Customer Reviews

Blondie: Live in Toronto

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

 

 

If you're a true Blondie fan, of course you have to own it. Recorded in 1982, it's probably the closest you'll ever come to seeing a concert recorded just before Blondie stopped touring and recording not long after release of The Hunter. As such, the performances are fair to middlin' on most songs. Frank Infante isn't even present.

Personally, I like the energy and enthusiasm of the Glasgow concert and the Musikladen videos better than this one.

And if you haven't already purchased the Eat to the Beat CD/DVD...don't even think of buying this before you've purchased that one!

High point: probably the performance of War Child has the most energy.

Low point: Frank Infante's replacement seems to be singing background vocals annoyingly off key in spots.

I can't believe this is finally on DVD in America! I LOVE THIS SHOW! My first concert ever was Blondie & Duran Duran in Detroit (August 9, 1982) only a week or so before this concert was filmed and it is one I will never forget. This Toronto show originally aired on HBO in March 1983 and has been on VHS ever since. Each time I watch it I am instantly transported back to that 1982 concert.
Obviously this was the end of the first phase of BLONDIE and critics were harsh in their reviews of the band's performance. While there may have been fighting, drug abuse, and intense drama behind the scenes at the time, I never would have known it watching this show. When Debbie Harry comes up in the elevator in the opening number ("Rapture") it's pure magic! I love how she loses her shoe in "Danceway" (such a classic Debbie mishap) and goes crazy during "One Way Or Another", to the point where she almost transforms into Cousin It from 'The Addams Family' (you have to see it to appreciate it)!
My only complaint is that the concert is too short (4 songs that were performed during the tour are left out) and that the box art is clearly a picture of Debbie from the 1970's and not 1982. There is also a CD version of this concert that was released earlier this year.
If you are a BLONDIE fan do not hesitate to buy this incredible and historic concert.

This DVD release is awful!
Immortal DVD should be ashamed. I have owned this concert on two other VHS releases and they both looked way better than this DVD.

My original 1984 Mono VHS of this looks entirely better.
This DVD looks like it was transfered from VHS and not taken from the original footage that was used for the HBO special this was filmed for.

The only reason I give this release 3 stars is becuase it contains 3 audio options:
2.0 Surround
5.1 Surround
DTS Surround

It sounds awesome but looks crappy.
There are other DVD releases of this concert out there. Get those instead.

First off, let me say that I think BLONDIE is one of the best bands ever. Period. But this concert comes to us from a very low point in their career. Back in 1982, BLONDIE was on its last legs (the first time around). They all hated each other, Frank Infante was suing the band and has been last-minute replaced by some black guy. Chris Stein was at the beginning stages of a disease that almost killed him - and it shows. Debbie had already released a solo album at this point and looks very bored. Even BLONDIE didn't like themselves at this stage in the game.

If you are a big fan, you will want to pick this up as a timepiece. But if you are trying to get a video that will capture the energy of "Call Me" or "One Way Or Another" - for God's sake - steer clear of this depressing monstrosity of a concert!! There are much better choices out there!!

I'm amazed that there are reviewers on this page who prefer this to the 1999 concert. For freeze-frames of Debbie looking gorgeous, I'd rate this pretty high. But her vocals are not at their best here. Her growth as an artist since 1982 has been astounding. If her wrinkles keep you from recognizing that, you never really got her to begin with.

This review is about a month overdue since seeing Blondie in Baltimore, MD about five weeks ago on the Parallel Lines 30th Anniversary Tour. I watched this concert a couple of times prior and I could see more than ever how Blondie have come full circle. Recorded live in August of 1982, I can still remember when HBO aired this concert on my 13th birthday and seeing Debbie riding up on the elevator to an arena of cheering fans. This was Blondie's last dance before the budding musical tastes of American pop culture were to change again. Despite Chris Stein's declining health and Debbie reaching a burnout phase due to mounting tensions within the group, Blondie put on a great show and the added sax players enhance their sound quite nicely. The highpoint is "Heart of Glass" through "War Child," and even the weaker moments are not that terrible now by virtue of "Island of Lost Souls" never really holding up with most fans anyway, plus they encore with "Start Me Up," which I had dismissed as lame many years back, but now I see how Blondie value the Rolling Stones as an timeless rock inspiration. They included "Paint It Black" in their encore two years ago at a Buffalo, NY show, and ended their set with "Get Off Of My Cloud," during the Baltimore show. Blondie did define a time in music history from the emergence of New Wave in 1978 to the night they performed this very show in Tornoto, and called it quits not long after, but history has given Debbie and the band a second coming as trendsetters in pop, punk, and even classic rock, and this video illustrates the style Blondie created making it a must for both Blondie and music fans alike.

I still have NOT received this gift and it is December 27th!!
I am so disappointed that I cannot find any phone number to call.
I have to go back through all of my receipts to see if I was charged for this!!

Something NEEDS to be done.
I was looking forward to giving this as a gift at Christmas.....

Please, please contact me !!!

Carol Proctor
caproctor@wowway.com

This 1982 Toronto concert was the only live film of the Hunter tour, Blondie's last album until 1999's No Exit. For years, it languished as a VHS only release. This late 2007 reissue on DVD in the only DVD playable on US DVD players. (It was issued in the UK as "Blondie Live" in PAL format). "The Hunter" was the last of the 80's classic albums, but the concert includes many of their earlier hits and some rare covers found no where else (the "Rolling Stone's" 'Start Me Up')

SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!! You get 11 great songs. This concert was filmed on August 18, 1982. In this line-up of Blondie, you get the founding members: Debbie Harry on lead vocals, Chris Stein on guitar, Clem Burke on drums, and Jimmy Destri on organ/keyboards, along with non-founding members: Nigel Harrison on bass guitar (He replaced Gary Valentine), and a super great guitar player- Frank Infante.

The songs are as folows:
1. Rapture
2. Island of Lost Souls
3. Danceway
4. The Tide is High
5. Heart of Glass
6. Dreaming
7. One way or Another
8. War Child
9. Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones Classic)
10.Call Me

This is a great one, and a "must-have" for any Blondie fan (and I'm a Blondie fan), because in this one you get to see Blondie in their "prime".
Thanks, and may God Bless!!!