14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The band should feel insulted, March 31, 2002
The band should demand a refund from the company they hired to make this DVD.
Sound: For about half the concert I was wondering what was up with the sound. Then the camera panned way back, and I saw the mic hanging from the ceiling. Yup, it appears that they just put a mic in the audience and recorded the sound that way. Certainly sounds like it. Yes, this disc "features" DTS, but for the first time that I've encountered, DTS sounds significantly WORSE than Dolby 5.1. To top it off, the 5.1 is mostly name only - it doesn't seem that much effort was actually made separating sounds that should be on the left from those on the right, or in the back, etc.
Why did they not go through the mixing board for the sound? I can't even begin to imagine. For those that wrote that there is nothing wrong with the sound, it is just the way a live show sounds, compare the sound of this disc to an excellent live DVD, such as Metallica's S&M, or U2's all that you can't leave behind. You can capture sound from a live concert, and not have the end product a muddy mess.
Worse than the sound, however, was the complete lack of care that the producers took to capture the feeling of the concert. I highly doubt they had even been to a show before they filmed. It looked like they were trying to make a music video, a bunch of sweeping shots, weird angles, etc. Except that they managed to universally miss the points of interest. You would hardly know that there were pyrotechnics, video displays or anything else in the concert. Looking at the other music stuff Image Entertainment has done (Tribute to Brian Wilson, Doors VH1 special, the Who live) is it really any surprise that they had no idea how to capture this concert?
And special features? What? Interviews, road videos, behind the scenes, interviews with the director of the concert, music videos, etc. Don't waste your time looking for them. They ain't here.
Worst of all, this disc completely failed to capture the essence of the concert. NIN's "and all that could have been" practically bleeds emotion (perhaps this is an unfair standard for other DVD's to live up to) but Godsmack's bleeds blasé. There is no emotion, there is no attempt made to tailor this concert to Godsmack. Had any other band been up there, I get the sense it would have been filmed and edited exactly the same.
I like the band, but this DVD is not worth the money.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best concert video ever, February 7, 2002
I just recieved this DVD in the mail today and I've already watched it twice. This live DVD by Godsmack is ubelievable, it is just like being at one of their concerts without the mosh. As for the people who been giving this DVD lower ratings then what it is worth because of sound, you have to think that is LIVE. Even if you like Godsmack only a litte this DVD will rock your world and make you want to go see them in concert. There is only one thing to say about this DVD; The best concert DVD/video ever. I especially love the "whatever" version they have on here. Other music videos I have watch such as the Linkin Park one don't come close to the same intensity as this.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Poor Audio, January 24, 2002
Well, I'm glad to see others had problems with the audio too. I thought maybe I had something wrong here...
Most of the problems are with the vocals... the center channel mix should have been a lot louder. I tried both the Dolby Digital and DTS tracks and had the same problem. I turned up the center channel +8db and that seemed to help some, but still not totally satisfactory for a DVD these days. I have TV shows on my TiVo that have GodSmack playing live on them and they sound way better than this DVD.
I still like this DVD, but I sure wish the audio was better.
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