Customer Reviews

The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook

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

 

 

This DVD will include a documentary about the band entitled "Paris Before the War," music videos for "The Tain", "The Bachelor and the Bride", "16 Military Wives", "The Soldiering Life", and "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect", and the entirety of their concert at the Roseland Theater in Portland on the 4th of November 2005.

Tracklisting for the concert portion is as follows:

01 The Infanta
02 The Soldiering Life
03 Leslie Anne Levine
04 We Both Go Down Together
05 The Engine Driver
06 Eli the Barrow Boy
07 The Sporting Life
08 July, July!
09 16 Military Wives
10 The Mariner's Revenge Song
11 The Chimbley Sweep
12 I Was Meant for the Stage

Nice concert performance. I particularly liked The Mariner's Revenge Song, The Chimbley Sweep and I Was Meant For The Stage.

Nice documentary about the band, as well as the almost 42 minutes of music videos.

Did you know that there is an easter egg on this DVD? If you click on the red bar on the airplane on the main menu, you will be prompted to the index of 16 mini footages totalling 23.02.

The concert made me feel like I was there. The Decemberists produce such a heartwarming atmosphere and still know how to rock the crowd. The documentary showed that they are goofy, a little nerdy, but they know what they are talking about. I have so much respect for The Decemberists. You won't be disappointed with this purchase!

Everyone should see the Decemberists live. Their songs are amazing live, they have so much energy with great crowd interaction. I saw them in Louisville last may. It was amazing. They were one of my favorites band before, but after seeing them live, they were solidly my favorite band. So if you ever get a chance to see this amazing band live, do so without hesitation.

That being said, if you can't see them live, this DVD makes a solid substitute. The quality of this DVD is amazing. They play all their good songs, and they also have a little brass band playing with them, which greatly enhances the quality of these songs. The whole band is perfect at this concert they chose (Portland OR, 11/4/2005). Petra Haydn did amazing on violin, even if she did look bored for the first half of the concert. Chris Funk is as silly as ever, playing amazing backup instruments. Jenny did amazing on keyboard and amazing, Nate Queury always does solid bass playing. John Moen tore up the drums, especially on Mariners Revenge song adn July, July! My only qualm is that Colin's voice sounds a little off for the first few songs, but by The Engine Driver, he sounds amazing. Stand out songs - Soldiering Life, Engine Driver, 16 Military Wives, and Mariner's Revenge Song.

The extras are amazing. The MIni Documentary, Paris before the War, was amazing. It tells the story of the Decemberists talking about how the band started, but it mostly is about the recording process behind Picaresque. It was an amazing insight to see how the band thinks and interacts in the studio. The music videos were also amazing, just to have them all in one place is good. I had never seen the video for the Tain, so that was good to see.

So in summation, see the Decemberists Live, but this will make an acceptable substitute

This is an excellent dvd. I have not watched the video's yet, but have been playing the concert since I got the dvd. It is a little rough around the edges, not as smooth a performance as when I saw them live, or in Austin city limits, but yet, a very very good dvd. Highly recommended to all fans.

Music videos, one-on-one interviews, live performances, this handbook does not fail to deliver. It even includes previous members of the band, sharing memories of the very beginning. What a find, I only wish I had gotten it sooner!

If you have never had the privilege to see this band live and enjoy their music, you have to have this.

this DVD has none of the songs I know this group from- and it is Great. Isnt 1 star enough power for you all?? the sun is one star more stars would kill us all! you should probably read all the 5 star reviews if you need to- but this isnt something you want to miss out on Its pepperminty good?

The Decemberists seem to be trying to be the American version of Fairport Convention. But this is too much of a solo project for Colin Meloy to really consider them a band. Meloy is the Decemberists. There's a little REM in the vocals and a little bit of the Flaming Lips in the overall presentation. But you can only do so much musically when the only featured perfomer is limited to singing and playing rhythm guitar. Nice documentary.