Customer Reviews

Guided by Voices - The Electrifying Conclusion

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well it's about time Guided By Voices fans get a professionally done live concert video. And just any GbV concert this is not; this is their last show of their "Electrifying Conclusion" tour, putting an end to 21 years of GbV. Having the concert done on New Years Eve, playing just back-to-back songs from their entire catalog, you will feel exhausted when the four hour show comes to an end.

Longtime fans will enjoy the guest appearances of the former band mates, including "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" performed with Tobin Sprout. They play a wide array of songs from all their albums and some more obscure stuff from demo's and EP's. Of course they also do their more commercial-friendly hits like "Glad Girls" and "Teenage F.B.I."

I was suprised by the overall sound quality of this DVD: sounding like it was recorded right out of the onstage mixers. This was not done with just a shaky Hi-8 camcorder from someone in the crowd; this was done with professional equipment from several stage cameras from all different angles.

GbV concerts will always remain as a sentimental opus for the hardcore fans. They involve Pollard and all the band members getting drunk and playing slopilly (just compare the first songs on this DVD to the last). But this is just why they were able to build up such a dedicated following over the years.

This DVD is the last thing people have to remember GbV by. Which is done just right to get the next generation of GbV fans hooked.

My favorite GbV recordings are Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, and Under the Bushes Under the Stars. This is out of more than fifty releases by GbV, Robert Pollard or related projects: and, of course, I'm crazy enough to have bought every one.

All of the above will be familiar to GbV fans.

What's revelatory about this concert DVD is the reinterpretation of songs--dating back to the "classic GbV lineup"--by the most-recent incarnation of the band.

No disrespect intended to Tobin or Mitch et al. Their creative contributions were significant. But not crucial.

What made that triptych of records special was not the instrumental performances (nor the quirks of the lo-fi recording, interesting though they often were). What made them special was the songwriting and singing of "Pop Zeus" Bob Pollard.

Let's face it: most of the members of the early GbV line-ups are not great musicians.

Neither, of course, is Bob: despite his intuitive grasp of how to write one brilliant hook after another, effortlessly. The man--finally--looks comfortable on stage holding nothing but a microphone. Even without clinging to his formerly ubiquitous beer bottles and cigarettes. (In earlier days, he'd get restless when it was time for Tobin Sprout to sing one of his own compositions, leaving Bob with nothing much to do.)

I wouldn't want to hear should-have-been-hits such as "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory" or "Motor Away" remade as slick studio productions.

(Not to imply, either, that the records made by later GbV line-ups were too slick. Except Do The Collapse--still worthwhile for the songwriting--but oh boy, that is one slick CD! I am able, though, to overlook Bob's effort to create a radio-friendly hit. He deserves that kind of success, but it'll never happen. He can't help it. He's too intelligent and too "weird". Meaning: he always writes songs with non-linear words; the meaning--yes, there IS meaning--isn't sufficiently obvious for mass consumption.

But hearing those songs performed live by skilled musicians? Now THAT is a welcome innovation!

It's the best of both worlds. To hear the greatest GbV songs, performed by a superior band. But in a live setting. Here, they sound anything but "slick". The immediacy of the music is...ummm...intoxicating. Let's play "Drinker's Peace" again...

I saw GbV live at about the time when Under the Bushes came out. The energy was infectious. But as the night wore on, and the band got more drunk, their performances deteriorated. Badly.

Yes, Bob's singing performance--however truly stunning it is, throughout most of the concert--begins to fall off toward the end of the disc.

But how many singers can maintain that kind of passion for (nearly) four hours? This is a marathon, and Bob is over forty. It's a wonder he didn't leave the stage on a stretcher.

What would I do without DVD? I'm almost as old as Bob; my disability has worsened...I can never go to concerts anymore.

Ahem...again, I digress. One of my worst habits.

Back to the review. Hearing tracks like "Chief Barrel Belly", it's amazing how Bob's vocal delivery is more emotional than on the original, ancient recording...yet his enunciation is clearer. Finally, you can comprehend great lyrics such as:

Every man in this world: get up and scream about it!
Every dog has its day; I only dream about it

(Well, the first line, at least, always sounded incoherent to my ears. Might be faults in the "production", more than Bob's tendency--in the studio--to sing with the microphone nearly inside his mouth. Most GbV recordings "push the red" constantly. That's part of what makes them sound urgent and exciting.)

