Customer Reviews

Bruce Hornsby & the Range - Rockpalast Live [VHS]

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

 

 

There is no question that the sound and vision on this DVD release is below average. "Two Against Nature" it ain't. However, if, like me, you regard Bruce Hornsby as one of the finest composers and performers in any idiom of the past 25 years, you will enjoy this DVD for what it is: a record of a great band at the peak of its powers. The concert was recorded in Koln, Germany sometime after the release of "A Night on the Town". The majority of the songs are taken from that recording. Koln, of course, was the setting for a famous Keith Jarrett release on ECM. Horsnby dedicates "Another Day" to Leon Russell. And that about sums things up: a cross between "Leon Live" and "The Sun Bear Concerts", with a dash of bluegrass and country for good measure. Forget the audio quality (which is tolerable rather than execrable) and enjoy 90 minutes of superb music, beautifully crafted and flawlessly played.

I was lucky to chat with Bruce about this show. It was filmed for German TV, and he said that the band before his (I don't recall who) just put the crowd into a bored stupor. You can even see it in their faces as the shows starts.

By the time Bruce and co took to the stage, this crowd had already been on their feet for hours, and so he saw it as something of a challenge to get them going again. They deliberately started with an up tempo Night on the Town, and pretty much maintained that pace throughout.

The picture quality (it's very dark in there) and some surreal camera angles take away from the DVD slightly, but you wouldn't expect that to detract from the music. It doesn't.

Now can we have something more recent?!?

I can't believe they released this on DVD. I bought it at a local store, and luckily was able to return it.
The only person who would really like this is a HardCore Hornsby fan who is obsessed and needs to own everything he/she can that is Hornsby related.
Mainly, it's the sound quality. There are times where it actually fades out, like you're listening to an old beat up cassette that is on it's last legs.
The picture quality isn't any better. It was very poorly filmed and recorded.

Musically, it is a decent performance for the most part, although early in the group's history. I've heard them play much better. Maybe I was just too distracted by the quality to really enjoy it.
I'm sorry.

This DVD shows what a consummate performer Bruce Hornsby is, along with his talented band members. The quality of the DVD is somewhat lacking (grainy at times), but the talent and love of music shines through.

Was this concert done in VIRGINIA or KOLN GERMANY? The video says Koln Germany and the writing on the video back cover says Virginia as well as the official review up above. Does it really matter? I think it was done in Koln, Germany. Look and listen for clues.

THE BAD: Picture quality is poor but not always poor, low & weird lighting & colors that change from minute to minute, sound okay but not superb.

THE GOOD: The performance is great! My gosh, here you have Virginia's prince Bruce still in his 30s giving a great performance. What more do you want? Sometimes you do get really good clear closeups (the lighting doesn't change for the better, however) and on some rare occasion clear images of his hands on the keyboard where his natural skin tone and veins are visible. What I REALLY LIKED is the REALLY GOOD angle shots of him going at the piano keyboard (close but not TOO close) where I could really relish watching him play the piano and see him really go at that keyboard like I've never seen him before-especially when he played "Another Day." That's what I really appreciated.

THE AWESOME: ANOTHER DAY as encore!! Bruce is really great in this one. He and the band made this a masterpiece performance. I only wish the guitarist wasn't so blase and would have put some enthusiasm in this one fabulous rendition. (I had only listened to "A Night On the Town" once during last weekend)--This is what happened: I was so impressed by "Another Day" as it was performed on the DVD that I rushed to the library first thing Saturday morning (my sleep-in morning) to get on the internet to check out the album with this song. After becoming desperate when I couldn't find it (naturally the CD I just got was the last one I checked), I finally found it in the album "A Night On the Town" that I just received last weekend (DUH!!!) AND already listened to the weekend before--only once over & not giving it my full attention. I didn't realize I had it at home already!! The performance on the DVD is great, but the music, although not exactly the same because he improvises during live performances, is comparable in quality with the one in the CD with only minor differences. Turn it up a notch. I just love it. However, Bruce does seem to do lots of his best work when he lets loose on stage in live performances & this is another example.

You should really be prepared to see poor quality pictures (but they are not poor all of the time) and a truly great performance by Bruce and band. See it in this sort of way: There is only one train to Kathmandu--purchase your ticket and don't complain. If you want to see Bruce & Band perform in 1990, get this video. As I see it, there are not a whole lot of videos out there of Bruce while in his 30's performing live. I thought it was worthwhile despite the image quality. In any one video you get something and you lose something. Here you get Bruce and Band in an intimate and good performance, plus in some occasion you get to see him really play the piano. I loved that.

For a concert DVD, I can accept average video, but the audio still has to be listenable. I watched this with headphones on and it gets painful on many of the songs - it sounds like someone left the master tape sitting in the rain before they transfered this to DVD. It fluctuates so bad at times you can't even hear much of anything.

Excellent Bruce Hornsby as always at the top of his craft