Customer Reviews

Permanent Record - Live & Otherwise - Violent Femmes

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

 

 

I've been waiting for a DVD from the Violent Femmes for years. Periodically, I would check to see if one had finally been released. Now, here I am reviewing it.

It's an excellent collection of songs - a very strong playlist. The performance is solid. The audio is very well done. The filming is simple; it doesn't detract from the experience. One is even allowed to watch the performers without any special effects or rapid editing.

Having the videos is a nice extra. The audio for the street performance is weak; however, it does give one a strong insight into the origins of this band and their ability to play for a crowd. It was probably recorded with a camcorder.

My only complaint is simple. According to the notes in the DVD, this performance was approximately two hours. There is maybe fifty minutes worth presented on this DVD. Some noteable songs, like Black Girls, are obviously missing. That is my only complaint.

I am proud to have this DVD sitting amongst my ever growing collection of live performances.

We bought it because we used to get drunk in 1987 and jump on the bed screaming along with the stereo. So now we can can get drunk in 2006 and jump on the bed screaming along with the surround sound.

Five Stars...check out the rare in the street acoustic version of Kiss Off. Paul says it rules.

I just hope they stay together and healthy. The Ramones did neither.

25 years on and 15 years after the performance this is taken from, this looks/sounds like every other Violent Femmes concert you've heard or seen (I just did in Indianapolis this month. Waited half a lifetime. It was beyond worth it). That is to say it's GREAT!

What year is it? Who knows? Who cares? It's the same combination on stage, Gordon, Brian, and (few could tell the difference between him and his 1990s replacement Guy Hoffman so why should we?) Victor, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass and snare drum/floor tom/cymbal respectively. Always sounding the same, always looking the same, but if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

The setlist might vary from the concert you saw/heard, but the songs always sound like record, albeit with that bigger sound associated with a live show.

If you've seen them, you know this, you love this, so buy it if you haven't already.

If you haven't seen/heard them, here's a great place to start and your life is less if you haven't seen/heard them, or if you've only seen/heard them do "Blister in the Sun." There's more to them. Check it out for yourself. :-)

Signed,
epsteinsmutha

NOTE: There are two missing videos for some reason: The horrid remake of "Blister in the Sun" off the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack as well as the "Nightmares" video immortalized in an episode of Beavis and Butthead.

Here is a chance to see one of the best live bands in the world strut their stuff. The year is 1991, but that does not matter, I saw the same guys a few months back, i.e. 15 years later, and all they have done is improve and use different musical guests. What you hear on any Violent Femmes studio album is not what you will see at the live show, where they will trot out some mad professor with a banjo, there will be mandolins, violins, xylophones, and some of the other things that you will see on "Live at the Boat House" that comprises the first disc in this two disc set. For the full treatment skip to track 8, "Confessions" where Brian Ritchie brings out his conch shell and didgeridoo. Though some of the tracks that were played at the venue are obviously missing from the DVD (they always introduce the band during "Black Girls") this is still a great example of their performance ability. The only comparable Femmes DVD is titled "No, Let's Start Over." Disc two has about six music videos, some good, some ... Check it out. Better still, go see one of the best live shows on the planet, they are always touring.