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The video work itself, however, is less than stellar. The focus often seems misguided, with closeups of drummers during a heated guitar jam, or of a keyboardist taking a smoke break during the final crescendos of "Dark Star." The camera operators also seemed to have some technical difficulties on this night, and some shots that start off tightly focused end up careening all over the stage as if the cameraman were tripped. Finally, the excessive use of "psychedelic imagery" or whatever it's supposed to be is just downright annoying - especially on the filler. It seems to come at the worst times: right when the band starts to loosen up and jam, the display turns into something resembling an early "Windows" screensaver. This type of imagery sometimes persists for several minutes at a time, which is maddening for those of us who would like to actually watch the band.
All in all, I have enjoyed the video and would recommend it to anyone who simply loves the Grateful Dead and treasures their performances. To the "uninitiated," I would recommend starting with "The Grateful Dead Movie," "Dead Ahead" or "Downhill From Here" before purchasing this one.
Jerry's gravely, weathered, strained, voice fits perfectly with the lamentations of the opening Cold Rain & Snow and sounds great on the Stella Blue (she needed the money ;). The Maggies Farm is fun as everyone takes their turn on the vocals. The 2nd set powers open with the Help on the Way->Slipknot->Franklin's Tower, and the Dark Star is really good. Jerry is on, Hornsby is on, Bobby's guitar sounds great throughout, Phil is thumping, and the rest of the band is following suit.
As I said earlier, the boys stage antics aren't much to talk about, but there are some interesting subtleties to watch for. Jerry's hair blowing in the wind should bring back memories to anyone whose been to an outdoor Dead concert. Jerry also just can't seem to stop cheesing a grin at Hornsby. Mickey on the beam during Drums is great to watch, and it reminds me of times I was convinced the band was trying to summon the mother ship ;). The dynamics of the band are in full display during the opening of the lovelight, when Bobby is emphatically nodding towards the drummers, Mickey shrugs and smiles, and Hornsby gives Bobby the "what the heck are you talking about?" look. Cool stuff, but subtle.
Overall, this was a great dead show. Having the video available takes a back seat to the music, but it is worth it nonetheless. The bonus material from 7/12/90 is great also, with the foolish heart and Dark Star especially good. With special effects, the video allueds to the fact that it was pouring at the show (thus the Box of Rain), but the video doesn't show the rain, or the soaked crowd.
If you're a fan of the boys, you'll want this DVD, as it brings back some great memories. If you've never seen the Dead, well, this video is nothing like being there, not even close. But it is still good.
All of the View From The Vault series were filmed at shows in the late 80's and early 90's when the Dead were playing large stadiums and needed video screens at the shows for fans seated far from the stage to view the players.
Thus, all of those shows with the large video screens have been fortunately recorded for posterity, although they were initially intended only as a much-needed aid for concert goers in large venues. Accordingly, these dvd's were not created with the home viewer in mind, but rather the concert goer who is enveloped in the rest of the trappings of the live show. These video screen projections supplied a view of the members playing for all in the back to see. They were not filmed with the intention of releasing them as a complete picture of the concert experience.
With that in mind, this show is fantastic. One of the highlights of the summer 91 run. If you listen and watch the DVD imagining that you are at the show and the images you see are simply the images that are normally projected on the large video screens above the audience, then you will love this disc.
Do not expect a professionally produced, made for resale to the DVD viewing audience, concert experience.
We are very fortunate to have these shows preserved both on audio and video formats. Any live music lover should appreciate the View From The Vault series for what it is, a portrait, be it a moving one, of the band in action.
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