Customer Reviews

Soundstage Presents: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Soundstage" DVD tracklisting:

- Part 1 -

Baby Please Don't Go

Crawlin Back To You

Handle With Care

I Won't Back Down

I'm Cryin'

Angel Dream

Melinda

Born In Chicago

Red Rooster

Carol

Refugee

- Part 2 -

Love Is A Long Road

You Don't Know How It Feels

Black Leather Woman

I Done Somebody Wrong

I Got A Woman

Thirteen Days

Wake Up Time

Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms

Lost Children

Two Men Talking

You Wreck Me

A good mix of hits and rarely heard music. "Two Men Talking" is a real gem of impromtu Jazz.

The good news here is that the sound quality is excellent, the picture quality is very clear, and the concert is just shown in a normal, natural way - as it should be. That last part might be taken for granted, but too often concert videos can be ruined by herky-jerky fast-cut editing that attempts to make the show more "interesting". Which is really stupid, because if someone is watching the concert, they just want to see and hear the band, not clever editing or lengthy fan shots. Rest assured that this video presents the band itself as the entertainment, not the editing or the crowd. A very good thing.

Since the sound, picture, and editing are so good, I'm tempted to give this 5 stars. But it gets only 4 from me for various reasons. One is that there are 9 "cover" songs here vs. 13 written by Petty/Heartbreakers. Given that the band's own songs are so great, I don't like hearing so many covers, which I consider to be of lesser quality than the band's own songs. If more Petty & Heartbreakers DVD's were available covering the band's own songs, this wouldn't be such a problem. But since this is only one of 3 existing DVDs from the band, "too many" covers is a minor quibble. Then there's the drummer situation. Original drummer Stan Lynch was very creative, yet stayed completely "in synch" with the rest of the band - which made his drumming a big part of the Heartbreaker's success. His replacement, Steve Ferrone, is "ok" but not great, and often seems to lack the cohesion that Lynch had with the rest of the band. So I feel to a great extent that without Stan Lynch on drums, this isn't really THE Heartbreakers. Finally, the price on this set is slightly high, so for all these reasons I can't give the set a full 5 stars.

Still, true fans of the band (and yes I'm one) should definitely get this. I like this a lot better than "High Grass Dogs" (which is very poorly edited, and not great sounding), and it's close to "Live at the Olympic". I do somewhat prefer "Olympic" to this one, mainly because the songs on that one were written by Petty himself (and it's also great sounding and well edited). It's a shame that there aren't more/better concert DVD choices though for a band with such a rich history as this one. My favorite official TP & Heartbreakers concert video was 1991's "Take the Highway", but that's never been on DVD, and now it's not even available on VHS. Same situation with 1985's "Pack up the Plantation", though I didn't like that one as much as "Highway", due both to its jerky editing, as well as the overbearing presence of a horn section and backup singer/dancers. Both of those concerts should be on DVD now though, it's a shame they aren't. And I suppose it would be too much to ask for some of the Heartbreakers' European (or American) tv appearances to be released onto DVD, but they should be too - after all, 20+ year old European shows from Blondie, The Cars, and Bruce Springsteen (among others) have been officially released recently to DVD, so why not something from TP & the Heartbreakers?

This is a first class DVD. Picture and sound are outstanding. Tom and the boys are in top form here. The eight bonus songs on disc 2 are very good. This band is so much better live. A lot of highlights on these two discs. If you ever thought about buying a Tom Petty DVD get this one.

This DVD is different - a little more tame. It's an opportunity to hear Tom and the boys do some standards and some different stuff. If you are looking for rock and roll - you may be disappointed. Personally, I love it - but I love anything Tom does!

I will let all the other reviews discuss the songs the band does (originals and covers from other artists), the camera angles, etc. Frankly, if your a fan you will purchase this. If you are in a TP&H tribute band, you will purchase this. So my review will consist of an observation I had while watching this as one aspect of this production struck me as odd. When I have gone to rock & roll concerts, TP&H as well as others, as anyone who has been to a rock concert will know, there is (usually) an energy, sometimes a frenzy emanating from the audience. Sometimes this is more evident as the opening act may get a luke-warm response (most people remaining in their seats, politely clapping at the end of songs, etc) while the headliner elicits much more fervor.

