Customer Reviews

Harry Chapin: Rockpalast Live

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

 

 

Harry Chapin was always better as a live performer than as a studio recorder. The personal touch he added to the songs made them more heartfelt. I was fortunate enough to have seen Harry live at least 6 times. Therefore, it was with great joy that I slid this Disc into the DVD player, dimmed the lights, and drifted back in time. Most of what Chapin fans loved is on this disc. At last, the complete version of Corey's Coming is available on a digital medium. (Previously only available on "Legends of the Lost and Found", which was never released on CD) "Mail Order Annie" is beautifully done, and the rest of the set is well read. While "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" is cut short, (maybe the German audience wouldn't have understood the various endings) the rest of the included selections are quite good and the band is excellent as they always were. The only real glaring omission is Harry's self-professed favorite song, "A Better Place to Be", but if you included everything, this would have been a 3 hour concert, (as many of his live shows were).
All told, this is alot of what Harry Chapin fans have been waiting for. For those who want to go back and recapture the feeling of Harry live, it's a great trip back. For those who never had the pleasure, it's a nice sample of a great live performer.

This Harry Chapin concern was taped in Germany on April 12, 1977 as an episode of the German television music show "Rockpalast Live," shortly after the release of the double-album "Dance Band on the Titanic." That accounts for both the poor quality of the video and the selection of these particular fourteen songs:

"Shooting Star"
"W.O.L.D."
"Mr. Tanner"
"Dance Band on the Titanic"
"Taxi"
"Six String Orchestra"
"Corey's Coming"
"Blues Man"
"Mail Order Annie"
"30,000 Pounds of Bananas"
"Cat's in the Cradle"
"Circle"
"Odd Man Job"
"I Wanna Learn a Love Song"

Actually only a couple of songs come from the "Dance Band on the Titanic" album, with five of the songs coming from the "Verities and Balderdash" album three from "Short Stories." Of course Chapin plays his most recognizable "hits," which are the few songs of his that got a lot of A.M. radio air play: "W.O.L.D.," "Taxi," and "Cat's in the Cradle." But long time fans will appreciate the chance to hear big John Wallace help out on "Mr. Tanner" and Harry's bittersweet love songs like "Mail Order Annie." The gem this time around would be the almost nine minute version of "Corey's Coming." The band consists of Chapin on acoustic guitar (and wearing a yellow shirt), Wallace on bass, brother Steve Chapin on keyboards, Doug Walker playing electric guitar, Howie Fields on drums, and Kim Scholes playing the cello. Of course everybody gets to join in on the fun with the sing along "Circle."

There is another Chapin concert out there, a PBS "Soundstage" concert released as "The Book of Chapin," but for Harry's fans any opportunity to see him perform again is worth the having. Even the strangeness of the German audience, who obviously have not already taken this music to heart, works because Harry makes a big effort to connect with them (but avoids doing the alternative endings on "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" because this audience is probably not going to get the jokes). But even if the video quality is suspect at times the audio is pretty good and that is what matters the most.

Harry was posthumously rewarded the Gold Medal of Freedom by Congress for his work fighting hunger in this country. He was something special and I still remembering hearing about the big LA radio station that played his song "What Made America Famous?" every hour during the 4th of July weekend the year I graduated high school. It is impossible to listen to any of his songs and not mourn the tragic accident that took him from us way too soon and to wonder about the dozen albums he would have put out between then and now and all the great songs we missed out on hearing. But we do have his excellent body of story songs and a few concert vidoes to remind us how great Harry was in concert.

Despite the audience from hell this is a wonderful trip down memory lane for anyone who was fortunate enough to see the great man live. I saw him twice at the Glasgow Apollo and this DVD brought back warm memories that only Chapin live could give. Most of his classic tracks are here including my favourite, Mr Tanner but as I have previously stated the fact that he is "live" is the bonus factor. I had forgotten the warmth of the man on stage and the brilliance of his band and their on stage camaraderie. Every song is a story and I am not afraid to admit that I had tears in my eye's remebering the loss that Harry Chapin is to music. He has never been replaced so if you are a fan buy this, switch off the lights and go back to the concert venue that you last seen Harry and enjoy.

The following is a review from a fan of30 years of Harry chapin and I own just about all his music!

When you here the name Rockpalast Live-you think of the kind of venue that Harry sung the live version of Circle on Greatest Hits Live. Well, Rockpalast appears to be half a small bleaher on a little league softball game! The reason this is important is I felt badly for Harry having to sing to this bunch of people who appear not to understand or appreciate his work and looked comatose! The German audience was not involved in the show and appeared to be an uninvolved infomercial group of maybe 20 people.

