Customer Reviews

Fountains of Wayne: No Better Place - Live in Chicago

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

 

 

The sound and video quality are great, and this is a must have for any fan of the band. But be warned. The lyrics to Bright Future In Sales are censored with an abrupt silence in the vocal track in place of the "S word". This is extremely noticeable and a pretty big disappointment. When I pay for music, I expect it to be unaltered unless I am explicitly told I am buying a "clean" version.

What's the point of seeing a band live, especially a band that is all about the great song? I saw FoW earlier this year and then viewed this DVD about 5 months later. What I immediately noticed missing from the DVD was the band's absolute in-person charm, which comes through mostly in their between-song patter with the audience. We get Schlesinger's mock rock god histrionics at the end, but otherwise all the between-song interaction is left out, and so the natural rhythm of the show is absolutely not there. These guys are all about the execution and the product, the product is of the highest quality, and their wry approach is the needed balm that connects us all to the appreciation of it. Collingwood may be the most inscrutable front man in rock history, and about three songs in he realizes when the camera is on him and stops singing to it (just as he tries not to sing to the audience when he's on stage). This non-front-man approach is fine as long as there's something in between that connects performers to audience, and we don't get that here. The censorship of one song was not very rock 'n' roll either. And, indeed, the audience looked comatose and fairly un-cool, but maybe that would have been remedied with inclusion of the aforementioned interaction.

If you love the music of F.O.W., you'll enjoy the set list on this performance from the Windy City--good audio, effective camera work, but, boy, do they ever look bored.

Even though this is a new DVD, the concert is from a few years ago when they were on the Out of State Plates tour. The show is still great. Don't buy it expecting Traffic and Weather in the live show, but the acoutic extras make the DVD worth evey penny and more. That small set includes a few new songs and a funky looking piano. You'll see what I mean.

Collingwood and Schlesinger are songwriting geniuses, and I love what they do with F#minor... but they seem pretty shy onstage and this makes their live performances seem wooden. In this concert DVD the band members appear to be bored throughout the show, and the audience members stand rigidly in front of their seats clapping to the music and smiling broadly --I think their shoes were nailed to the floor. No dancin' allowed! The exception is guitarist Jody Porter, who cleverly throws in some ironic guitar-god posturing as he plays the hooks and fills. I want to tell Chris Collingwood to relax, smile from time to time, and maybe throw in some clever banter between songs. Fans will watch the DVD and enjoy the songs, but this show doesn't generate much excitement.

I agree completely with the one person who pointed out how bored the band looked, and how rigid the crowd seemed. The music is fantastic on the record, but Chris Collingwood seems pained to be performing live. The audience is so square, they make me feel utterly uncool for loving the band. And the word "sh-t" being edited out of "Bright Future in Sales" is just inexplicable. I'm someone who really doesn't enjoy seeing live shows; I much prefer to use my imagination when listening to music. I also usually don't dig 'live' versions of songs; the pristine album version is always far superior to the raw version live (In my opinion)...but a good concert film or video is a good concert film or video. This doesn't seem a particularly exceptional concert-going experience that needed documentation. And it hurts me to say it because I'm such a fan of the band. Maybe they could've done a video for Ivy, if only to gaze upon Dominique Durand.

This was a great DVD, it gave the sense that I was actually at the concert with this great band. They had a great choice of songs. The sounds nad picture quality is amazing, and I highly recommend this to everyone.

While I love listening to the CDs or IPod there's nothing like the actually watching the performance to really telegraph the meaning of the music and the genius of the band. This looks and sounds great on the surround. This makes a great addition to our collection and after the show there's the extras that aren't always there on music DVDs. The acoustic video is pretty great, like a mini living room concert If you are a FOW fan this is an eyeful and a must have.

The concert is great. SHot in HD. Sound is really good. FOW is our generations Beatles!
If you are a fan this is as good or better then any album.

I've always been a fan of their music, so a live DVD really caught my eye. This is a great show. The band sounds and looks good and I'm hearing some of my favorite songs in a new way. Also, LOVE the acoustic bonuses. Even stripped down, FoW sounds awesome.