Customer Reviews

Chicago - RAW: Real Artists Working

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

 

 

For the first time Chicago allowed cameras to film them as they prepared for their 2000 world tour. The female interviewer left alot to be desired. The interviews with each member of the band could have been more professional on her part. Other than that, the DVD it awesome. Never before has the public seen what goes on behind the scenes as Chicago prepares for a tour. This was a real eye-opener and showcases exactly why Chicago continues to sell out concerts wherever their travels take them.

This "RAW" series (Real Artists Working) is a fantastic idea! As Archie from Ca. stated in his review..."it's SUPPOSED to be raw!". I can confirm that as a professional musician myself, our group routinely audio records and videotapes tour rehearsals. This is EXACTLY how those rehearsals go. So, Chicago fans, if you are looking to experience what it would be like to be an inside "friend" of the band and attend a "closed" tour rehearsal, "Chicago RAW" delivers the goods. I particularly enjoyed the way the showed the band working out arrangements and staging ideas, and then inserted via pictur-in-picture how it ended up looking live on-stage in front of an audience. Two things would have made this DVD much better and is the ONLY reason I gave it only 3 stars....the female interviewer does, unfortunately come across as unprofessional. She was way too "star struck" and giddy to be there. The other is I would have liked the rehearsal footage to have been longer. BUT, that being said, I hope Hollywood Music Store.Com does more of these real soon! They are a chance to glimpse an area of the entertainment world the public never usually gets to see.

If you're a fan of shoddy production, poor sound, and two hosts that are so annoying they are practically ASKING to be strangled to death, then have I got a DVD for you! This DVD really doesn't offer much, save for a few rehearsal performances of some of Chicago's music, including a delightful revamped version of "Another Rainy Day In New York City". Each band member gets interviewed; not particularly insightful. Also included is some random an ultimately useless footage of the band backstage and preparing to receive a star on the Walk of Fame (wow!). And if that isn't enough, there is some video of Chicago performing live. Sadly, this DVD could have been considerably better if the production rate was upped a few notches. Otherwise what you have here is a pretty unnecessary DVD that only the die-hard Chicago fans would get anything out of...and that's pushing it.

Ok I'll agree, the IDEA for this project was awesome, but it should have been left up to someone who knew something about interviews and music. The interviewer/host of this was this ditsy woman who got on my nerves within the first couple minutes. The quality of the video was horrible. There was nothing professional about this DVD, anyone off the street could do just as good a job as these people if they were given the opportunity. It is true there is more than one camera used in the filming, 2 to be exact, but the 2nd camera is a CAMCORDER, and it is very obvious when they switch over to it. I enjoyed the songs and the concert footage, but it was hard to auctally come away from this with any quality information about a GREAT band.

My wife and I grew up with CHICAGO. Our marriage song, 30 years ago, was "Colour My World". So it was with great anticipation that we opened the DVD and sat down to a great hour of nostalgia---so we thought. We loved the inside information from the members of the band, the nuances of rehearsal and of course the music. However, the fun ended when the ditsy, giddy, unprofessional female interviewer got involved. The local high school girls on our local cable channel are more professional interviewers. Updated rating: interviewees, rehearsal and music-5 stars; female interviewer- 0 stars: = Average 3 stars

the real artists working concept is terrific -- going behind the scenes as a band prepares for a concert tour. but the execution? there were better production values on "beverly hills 90210's" high school video yearbook! this is simply DREADFUL. both male and female hosts are intrusive and detract rather than enhance the proceedings. when i'm allowed behind the scenes with my favorite band, i don't need no-name "hosts" with extremely limited interviewing skills front and center camera, obscuring the views of the band that i've paid to watch.

if you're a diehard chicago fan, give this a look. if you're easily annoyed by local cable access programming, you might want to pass this one up!

What people dont understand about this video is that it was supposed to be R A W!!! That is why its called "Raw with Chicago".It was filmed with more of an edge look,like you where their. I love this DVD! The song selection is great, to the way they discuss thier tour set-up... the live footage and the induction footage. Good goin HMS!! I recommend this video for any music lover, young or old ...

As a teenager, Chicago was my favourite band, so I was pretty excited to view this video to see what these guys were working on now! The answer would appear to be - NOTHING AT ALL! Hey, fair enough, if they want to play the same songs for 30 years, and people still pay to hear them, why not ? BUT, why allow themselves to be filmed pretending to try to remember and "arrange" songs they've played thousands of times before, as if they were some great new material ? And why allow interviews to be released consisting of moronic questions asked by 2 of the most brainless interviewers I have ever seen, and answers of less than zero interest to anyone, unless you are a 3 year old who has never seen an instrument before...The whole thing was appalling, and my conclusion is, these guys have NO pride...

This DVD is certainly aimed at hard-core Chicago fans. I've read a couple of the other reviews and yes, it's true, the female interviewer is not very professional and the sound isn't that great during the rehearsal segments. But it's a REHEARSAL! A true Chicago fan will look beyond that to see, even after all these years, how hard work pays off. I like the way they ask band members about starting out as musicians; there is some educational value for young musicians in some of their responses. The concert portion of the DVD is outstanding, and I hope this great band follows this DVD up with a full length concert DVD. All you true Chicago fans out there, don't over analyze this, just enjoy it!

I found this DVD really interesting and worth having because you get to see the great ' Chicago' doing something that you would never normally see.That being rehearsing for a tour.I like the way it has them rehearsing in the studio and working out how a song works and then some live footage so you can see the end result on stage.And whats with all this criticism of the hosts especially the female one a)shes hardly on for a start, but clearly happy to be there and b)she's easy on the eye.As I said in the title of this review 'Lucky I took no notice of you guys'boy your a negative lot just lie back one afternoon again and again and enjoy a different look at one of the greatest bands of our time the mighty 'Chicago." Oh only one mark off because I would've liked more i.e the whole concert they were rehearsing for other than that highly recommended.