Customer Reviews

Guided by Voices: The Who Went Home and Cried

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

 

 

All complaints of poor audio/visual quality are noted, but that's not why you should buy this DVD. This DVD chronicles the last rehearsal and snippets of the last concert for bassist Greg Demos, a long time on again off again member, but more importantly a member during the Do the Collapse re-launch when GBV turned into a touring machine.

On some level its easy to compare Pollard's penchant for rotating through bandmates as sad in an "I'm Evan Dando and don't need anyone else" sort of way, but this film document shows in a small way how much Pollard cares about his friends and community. He's still a small town Dayton Ohio boy at heart.

My favorite part of the DVD is the label overlays they drop on friends of the band/Pollard like showing a big guy with a white mullet and labeling him "300lb Ghost", a reference to a GBV song. Its clear that Pollard's influences are just the freaks and oddities surrounding him.

This isn't for a fan looking for a great concert video, although there is some interesting behind the scenes concert footage, as well as some bonus concert tracks. Buy this if you are die hard, or if you like other band members outside of Pollard, or if you've ever wondered what hanging out with the band on a lazy Sunday would be like.

home movie/80s concert lighting and camerawork.the first half is a home video of gbv rehearsing for original bassist greg demo's last show on their porch with various dayton characters milling around including conversation and songs from the always stellar geo,who gives the world the title of the dvd in a snappy rant of gbv folklore.the second half is of the concert that night.the lighting is red and blue and the quickpaced editing feels like 1989 but its a good show and bobs smashed and demos pulls out all the old rock moves and plays his heart out.theres also more home movie footage of the guys hanging out after the show and bob stumbles all the way home with his head down.it might not be airbrushed and tailor made to hypnotize a tv audience into liking it but isnt that what gbvs all about?if you keep it real and know what real really is,this dvds for you.

Not many bands would release a DVD of a sunday jam recorded on primitive equipment, with poor visual and sound quality. Then again, not many bands are GBV, and once you get over the quality, you can enjoy what truly is an insight into the preparation of a show (some of which is shown on the DVD). There are some fantastic versions of songs old and new and you get to see Bob play guitar, which is a true treat. This DVD is also worth buying because of the addition of some footage from another show, which rocks. Recommended.

The appeal of this DVD to me is its lo-fi look into the jam sessions of Rob Pollard. I always enjoyed the unpolished, raw audio recordings of GBV the most, and the porch footage in this DVD really captures that same essence. Its a brief, unfiltered look into Pollard's concert preparation (and some of the concert itself). If you'd like to see Rob Pollard jamming outside with some friends on a lazy, sunny afternoon, then you'll like this DVD.

My only complaint is with the song selections for the DVD. I would have liked to have heard some more stuff from the pre-Urge Overkill era.

This film isn't winning an Oscar for best cinematography, but it's nice to be able to sit Robert Pollard's porch for a quick jam.

I have always been a big fan of GBV. After seeing them live close to 15 times and loving every show, I was excited to see that they had a DVD coming out. The quality is really bad. Half of the DVD is a jam session on someone's porch and the other half is a live show. I would recommend the VHS video "Watch Me Jumpstart" over this without question. Bob Pollard still rules anyway (if you are a musician and want to see what the band is playing, the scenes on the porch might be useful to you).

DO NOT BUY THIS DVD! This is the worst concert/band video I have ever seen! And I like this band and it's latest CD, "Isolation Drills." Sound quality and video are amateurish, at best. You cannot distinguish the dialogue from the background noise and the video looks like it was copied from copies on a decades-old VHS machine.

What were GBV thinking when they allowed this garbage to be released? I mean, I know they are a prolific band and have a tendency to release iffy material, but enough already. This dvd is a travesty, plain and simple. The only time I smiled at all while watching the main program is the moment from which the movie is named. One last question: why is the bonus material more professionally recorded then what is presented in the main program? Not that it fares much better, but it at least would garner two stars. Since it's anchored to the big piece of lead that is the main program, however, the resulting dvd gets a one.