"Chief Barrel Belly" is from Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia: GbV's third LP, released independently in a tiny edition, years before the band were discovered by Scat Records, critics, and underground music fans everywhere. (Now available as part of "Box") The Matador label, of course, also merits props for making available most of GbV's best work.

If I may digress a bit: Forever Since Breakfast and Devil Between My Toes have their moments. (The latter is also part of "Box". The former is available only in the Hardcore UFOs box set: unless you have hundreds to throw away on the original vinyl EP, assuming someone would actually sell their prized copy on eBay.) Sandbox is nearly disposable (though "Everyday" is an early gem). Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia is the first consistently great GbV recording.

OK...back to the concert. Don't miss Bob's monologue before "Secret Star". It's a rambling, dead-on-target spit-in-the-face to everyone who ever told him he was immature, wasting his time trying to be a rock star.

Those new to GbV: buy Bee Thousand. Now.

This disc is for the fans. It's much more than a mere document of their historic final show.

Many will--like me--find it too taxing to watch the entire thing in one sitting. But the only reason it's an endurance test is the astounding running time (probably the longest concert video ever made which features only one band, with its more-than-65 songs packed into a single DVD). Electrifying Conclusion is a joy to watch, from start to finish.

Consider this disc another public service from distributor Plexifilm, who also released a DVD of Decasia: with its hallucinatory images of decaying film, accompanied by music which seems to be played by a decaying orchestra. Another unique pleasure rescued from possible obscurity.

This DVD captures the legend of GBV in the only way that seems fitting. Having seen them several times over the year, I can say that it wasn't whether or not the band got drunk on stage, it was how drunk were they going to get...

The final show captures the fun of the band with appearances by many of Bob's friends who have played in GBV throughout the years. There is a bar on the stage serving shots (mostly to Bob) throughout the show. Between the shots, the many beers, and the several bottles of champagne consumed GBV cranks out an amazingly long set.

I got a bit teary toward the end realizing that this really does represent the end of an era of sorts. I look forward to Bob's solo material, and I imagine he will sneak in a couple GBV classics here and there when he comes around with Tommy Keene (!!!) and company next year, but it won't be the same.

This is definitely not the DVD to show someone who has no knowledge of the band. It is long, even for the die hard fan. (I watched it in three sittings...) For those who knew and loved GBV and their live antics, it is a fond remembrance.

Guided By Voices RIP

robert comes out looking disheveled and worn out.
the band proceeds to rock hard (over the neptune,watch me jumpstart etc..) but the vibe eventually
dies out and it becomes a
drag with their drummer having trouble keeping time.
new years comes and champagne gets served to the audience then
more performances are played with mixed results.
sometimes they're on like with glow worm and sometimes they
suck.
robert spends his time getting shot after shot and beer after beer.
it's the gbv culture and it's cool until it gets out of hand.
at one point nate can hardly stand and dissappears then tobin
tries to take over and robert dictator pollard don't dig it.
it's cool, anyway it's his band.
there's a moment where roberts so fried during postal blowfish that
he stumbles and just drops his microphone in his haze of liquor.
sad to see that he lost it.
earlier they had the supergrass drummer come out and he rips thru i am
a tree with good fills, energy to spare, and a sense of timing that kicks
up the vibe and energy of the band.
it's quite a booster and a relief to see the band flying high
and feeding off this guys crazy energy.
these are just moments that stand out for me but you're basically
gonna get over 4 hours of show with drunken banter from robert,
guest appearances which vary from very good to ok, a celebration of
new years with baloons and champagne, killer moments and piss poor
performances, and lastly you'll get a sad feeling that it's over.
you don't want it to stop even though it's a mixed bag but gbv are
fun even on a less than steller night.
i don't have an idea why he broke up something that never truly was a band
except for the first 3 or 4 albums but robert will never get close to the success
he had with this band and though this is not the very best of gbv it's still one heck
of a ride into the mind and sound of a lunatic drunken genius.
the club is still open as far as i'm concerned.

