Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Buckley, Michael Tighe, Mick Grondahl, Matt Johnson
• Producers: Gary Fisher
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (PCM Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony
• DVD Release Date: May 9, 2000
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0738900672
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,380 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jeff Buckley's untimely death gives this 108-minute live performance inevitable poignancy and power as a rare, complete document of his passionate writing and playing style. At the time of Buckley's ascendance in the mid-'90s, both his high-flying vocal attack and his edgy poetic sense struck older listeners as genetic markers from his father, folk-rock legend Tim Buckley. Yet Buckley fils pursued a much more electric, rock-ribbed style, nodding toward behemoths like Pearl Jam and even Led Zeppelin.

This 1995 concert is a single, complete show from the tour that yielded the posthumous Mystery White Boy live album. It likewise impresses, both for Buckley's own songs and the bold cover choices included, here including songs associated with Nina Simone and the MC5 (a range that explains the emotional epics that Buckley favors).

Visually, the unadorned lighting scheme casts an often harsh light on the pale, dark-haired frontman, but a generally solid performance is sonically captured with satisfying detail, and the 5.1 surround sound mix gives the DVD version an appropriate club ambience. The DVD also includes two bonus acoustic performances. --Sam Sutherland

Product Description
Studio: Sony Music Release Date: 09/10/2002 Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just like St. Joan, August 10, 2000

By	M. Fantino (San Francisco, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jeff Buckley fans are very lucky to have this sort of a DVD release. It took me a while to really become a Jeff Buckley fan (and now there is no turning back). I remember first borrowing an advance copy of Grace back in 1994 and being seduced by the easily loved Hallelujah (who didn't?) and also So Real, but the rest of that album proved I was unready for such a unique singer. Later on, after Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk came out, I became much more interested. Mystery White Boy further solidified my fascination for his way of doing things, and now, with this Live In Chicago DVD, I am completely convinced. A little late, I admit.

I wonder, while writing this review, if this is the best place to start, for the new-comer. I think it is. Some might initially be turned off by his fluctuating vocals, but later, I guarantee, that will be precisely what you love about him. His compassionate yodels range from a pigeons coo, to a hyena's laugh, to a goldfish burble, to a puma's roar. And his guitar playing can trigger memories of This Mortal Coil, The Mission, and Johnny Marr (he makes two Smiths references on this DVD, one of which is a parody of a Morrissey-style song about policemen! And on Mystery White Boy he welds I Know It's Over to Hallelujah). Whatever hints of influences glisten through his songs, they are undoubtedly his, meaning: It sounds like Jeff Buckley. He and his band bleed through their instruments to produce a dizzying sonic sweep through the central nervous system. And to see this is amazing. His lyrics are the type that take you a while to realize he is lamenting a certain part of your own life (or at least that's how it feels). Lines like, "My Kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder" are so intimate and so precise, you wonder why nobody has come up with it before. And I can't help but wonder when he sings "Father do you hear me, do you know me, do you even care?" (What Will You Say) if he is singing to his father, Tim Buckley, who he did not know.

If you are like me and you enjoy hearing different interpretations to songs you already like, then you will love this film. Notable spots are the strange and hypnotic rendering of Big Star's 1975 hit Kangaroo where he ferociously barks, "You're just like Saint Joan..." with sweat dripping from his hair (on Mystery White Boy he barely whispers the same line, mind you), then after the song is pretty much over, he jams wildly unlike any way you can imaging being appropriate for such a song and does this for some time, ending up by the speakers, playing to them creating the type of feedback you'd expect at a Crazy Horse audition. Then there is the surprise Kick Out The Jams, featuring a goofy guy named Crazy Dave (or something) sharing the vocals then doing the un-Grace-ful bellyflop into the front three rows (I think that sort of stunt is always better witnessed on film than in real life, for obvious reasons). Then again, the audience deserved that sort of hurl. They spend most of the time between songs begging for Jeff to play Hallelujah, and he seems bothered by it. He eventually gives them a piece of his mind (which I will not describe) and seems to play most of the remaining set behind closed eyes, as if, for himself.

The DVD is coupled with a documentary/interview that is captivating. He speaks so tenderly about music, like some do about love. And throughout are performances that are equally haunting. Not to mention the two acoustic versions.

It's good, get it.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendent, glorious live performance, September 29, 2003

By	Strobe Lights And Blown Speakers (Louisville) - See all my reviews

Where to start? I'm sure most of you know the Jeff Buckley story. In short, Buckley was an amazing singer and musician who only had the opportunity to release one full-length album before his life was taken away. But fans, followers, and mourners rejoice - Live In Chicago captures him at his peak, and shines like a beacon of light into our darkened souls. Yes, that's right - this concert is magical, transcendent, and just absolutely gorgeous.

Jeff Buckley had a penchant for writing amazing songs, and they are on display full-force here. It is just magical to hear (and see!) him sing these songs that I thought were inhuman and impossible to sing outside of the recording studio. The ethereal beauty of "Hallelujah" had the live crowd, as well as me, sitting in a stunned silence at the perfectness they were witnessing. But this magnificent display is somehow outshined by some of Buckley's other songs.

The song "Grace" stands as a milestone in my music listening experience. Jeff's voice is just perfectly original and absolutely BEYOND COMPREHENSION. I really can't describe it, and I literally sat in awe for minutes after seeing this. Let's make this simple on you (and me, since I honestly cannot describe this up to the standards it deserves) - if you are a Jeff Buckley, fan, this is a no-braier: Buy it now. If you are a singer, and want to see and hear something amazing, definitely buy this. If you simply want to hear the most amazing thing ever, buy this. Jeff Buckley may be gone from Earth, but his music, spirit, and beauty will live on forever with this DVD.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST SEE !!! (this is my 1st 'caps' offense ever...), December 15, 2001

By	Viktor Rodenburg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

Well, where should I start... This DVD (or video i presume) has literally changed my life. I bought it a couple of months ago and haven't stopped watching...
If you're looking for pure music and passion - this is it.
I'm quite a music & movie fanatic - you name it, I saw it or heard it, but this concert beats everything hands down.

It is truly the most exciting, moving, genuine thing I have ever experienced in music. It is far, far better than any live concert or studio-recording I have ever heard or seen.
You - reading this - must know 'Grace' and probably like it a lot. Well - This concert will KNOCK YOU DOWN !!! It's really too good to be true - yet it is (True).

GO SEE IT - NO WAY YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED !!!

PS: I am not drunk, not on drugs, in no way affiliated to Jeff Buckley and will not benefit from increased sales of his works.
This is simply so good I want too share it with everybody !

greets, Vik