dvd. Any fan of the band would be extremely happy. I think it captures them at their best. If you don't like Ben Folds Five, you soon will. Especially if you happen to catch a glimpse of this performance.

I've been to a few concerts in my life, and have seen countless numbers on television and VHS alike. But if I had to assemble a list of performances that I thought were the best, you can bet "The Complete Sessions at West 54th" would be on there. Taped on the now defunct PBS show "Sessions at West 54th" Ben Folds Five put on a brilliant peformance that was up until now not available in it's entirety.

The band spares no expense and performs songs that will be familiar to many Ben Folds Five fan's. From their debut album there is "The Last Polka", "Underground" and "Philosophy". Most of the songs however come from their best album "Whatever And Ever Amen", such as "Missing The War", "Brick", "Kate", "Battle Of Who Could Care Less" and "Song for the dumped". Their cover of The Flaming Lips "She Don't Use Jelly" was another welcome change of pace in a great performance.

The DVD itself is right up there with the performance, with extra features that are sure to satisfy. By checking out the Spare Reels footage you are treated to scenes of the band on tour performing several songs, and a look at them in the studio recording for "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner".

I strongly recommend that every Ben Folds Five fan at least try to see this performance in it's entirety just once. And if you feel so inclined go ahead and pick it up, you wont regret it.

If you've got everything Ben Folds has ever done on CD, you've heard almost all these songs. But you need them like this. The most striking thing about the West 54th show is that the band is totally on. They had a *good* night. Really good. This show is tight, tight, tight (in a loose kind of BFF way, of course). Also notable that the extra DVD material is actually worth having -- it's not the usual DVD-extra stuff, which is usually just shots of bands riding around in a bus making jokes. It's all good extra live and studio footage with different takes on a number of songs.

I'm a big BFF fan and have seen them in concert. The "sessions" part of this DVD has the same problem their live show did: the drums and fuzz bass, while terrific, often overwhelm the fantastic music and consummate skill pouring out of Ben's piano. This was a huge disappointment, but I still strongly recommend this DVD to anyone who likes BFF. Amazingly, some of the bonus track concert versions have much better mixes even though the recordings must have been made under dramatically less controlled conditions. The only other complaint was that I wish they had performed some of the songs with more variation from the album versions. Sometimes it sounds like you are listening to a bad mix of the same version you've heard before on the album. However, given that they have broken up and this may be your only chance to see a "live" show, buy it!

This perfomance of Ben Folds Five really made a fan out of me, It is truly amazing how many differen't musical styles and sounds that can come out of only three musicians live. I must admit I was only familiar with the song "Brick" but that was enough of a reason to buy this DVD and give it a chance and to my surprise every song on here is AWESOME! the picture and sound quality is perfect and the performance is enough to make an instant fan out of anyone. So if you're into Rock, Jazz, Polka or whatever, this one is a MUST!

This was a impulse buy that I'm pleased to say paid off. I caught it out of the corner of my eye and I reconized them as the band that plays "Brick". So I went home and popped it in. What I got was a great introduction to a talented band. I love how Ben Folds Five is playing in a smaller environment on this DVD. You really feel like you're sitting front row. The music is great. I love Folds's use of humor and self deprecation in his music. The band's preformances on "Brick" "selfless, cold and composed" "Emaline" and "Smoke" are excellent. I can understand how songs like "the last polka" and "steven's last night in town" may seem kind of dorky to first time listeners but you have to relax and laugh along. Overall, I found this to be a great DVD. If you've only heard "Brick" and wondered what else BF5 had to offer then this DVD is for you. view it.

If you are like me, or aren't like me at all (that's ok too), you never had the privlege of seeing these guys kick... live. YOU HAVE TO GET THIS THEN!! And to all that got to see them live, BUY THIS, it's great. A great show, sounds a lot like the recordings. it's early BFF too, so they play almost all of WEAEA, which is by far one of the best cds of the 90s. Spare reels is good for a laugh. and the studio clips of don't change your plans and army are nice too. i just wished the put the Potty Mouth promo thing on here, that is hilarious. OK, enough said.....GET IT cause it's great

Ben Folds Five is THE most under-appreciated band of the 1990's. Killer melodies, amazing lyrics, and a beat that you can't help but snap to, these guys have always made my day. This DVD is almost as good as seeing them live, and since thats now impossible, you really need to pick this up if you're a fan of good music. The transfer, which doesn't appear to have come from film, but rather video, is excellent. The sound quality is also really good, Ben sounds even better in Dolby Digital 5.1 than he does in stereo. The addition of Spare Reels as a bonus is also nice, especially for those of you without a copy, or a VCR. In short, Buy This.

Watching this program was the first time I saw Ben Folds Five and it hooked me. These are some great performaces of their songs, I've been waiting forever for this to come out! Finally!