Cheap Trick DVD! (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_P]

Just in case anyone wants to know the official Cheap Trick site has posted that a Limited Edition 2 Disc DVD will ship on July 9th. And then in September a single disc DVD will be commercially released worldwide. I pre-ordered this in March so I glad to see this finally get released. The DVD can still be ordered atwww.cheaptrick.com.
I will give a review after I get it. I have seen any specs for the disc so I am clueless on the content besides the fact that is the show they recorded and filmed in Illinois.
Jeff_P

 

[Doug M]

"Can you honestly tell me you've forgotten? Forgotten the charisma of Rick Nielson, the magnetism of Robin Zander?"-- Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Cut to almost 20 years later...
Since I own, oh, I guess just the first 7 albums (yes, vinyl), I hadn't exactly forgotten, but in "High Fidelity" terms, I put Cheap Trick autobiographically in my 7th and 8th grade years growing up in central Illinois. Cheap Trick was one of the first concerts I was able to attend, in probably 1978 or 79 I think. I also managed to catch them at a free show on the MN capital lawn at the Taste of Minnesota 2 or 3 years ago, almost 20 years after the first time I saw them, but I missed their "first 3 album shows" down at First Avenue (Minneapolis) a while back.
I saw Jeff's message above and thought I'd give the limited edition "Silver" DVD a try....I browsed the website for a while and then ordered the DVD. Well, I received it tonight and had a chance to run through both discs. I won't go through a full review here, but thought I'd offer some of my impressions.
All in all, it's a fun show with lots of their gem tunes throughout! The video isn't spectacular - it's video - but the sound is pretty well done in DD 5.1. The show itself is the 25th anniversary homecoming show they did in Rockford, IL in August of 2000.
Part of the draw of this disc is that it's (apparently) a limited edition 2 disc set, which will be followed up later with a single disc version.
I put in the first disc of Silver and was immediately pleased with the contents. The menus are pretty well done - to choose audio, you choose between Rick's 2 neck guitar or the 5 neck version. I decided to peek at the extras first.
There is a short "behind the scenes" video, scenes from "Trickfest III, a complete discography with cover pics and track names, a photo gallery and info about the website and where to get more Trick merchandise. In the end, I thought the 10 minute "Trickfest III" feature was the most interesting, showing how the band really interacts (each does a "clinic") with the fans that attend.
Getting back to the main show, though, I press play and find that the total length is about 2 hours 10 min! As I look at the back cover, it says the tracks are split between the 2 discs, but it doesn't seem so. On the first disc, the concert is pretty much run through front to end, with a few edits between the 3 sets. There are a few personal favorites I wish were here, but overall, I'm impressed with the setlist and the construction of the show. During the 2nd set, they have their kids and others come out and play with them. Holland Zander does an incredible duet with her dad on "Time Will Let You Know". The occasional guest star also joins for a track or two: Slash, Billy Corgan and Art Alexakis of Everclear. They exit the show doing "Who D' King" going through the middle of the crowd with a drum corp, with drums in the rear channels as credits roll. Overall, it's a pretty cool show!
So I pop in disc 2 to see what else is in here. The menus look similar, but no extras. I press play and it's about 1:58 in length. It starts with a few old clips from Budokan ("Hello There") intercut with each band member speaking a few words about their 25 years. Then it goes into...the same show as on the first disc? Hmmm. Going further, though, I find that between most songs, they've got the band talking about the track that's coming up, in a kind of comedic way. Bun E. is in the hotel kitchen cooking something up, Robin is in an interesting hat cleaning a gun, Tom is in bed sometimes and in the bath for other segments, and Rick is roaming the halls delivering room service. Some of the transitions are funny, some offer info and some interweave bits of archived video from the past. It almost seems like this was an alternate authoring of the first disc, with interview-like transitions.
I'm more pleased with the presentation of the 1st disc. I've complained about other concert videos (Pat Metheny "We Live Here" for example) that ruin the continuity by putting interview segments within the show. I'm happy the first disc preserves the show without these bits. In addition, the 2nd disc removed a couple of songs and has a slightly shorter running time. Notably gone from the 2nd disc is "Gonna Raise Hell", but there are probably a couple of tracks missing.
In the end, I'm really happy about getting this set. It's a fun show with a songs from throughout their career. I'm not sure the "limited edition" is really necessary since there isn't a lot of truly additional material, but I guess it's nice for some fans. Considering the price isn't likely to be much less for the single disc version, though, it's a decent alternate cut of the show.
My grades for Silver? Content: B+, Video: B-, Audio: A-
Enjoy!
Doug
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My DVD Collection

 

[Chris Brunner]

Doug,
What you are describing on Disc 2 seems to be exactly the DirecTV version which was broadcast as a "Freeview" to subscribers earlier this year.
I was very curious as to what was to be included in the LE over the standard version. Thank you for posting.
Chris

 

[Doug M]

Ah...I didn't realize there was a DirecTV broadcast of this. That makes sense.
The question now (for others) is which version will they put out to retailers as a single disc set? My guess is that it'll be the disc 1 version showing the entire concert. And it would appear they may split it over 2 discs instead. The reason I say that is that the cover I have doesn't indicate anything special for the "limited edition" version and the back cover provides the track list split over 2 discs. It's doubtful they'd do a DTS release and need the space of 2 discs (The DD 5.1 bitstream is 448kbps), but it probably has more to do with marketing. Or they may improve the encoding of the video. Who knows. Either way, I'm still satisfied with the 2 disc LE.
I'm glad you found my post helpful! I thought I might be the only one interested in this disc!
Doug
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My DVD Collection

 

[Samuel Des]

"Can you honestly tell me you've forgotten? Forgotten the charisma of Rick Nielson, the magnetism of Robin Zander?"

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SAM

 

[George Cifrancis]

"I want YOU to want ME!"
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George Cifrancis
cifrancis.com
jessicasteen.com

 

[Jeff_P]

Sorry been busy with my 3 week old daughter so it took me forever to watch it. Anyway, I have to totally agree on everything Doug said about the disc. I thought it has great 5.1 sound. Although I thought some of the vocals(lead & backing) sounded too touched up at times.
Highlights were Robin Zander doing the duet with his daughter. I was disappointed that Tonight Its You was acoustic but I knew this since I already own the 'Silver' CD. I also thought it was strange about the secon disc too. But that brings up a question, with all that footage of 'Budokan" why not release a DVD of that footage. I think one of the best live albums of all time deserves a DVD.
Jeff_P

 

[Jeff Whitford]

On a side note I see Rick Nielson all the time as his daughter Scarlet goes to school with my Daughter. In fact last year he was the offical score keeper for the 8th grade girls vollyball team. Robin's daughter is going out with one of my coworkers.
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Jeff Whitford
Hometheater Guru

 

[Doug M]

I second the suggestion for a Budokan DVD. The footage in the segments looked pretty good considering the age and circumstances. It certainly would have been an awesome second disc for the limited edition. I'd buy that all by itself in a heartbeat!
Jeff, next time you see Rick and Robin, tell them we want Budokan on DVD. And if you get the chance, commend Holland on her most impressive duet with her Dad! That was indeed a highlight from the show.
Doug
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My DVD Collection

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

Just saw them at Naperville's Last Fling for free and picked up the LE dvd for $20!
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