I was truly looking forward to this DVD. The music was good, the song selection was somewhat poor and the version of Circle was far from great. Seeing him made me feel happy and sad.
I'm glad I got the dvd ,but I expected a better concert.
I felt bad for Harry to have to sing to this unappreciative group and hope he didn't have to go back again.
Additionally, the production values of the music was not great!

No one is a bigger Harry Chapin fan than myself. However the over all quality of this DVD leaves alot to be desired. The print quality is as poor as any DVD that I have seen. I did enjoy looking through this and seeing Harry perform to a less than great audience.While Harry Chapin will live forever in our hearts ,this was not one of the greatest pieces of his work. Now if only The Last Concert were put to DVD we would have something of great value.

Even though it was obvious that there was a real language barrier between Harry and the audience, by the end he had won them over. An audience that starts out painfully subdued ends up clapping and cheering Harry on in the end.

Much like another reviewer mentioned, I didn't discover Harry until he had passed on and regret never seeing him live. He is a performer who loves his audience and gave them every bit of himself in every single song. This part of him is not lost on the non-english speaking crowd. They can see what he's giving and love him for it, as did I. Don't miss this one. Where it is true that the recording he did for Sound Stage has better crowd reactions, this DVD is longer and gives you more Harry.

A great dvd! The audience was the only distraction, poor beasts, they did not know they were hearing a legend . I only saw Harry perform twice-but his passing was a great sorrow in my life! This performance was Harry! The energy and emotion of his music stands forth for us all to remember. While it is sad to think of the loss, it is grand to remember the man that was Harry Chapin!!!

I don't think there's ever been a performer who did as engaging a "live" show as Harry Chapin. This is the reason I immediately grabbed the DVD off the shelf at Virgin Records when I saw it. However, Harry's rapport with his audiences generally came from a mutual understanding; Harry understanding people and their dramas, heartaches, humor and happiness and the Audience understanding the words that came out of Harry's mouth. The German audience at this Rockpalast concert clearly did not understand Harry. I'm not suggesting that they didn't "get" him; they did not understand the English language, which is what Harry was speaking. When you take away the audience interplay, you're left with little more than a live performance of some of Harry's best songs. However, the audio and video quality is so poor that it's unbearable to sit through this concert. I'm sure Harry would support my recommendation that you support your local public television station (PBS) which offers a fantastic concert video of Harry performing in Hamilton, Ontario. The PBS concert has infinitely better audio/video quality and, most importantly, an English-speaking audience who love and appreciate Harry's music as well as his wit. Too bad Virgin won't let me return opened and viewed DVD's; Rockpalast would go back! Get the PBS video and buy the Bottom Line collection's two-disc set of Harry's performances at the legendary Greenwich Village cabaret.

While on his tour of Europe, Harry Chapin and his band made a stop at the German venue, Rockpalast, and taped a concert in-front of a live audience. Maybe Harry and the band were given lousy sound-equipment to work with. Maybe it was the fact that Harry and his band were tired (as is implied by Harry during the concert) and only did it because Chapin's manager (or his label at the time, Elektra Records) saw a last-minute opportunity for publicity and/or promotion, and took it.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains that this is a poor Harry Chapin concert, which is why I give it 3 stars. And yet, I do not give it a lesser-rating because Harry strives to give it his all to an audience where few, in any, understand even an inkling of the English language. Harry's determination pays-off in the end, for, in the second-half of the concert, many in the audience have warmed-up to Harry and his music, which goes to show you that good music it not confined to a specific language or country.

Still, Harry's personal charisma aside, I still believe that the poor-quality of this DVD gives me reason to say that unless you're a hardcore Chapin-fan, don't bother purchasing this concert. Trust me, there are other televised Chapin concerts available for purchase which are far-better than this.

I am one of those who was lucky enough to see several Chapin concerts. I saw two with only Harry and his guitar and one with the whole band. This dvd isn't high def or the best sound, but, it shows you how wonderful he was. Harry gave all of himself to every audience and I never attended another concert like it again. The audience on this one obviously couldn't understand
English and it must have made it hard on Harry, who loved audience participation.
Find "The Final Concert" on either vhs or dvd, if it's still out there. That one was filmed in America and really shows the whole band's power. Tom is one that one.
This concert is very subdued, but, then we can't be picky. If you loved Harry Chapin, you will be glad for the chance to see him in again.