Customer Reviews

Stop the War Coalition Benefit Concert Featuring Brian Eno

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

 

 

This show is mesmerizing. The audio is phenomenal, and Eno lends everything an other-worldly and innovative air. You will not go wrong purchasing this if you are an Eno fan, and you will be utterly ecstatic if you're a fan of Rachid Taha! Their collaboration "Dima" on Taha's last album was astounding as well. If you're looking for a lot of Imogen Heap, look elsewhere; the footage for her single song is truncated, though the performance is good. It's just not much footage. The sleeper for me was the Nitin Sawhney performance; I had not heard of him before. Eno's work with him, along with a talented guitarist and percussionist, is nothing short of mind-blowing.

And the message against the invasion and occupation of Iraq was succinct and heart-felt. Even those in support of the war need to hear this point of view. PS, i got a copy from Europe, so I really have seen it, despite its not being released yet in the US!

Anything with Brian Eno in live performance is pretty rare, so that alone is worth a lot in my view. His contributions from song to song vary, but his presence is felt throughout. The sound on this DVD is stunning, and the setting and performances are captured well on the visual end. Both Nitin Sawhney and Rachid Taha were revelations for me; Imogen Heap is only represented by one solo performance, so if that's who you really want to see, better look elsewhere. If the political speechifying is not to your taste, it's easy enough to skip it -- that's what the DVD begins with. Well, not quite that easy: you have to go to the main menu and click the first artist you want to hear; if you start the film as a whole, you can't jump chapters, which is a bit odd. Mick Jones appears for the last two songs of the main set (including "Rock The Casbah" which Rachid Taha has recorded and performed for awhile), and then he remains for the lengthy encores. All in all, a remarkable set of music captured very, very well. I found it quite exhilarating.

The video and audio quality on this is superb. I bought this as an Eno fan, and find the other artists on here quite a revelation. Great stuff.

A new Brian Eno video or CD is always worthy of one's time and investment... As for this one, this gathering of superb Mid Eastern artists makes for some genuinely amazing improvizations! An underrated gem. Get this!