Customer Reviews

Live in Concert

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

 

 

The Gin Blossoms are back with their first official live CD!

While the "Just South of Nowhere" DVD showcases the Blossoms visually from 1993 (and pre-"Congratulations I'm Sorry"), this release shows what they sound like today. It was recorded on July 18, 2008 in North Lawrence, Ohio and has older hits along with material from their reunion CD, "Major Lodge Victory."

The audio to the band is considerably higher than the audience, making the band sound clearer. I'm not sure if this is an edited concert, as their live show is considerably longer with more songs. A few of the audience cheers between songs have fades, indicating that either the order of songs was rearranged or there are in fact edited songs from the live set.

The hardest issue of coming up with a live set with a band like the Gin Blossoms is that you have to balance the older hits (and there are many) with the newer releases. Sometimes some songs just have to be omitted to make room.

PROS - Great sound, great showmanship, but more importantly, it brings the Gin Blossoms back to the forefront. This live CD has most of their hits...the only outstanding mandatory single is "As Long As It Matters." But the other inclusions (including the album track "Lost Horizons") make up for this considering the room factor.

CONS - The only con for this release pertains to the song choices from "Major Lodge Victory." While it has some great song choices, I think other songs like "Heart Shaped Locket," "Come on Hard," "The End of the World," and "Curious Thing" would have represented the album better. But you can always get the album to hear for yourself, so this isn't that big a deal.

So all in all, this is a great live CD. It's a shame that the Gin Blossoms haven't been given the respect and attention they deserve, but this live release shows that the Blossoms are carrying on...and sound as great as ever. Check out their live show if you ever get the chance!

UPDATE: I GOT TO SEE THE GIN BLOSSOMS IN ALBUQUERQUE WHEN THEY TOURED IN 2009. I MET THEM AND WAS INVITED TO HANG OUT WITH THEM AT THEIR HOTEL OVER DRINKS. WE TALKED ABOUT MUSIC AND LIFE...WHAT CAN I SAY...THE GIN BLOSSOMS ARE SOME OF THE NICEST GUYS OUT THERE. YOU WOULD NEVER EVEN KNOW THEY WERE FAMOUS AND THEY ARE VERY DOWN TO EARTH. THESE GUYS ARE FIVE OF THE NICEST, MOST GENEROUS GUYS IN THE MUSIC BIZ TODAY.

GOOD LUCK IN THE FUTURE BLOSSOMS!

I've been a long time fan of the GIN BLOSSOMS since they put out NEW MISERABLE EXPERIENCE, so once I knew about this cd, I got really excited, wow a live cd, the songs are great, my only complain is that why the heck did they cut in between songs, if it is suppose to be a live recording, ok, edit the tracks for clear sound, long waiting periods between songs, but don't do it as a studio album, this just takes away the magic o a live album. Hope the next live album they put out won't be like this one. The songs are played beautifully you can see that the magic between this guys is still there.

ROCK ON!!!!

While I really like the Gin Blossoms' music this live version fell a bit short. The mix (in my opinion) wasn't well done and transitions between songs was choppy.

The music is definitely the Gin Blossoms, an all-time favorite band of mine. I've seen them live, and can't really tell if this music was recorded live or not. The "interaction" with the crowd sounds a bit phoney at times, and maybe that was intentional. This is a nice "greatest hits" version of their music.

This, though the GB's first "official" live album, was rather unceremoniously released (I consider myself a pretty big Gin Blossoms follower, and this was out for several months before I even caught wind of it). The whole thing comes across as very "basic" and even sort of bootleg-ish - it's a recording of one show, warts 'n all, with no liner notes aside from the date and location of the show, and that it was mixed by guitarist Jesse Valenzuela (was it even mastered?). The cover itself is just a photo of the band that had been around for a while with "Live in Concert" slapped on it, and there are no additional photos to be found. The show itself is decent, and there's a nice mix of tunes from each of the band's three albums (at the time). Still, you can't help but wonder why more effort wasn't put into this - perhaps recording several shows and cherry-picking the best performances. As for the sound itself, it kind of sounds like a top-quality bootleg - the mix is relatively clear, but the whole thing lacks punch and doesn't really leap out of your speakers.

This live album is so crisp. I love that there were no mics aimed at the audience. This is about as good or better than the studio recordings.

I have seen the GIN BLOSSOMS live around 25-30 times and this CD captures their live sound well! ROCKET MAN is well worth the price!

I L-U-V the Gin Blossoms, have everything they ever recorded that I can get my hands on, and I am sad to report that this CD was not up to expectations.

I've seen 'em live more than once - even heard the opening comment about "kickin' ass and chewing gum, and we're all out of gum" before from them (on Major Lodge Victory tour)and know what they can do.
Jesse and Scott and both great guitarists, Robin is one of my top fave vocalists, and Bill is super as well (I don't know much about Scott, the drummer dude) BUT BUT BUT - I don't know if it is the production/recording/my stereo/whatever, but this thing sounds so lifeless, I just don't want to listen to it over and over and over like I might at least a couple of the Gin Blossoms records.

That's enough. You make up your own mind, but this absolute big time fan found it not so hot.