In this Soundstage production, there is no sense of that fervor from the audience, it felt almost like a dress rehearsal from the band...I actually felt bad for the band as I know that they feed partly off the audience to get their energy levels and juices flowing to put on a great show. I have only watched it once so far, so maybe it is just that you don't hear the audience as they were not recorded well, or maybe they were recorded on a separate track and turned down in the studio, I do not know. The audience shots of the people you can see up front are generally older (whom can afford those choice seats of course) so you do not see a lot of movement from them. Is any of this important? NOT AT ALL. Personally, I would rather have 5 separate video feeds that focussed on each member of the band that I could watch separately as I love watching what each member does; what are the chord voicings the Mike, Tom and Scott are using, which keyboard or piano is Benmont using, what drum fill Steve is playing. This never happens in any concert video, so...sigh.

The only reason I gave that description above is to prepare one for the lack of energy and really audible cheering from the audience; it does not SOUND like a live show as some of the best live albums do. Again, this is NOT a bad thing, just different.

Still, I for one enjoyed most of the covers and all the original songs the band did, and I do Highly recommend this 2 DVD disc set. A LOT of music for the money.

This is a plain-old concert video, not an MTV sleaze-fest - filmed in crystalline Hi-Def Video, with gorgeous sound (5.1 or Stereo). Be aware, this is not a Heartbreakers greatest hits show (see `High Grass Dogs' for more of that). Soundstage is a showcase for some of the band's favorites and influential `roots' material. It rocks and rolls all over America's variegated musical landscape (which now includes many of their own great songs).

Included are many rarely performed tunes - including Tom's `Crawling Back To You', the Traveling Wilbury's `Handle With Care', the Animals' `I'm Cryin', Chuck Berry's (via The Rolling Stones) `Carol', Elmore James (via the Allman Brothers) `I Done Somebody Wrong', etc. Benmont Tench is incredible throughout, and Mike Campbell, on track after track, is beyond even that (Refugee, Lost Children, You Wreck Me, etc). The rest of the band is f**king great as well, despite some of the other `critique-ers'. This is the Heartbreakers of 2005, not 1980, and this band rocks !!!

Complete Track Listing :

Disc 1 : Baby, Please Don't Go - Crawling Back To You - Handle Me With Care - I Won't Back Down - I'm Cryin' - Angel Dream - Melinda - Born In Chicago - Red Rooster - Carol - Refugee

Disc 2 : Love Is A Long Road - You Don't Know How It Feels - Black Leather Woman - I Done Somebody Wrong - I Got A Woman - Thirteen Days - Wake Up Time - Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms - Lost Children - Two Men Talkin' - You Wreck Me

Bonus Tracks : Down Home Girl - I'd Like To Love You Baby - Not Fade Away - Walls - Yer So Bad - Billy The Kid

From `Live At The Olympic-The Last DJ' : Like A Diamond - Can't Stop The Sun

Many have complained about the number of cover songs, but it's the very reason I sought out this DVD. How many times to you need to hear "Free Falling" or "Running Down a Dream"? I always love Tom's interpretation of other's songs. Many here I have never heard of before. As always, Mike Campbell's understated guitar is to die for. And alas, watching this makes me miss Stan Lynch. Great songs, great concert. Highly recommended.

The back cover of the DVD lists the following extras: Biography, Backstage Pass, Bonus Tracks, Photo Gallery, Meet the Band, Discography and Interview. Only the Bonus Tracks appear on disc 2. Where are these other extras? Also, why 2 discs? With a running time of 109 minutes, wouldn't this have fit on one disc?

What a great eclectic mix of Tom Petty songs this is!

You do get some great versions of Petty classics (Refugee is especially good - a song I don't normally care much for), plus a great mix of blues (lots of good blues!), country (only a little), acoustic, and straight ahead rockers that just aren't on other releases (except maybe the Live Anthology).

If you need to hear all the familiar tunes then, well, maybe this isn't for you. But, if you want to see the band play the roots of great American music don't miss this. I especially like Mike's playing on that cool green mandolin he used in several of the selections.

A quick note - I bought the Blu-ray version, which seems to be out of print. It includes 5 additional live songs from a different show as well as two songs from the 'Olympic' DVD. I'm not sure if these are on the two disc regular DVD release, but if they are not it makes it worthwhile to pick up the Blu-ray (still available through Amazon Marketplace) - plus the Blu-ray looks and sounds great.

Who knew Tom Petty could play the blues? This is an incredible concert! I wish they would make these songs available on cd or itunes.

Great concert with a nice mix of Petty standards and lessor known songs. The sound and video quality are excellent. The Heartbreakers get their individual moments and they all deliver.