Customer Reviews

Live from the River of Dreams

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

 

 

This was a pretty good show, but hardly definitive when you consider the depth and breadth of Billy's catalogue. I, and most of his other fans, are still waiting for that one show that encapsulates everything that he is and does. This is a good performance but it didn't take my breath away. For one thing, he's great all by himself. An intimate "VH-1 Storytellers" type of concert might have been more compelling. Alternatively, a show that was about twice as long might have made this release feel more like an entree and less like an appetizer. This will have to do until something better comes along...

You will notice that Billy keeps rolling his eyes during the performance. Initially I thought he was just bored with the whole thing. After watching it a 2nd time I realized that he was trying desperately to avoid looking at the cameras while they were recording. This was probably done at the director's behest. It was an odd choice.

He also sweats profusely at times, and sounds a bit congested early in the show. He may not have been feeling well at the time.

One of the main highlights, and the thing that makes this one a keeper, was Billy's rendition of the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night". He was clearly turned on by the experience and I think the audience fed off of that energy.

Also of note: Billy is seen playing the piano with his arse during one segment, which I found oddly amusing. It kind of reminded me of one of those clasic rock moments such as Chuck Berry's duck-walk or Jerry Lee Lewis' various on-stage antics. He was clearly in the moment, which was great to see.

Final note: The bonus cd that comes with this dvd contains Billy's "All My Life" which is essentially his best Frank Sinatra impersonation. Even the cover photo shows him wearing one of Frank's hats. Be that as it may, there are a couple of live cuts from the Madison Square Garden show which have some real passion to them (particularly "Honesty"). It's a good little collection of songs (3 1/2 stars).

This DVD from this spectacular concert is incomplete!
The whole concert was 130 Minutes. Here we only have 77 Minutes of this. In 1994 I taped this concert, that was aired live in German Television and much other Countries like Swiss, Austria, South America. Missing are the following titles "Angry Young Man", "Scenes from an italian Restaurant", "Honesty", "Innocent Man".
Why are these very famous Titles missing?

This is not the best setlist in Joel's history, but this dvd is a first-rate quality! the sound, the band, performance in itself and direction are very good. Recommended to all Billy Joel's fans, not for "neophytes", Long Island '82 or the last Live at Shea Stadium from 2008 are typical greatest hits setlists. Live from the River of dreams is a portrait of a period. This 1994 Live concert shot in Germany, is a partially 77 minutes edited from The River Of Dreams Tour Concert, 14 tracks: NO MAN'S LAND - SHADES OF GREY - THE RIVER OF DREAMS (from "River of Dreams" 1993); LENINGRAD - WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE - I GO TO EXTREMES (from "Storm Front" 1989 ...and it was not that great, in my humble opinion); PRESSURE - ALLENTOWN - GOODNIGHT SAIGON (from "The Nylon Curtain" 1982); 4 classic Joel numbers: BIG SHOT & MY LIFE from 1978 "52nd Street", BALLAD OF BILLY THE KID & PIANO MAN from 1973 "Piano Man"; plus the classic Beatles' A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. ...nothing from : "Cold Spring Harbor", "Streetlife Serenade", most of all from "Turnstiles" and "The Stranger", in which the best songs by William Martin Joel live in... ...for want of anything better, "LIVE FROM THE RIVER OF DREAMS" DVD is a FIRST-RATE PRODUCT from an excellent live show.

musicians:
BILLY JOEL (piano, lead vocals) / LIBERTY DEVITTO (drums) / CRYSTAL TALIEFERO (percussion, vocals, guitar, keyboards, sax, flute) / TOMMY BYRNES (guitars, vocals) / DAVID ROSENTHAL (keyboards, piano, organ, vocals) / T-BONE WOLK (bass, accordion, mandolin, vocals) / MARK RIVERA (sax, vocals, guitar, percussion).

setlist:
01. NO MAN'S LAND
02. PRESSURE
03. BALLAD OF BILLY THE KID
04. LENINGRAD
05. ALLENTOWN
06. MY LIFE
07. I GO TO EXTREMES
08. SHADES OF GREY
09. THE RIVER OF DREAMS
10. GOODNIGHT SAIGON
11. WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE
12. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
13. BIG SHOT
14. PIANO MAN

director : Larry Jordan

I expected to love it but I thought it was just fine. It's not something I would watch too often.

Billy Joel is a musical genius and this DVD proves it to all who want to enjoy a spendid evening in front of their television. What a voice, what a talent! I highly recommend this video to all music lovers...no matter what their ages.

Expected to get a better version of the "BJ Live at Yankee Stadium", but I wasn't lucky.

I think this concert was performed somewhere in Europe (Austria, Germany or Switzerland) so the great Piano Man sure performed the songs that became great hits there.

That's why a lot of his real best Hits (for American fans) are missing... Anyway is a good concert, audio and video quality are Okay...

can someone give me a good enough reason why billy does not want to release more of his live preformances?

This is a great DVD, but not near long enough. I would like to see that millennium concert released sometime before the next millennium. As a footnote this set is available at Walmart for ten bucks.