23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TEN Stars Would Not Be Enough!, January 26, 2005
This review is from: Erasure - The Tank, The Swan, and The Balloon Live (DVD)
At long last Erasure has released a dvd of one of their live concerts, and what a spectacular visual (not to mention audio!) feast it is! I've never seen Erasure live, but I have seen clips from some of their concerts on their Hits! dvd, so I had some idea of the sort of thing to expect. Even so, "The Tank, The Swan and The Balloon" (filmed in 1992 with a running time of 135 minutes) is quite unlike anything I've ever seen before. The concert moves through a number of themes, which take their cues from the songs themselves. It's almost like a musical set to the music of (and performed by) Erasure; certainly, it's more of a stage show than a traditional "concert." It's dramatic and campy, with lead vocalist Andy Bell going through seven complete changes of costume, most of which are unusual, all of which are entertaining, and most of which have some connection with at least one of the songs he's singing! The balletic opening with Andy's entrance as a swan (in a swan boat whilst engulfed in white feather boas), for example, is absolutely beautiful; and his "fish-scale" pants are fun and very effective. Most spectacular (not to mention entertaining!) is his blue-sequined, um, "backless" cowboy outfit (which is complemented by Vince Clarke's hilarious Mae West costume)!
Apart from Andy and his costumes, there are two superb back-up vocals (twin sisters) and a full complement of dancers, all of whom also go through a number of really interesting costume changes which are usually themed to the music. As for the choreography, it's nothing short of spectacular, which is especially apparent during the sole instrumental number (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) which, together with the Arizona-desert backdrop, sets the "cowboy" atmosphere for the upcoming set of songs.
That leads me to the songs themselves. The cowboy-themed numbers include a cover of the country song Stand By Your Man and The Soldier's Return (I'm not sure where this song comes from; I'm not familiar with it and it's not on any of their studio albums). Andy does a breathtakingly beautiful rendition of Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz. Of course, there is the tribute to Abba featuring all four songs from Abba-esque. The rest are all Erasure's own songs: Who Needs Love Like That, Love Is A Loser, and Oh L'amour (from Wonderland); Sometimes (from Circus); A Little Respect, Ship Of Fools, Heart Of Stone, and Chains Of Love (from Innocents); Blue Savannah and Star (from Wild); Stop! (from POP!); and all ten songs from the Chorus album.
Disc two contains the only dvd extra, which is a 25-minute interview (from 2004) with the choreographer, the costume designer, Andy Bell and, at a separate location, Vince Clarke. In a nutshell, they discuss how the idea and themes for the show came about (like the swan, for example), how the music was choreographed, how the ideas for costumes came about and were achieved (that blue-sequined cowboy outfit, which was insured for $125,000, apparently took 5 people 3 months of full-time work to hand bead!), and so on. Excerpts from the concert and snippets of behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals, etc., are interspersed throughout.
In conclusion, it's obvious that a lot of work went into bringing this musical extravaganza about, and I highly recommend the dvd to all fans of Erasure. Whether you've seen their concerts live or not, if you like the music of this extremely talented British synth-pop duo, you will certainly enjoy this concert. I've watched it twice since getting it (which was less than a week ago), and it is hands down the most entertaining concert I've ever seen!
Extremely highly recommended!
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh my goodness what a video!, February 16, 2005
This review is from: Erasure - The Tank, The Swan, and The Balloon Live (DVD)
I love Erasure's music and have listened to them almost exclusively for the last 18 years. I have never seen MTV nor have I been to any concerts. I bought this DVD to see what Erasure looks like and I had no idea what I was in for. What a show! More like a two-hour aerobic workout! The show is spectacular with it lights, sets and mostly it's dancing! Andy Bell is a good dancer and he has about 10 spectacular dancers who dance behind him. I've never seen exceptional choreography like that in my life! Simon of American Idol sure is wrong when he insists pop singers should not sing and dance- it would not be the same if Andy Bell just sat in a chair! I loved the show and was amazed by all the effort it took to put it together. Beautiful, stunning, profound and it certainly has all my favorite Erasure songs included! Those two backup singers are really good too! Perhaps I will see his concert in S.F. for my 40th birthday. Andy Bell is very sexy, vibrant and full of life. Wow! Buy this video and you will not only get to hear Erasure at it's finest, you can experience them and live the songs through the dancing and the artwork of their craft. Vince Clark's music is the best and was rearranged in this video so the songs are a bit different but in a good way that adds to the spark of their craft. I love these guys!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
every erasure fan needs to own this, February 6, 2005
This review is from: Erasure - The Tank, The Swan, and The Balloon Live (DVD)
this video is of the tour they went on in 1992 after the release of abbaesque. in the states, it was known as the phantasmagorical tour. they closed it out by playing 10(yes, that's 10) straight shows at the wiltern in la. i think i still have the t-shirt somewhere.
a wonderful concert with unbelievable staging and props. i've been to several erasure shows since and all have been smaller, more intimate affairs. in fact, out of all the concerts i've ever been to, nothing has ever approached this one erasure tour in production value.
everyone who is or ever has been a fan of erasure needs to own this dvd. the hardcore fans probably already own bootlegs of this tour that have circulated around, but the dvd is so worth it.
if you don't know erasure or are not sure if you're a fan, i would recommend picking up "pop!" and if you like the songs, then getting this dvd.
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