I have been to hundreds of shows in my lifetime, seen thousands of bands. One band always took it one step further than I thought possible. Their set lists often included fifty or more songs and lengthy multiple encores. I saw them play in Orland 12/13/04 for the eleventh and final time. It was moving and amazing. This DVD captures the 12/31/04 show, the last show. Here you will see the people that created the GBV mythology, minus Pete. Here you will see a surreal tribute set to Window of My World and Bob looking like a gray-haired teenager. The setlist includes many of the GBV favorites, but also some rare nuggets like "Chief Barrel Belly" and "Do the Earth." From the opening chant at the beginning of Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" to the chilling and touching final notes of "Don't Stop Now" this is a concert that will be hard to forget. This is legend. Pollard has his first post GBV solo album, "From a Compound Eye," coming out 1/24 on Merge records. This DVD is the essential segway.

As any die hard GBV fan is going to tell you, this show just flat our ROCKED! Granted, it's a FOUR HOUR show and I had to watch it in parts (it took me three sittings to finish it; I think your eyes would be strained and your mind jello after watching it continuously), and Bob was pretty darn wasted, but what more could you ask for? For a man who's just a few short years away from 50 (FIFTY), he still rocks it out just as hard as he did years ago. He's a legend in his own right, and he deserved to go out the way HE wanted to.
I haven't been to a GbV show since September of 2000. The line up then was Bob, Nate, Doug, Tim Tobias and Jim McCann. They rocked, pure and simple. I have been to a LOT of shows in my days, and I can't say there has ever been a band that had put more energy and heart into the music that they played. You could see how Tim looked up to Bob just as Jim Greer tried to emulate Bob's image back in the Alien Lane days. Bob Pollard is a prolific genius. If you haven't listened hard enough to "Isolation Drills," take a few spins on that album and listen to heart-felt emotion in Bob's lyrics, which was when he was going through his divorce. It's pure brilliance.
As for the DVD, I have to say it's not their best performance. Honestly, it's not. True, they rocked, but as time goes on, Bob begins to become slurry and inaudible (sp?). Like when he starts singing "Heavy Metal Country" and NO ONE on stage can get in tune. But who cares? No matter the state of sobriety, it was THEIR night, and they went out like true champs.
Do I recommend this DVD? Oh hell yes! Any true avid fan has to get this, there's no question! Should someone who is first getting into GBV get this disc? I would say no. It's going to look more like an embarrasement than anything, which is the furthest thing from the truth.
Start out with the music. Start at "Alien Lanes" or "Bee Thousand." Work either up or down from their. Then you will really get a feel for the progression of Bob's dream, and how he made his high school dreams a reality. There is SO much GREAT music out there pumped out by every line-up that there is no "ultimate" album. There are no two albums the same, each has it's own feel and pulse.
I'm looking forward to Merge Records release of "From a Compound Eye." Bob has proven that even after the end of one entity, there is a door right there to walk through. And people like me will be there to greet him.

POWER BLESSINGS TO YOU AND ALL THE CREW!!!

Thank god someone got the last four hours of GBV on video. The sound is awesome (way better than the other GBV dvds). My only comment is that there should have been subtitles towards the end... after four hours of boozing you can't understand Pollard's drunken slurring between songs. But that's part of the charm, isn't it? A+++

If you liked Guided By Voices, you simply must get this. 4 hours of some of the best rock ever.

i have only watched about an hour of this DVD, and even THAT was well worth the $20 or whatever. bob just looks so - unhealthy! just like i always imagined. that's what starving, or drinking - for your art will get you.
sad to say, i came to GBV just last year, with the release of their 'greatest hits' CD Human Amusement at Hourly Rates - in fact, i liked that CD so much that i sold it to a friend and went out and bought the whole hardcore UFOs box set! now, just like by Dylan, Band, and Byrds box sets, there are likely parts of this four hour marathon that i will never even play, but the first bits, where bob and the band walk up the stairs into this dive-y club and come out to the applause of hundred of guys - well, losers - i think - 'this is what indie rock is all about. no chicks, bob and the band getting slowly s-faced, and, well, it is SO perfect in its utter slackerness and pop genius. after all, it takes a certain kind of person to think that a song with a title like 'tractor rape chain' is the best song they've ever heard in their life...

Some of the shots were clear but then they would switch to another camera and it would be grainy again! Hard on the eyes.
Super fans will want this for the historic value, others might want to get "Watch me Jumpstart" instead. Watch them both in a row and see Bob age 20 years in the space of 10 actual years!
Shows you what too much booze will do, not a pretty sight.