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- Verified Buyer
Folks I don't really know where to begin on this DVD. Simply stop reading this review and break down and spend $20 for this Beautiful, must have DVD (Even if you don't Collect DVD's, this is a Must Own!!!!) Where else are you going to get 64 Live songs of 311? We're talking about all of 311's Rarities, B-Sides, Cover Songs (An unbelievable version of Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er" & you must hear The Clash's "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" & the best version of The Cure's "Love Song" I've ever heard.) I'm not kidding around here Folks, this is an Amazing DVD! Besides cover songs, you get to See/Hear "Use Of Time", "Amber", "Champagne", "Beyond The Gray Sky", "Come Original", "Stealing Happy Hours (Simply Amazing, it even sounds like studio quality, not your normal 'Live' quality, but true CD quality)", "Beautiful Disaster" "All Mixed Up" "Creatures For A While" & of course "Sometimes Jacks Rule The Realm".On this DVD, are over 4 hours of Live concert footage on 2 DVD's. You also get Behind-The-Scenes look at The Band & their fans. It was shot Live on location at UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans - March 11th, 2004 (The mayor of New Orleans declared March 11th - '311 Day'). You get to see the complete band from so many angles/views. You get to see Nick Hexum (Lead Vocals & Back-up Guitar), Chad Sexton (Drums), Tim Mahoney (An Amazing Lead Guitarist), P-Nut(Bass), SA Martinez (Back-up Vocals & DJ Scratcher), play like never before. Here is the complete list of songs (Set One & Set Two).The Songs -----(Set One)* (Introduction & Coverage on the streets of New Orleans)* (A quick view of 311 Backstage)1) Freak Out2) Reconsider Everything3) Taiyed4) Come Original (Dead on it folks - Amazing!)5) Do You Right (Happy Slamdance Song)6) Homebrew7) Love Song (Almost, (If not) Better than The Cure's version)8) Jupiter9) Eons10) Beyond The Gray Sky (Amazing!!!!!)11) Offbeat BareAss12) Large In The Margin13) Galaxy14) Gap (B-Side Song)15) Flowing16) Use Of Time (Oh my God Amazing!!!)17) Visit18) Other Side Of Things19) Sweet (From The Blue Album)20) White Man In Hammersmith Palais (An Unbelievable Clash Cover Song)21) Amber (Amazing!!!)22) Paradise23) Life's Not A Race24) Welcome25) Applied Science26) 8:16 AM (Simply Amazing Folks!)27) Champagne (Bring out The Bubbles, Bubbles! - Amazing!!)28) Freeze Time29) Sever30) Stealing Happy Hours (Beyond Amazing, Unbelievable!)31) T & P Combo32) Cali Soca (Amazing - Instrumental)33) My Stoney Baby34) Purpose35) Summer Of Love36) Seem Uncertain37) You Wouldn't Believe38) Lose39) Unity (311 is down for The Unity!)40) Hydroponic41) Feels So Good (P-Nut, Beat That Bass!!!!!)(Set Two)42) Creatures - (It's been exactly 3 hours & 11 minutes at this point)43) Lucky (From the Grassroots album)44) Random (Court Jester & Dracula? Sounds random to me!)45) D'yer Mak'er (Led Zeppelin cover - Amazing! Would make Robert Plant bow down to 311!!!!)46) Running47) Starshines (From the transistor album)48) Beautiful Disaster (Amazing as if it were off the CD!)49) Juan Bond (Think of it like a Mexican James Bond)50) Crack The Code51) Outside (Special guest Zach Hexum (Nick's brother), #1 poll song from the audience - Zach plays the Saxaphone w/ 311 - Amazing!!!)52) Don't Stay Home53) Nix Hex54) Light Years55) Sick Tight56) Let The Cards Fall57) Right Now58) Don't Dwell59) Sometimes Jacks Rule The Realm (Live premeire folks - Amazing, couldn't imagine a better performance here!)60) All Mixed Up! (And they weren't mixed up at all!)61) Omaha Stylee (Where 311 is From (Omaha)).62) Down63) Who's Got The Herb? (Fire it up with 311!!!!!)64) Fu*k The Bullshi* (There was only one thing left to say! And they said it here folks!)(After all that, you still get behind the scenes, different angles of The Band & The Audience. 311 @ 106.7 live on the air & 311 @ A Cocktail Party with 12 selected fans that won the chance to meet 311 from 12 different radio stations.)**Note if you are still reading this, and you haven't clicked on the 'Purchase ASAP Button', there must be something wrong with you. I would pay at least $50, if not $100 for this DVD! In fact, I will probably buy 2 or 3 more copies, in anticipation of wearing this copy out (From viewing it Sooooo many times). I have owned this DVD for 2/3 years & couldn't tell you how many times I've viewed it (Not enough fingers & toes to count that High!) Enjoy this at all cost! Great DVD to insert during a party or while playing pool (you can hear great music and whenever you glance at the screen you will see some great musicians playing like they've never played before!Now I leave you with some lyrics!*Brainstorm, take me away from the norm. I got to tell you something. This phenomenon, I had to put it in a song & it goes like Whoa! (Amber)**Far is solace in the maddening pace, sad state written on my face, not a tight rope, walk but dance uncertain. Game of chance but I'll see it through in time. (I'll be here awhile)**I took it as a compliment, regardless what they meant it could have been innocent spent. So spent railing against undeserved dangling precipitants, raining down idiots always flapping in the flapping in the wind. (Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm)**With the words slaying me slow, the verbs that just don't flow, confusing the Use Of Time. Partial stoning of the heart, waiting for something to start, confusing the Use Of Time. But the trying again, makes me think it's all gonna end, confusing the Use Of Time. But every time I turn the volume down, all I hear is the deafening sound of your hearts pound! (Use Of Time)*After my initial viewing of 311's Live in New Orleans 311 Day I thought, "What a nice gift these dudes have given to their fans with this performance and the DVD that documented it." Well it turns out that my first impression was short-lived.In some of my other music DVD reviews, I take the tact of applying a set of standards to a release and establishing how the DVD measures up. Let me say in advance that when I take this tact, it usually means that I was disappointed in the release, and that is indeed the case with Live in New Orleans 311 Day.A memo really needs to go out to all bands and music DVD producers that says at minimum: "1) Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards. 2) The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell. 3) Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music."Let's break it down then for Live in New Orleans 311 Day:1 - "Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards." - It's here and only here that Live in New Orleans 311 Day has failed...and failed miserably. I've been doing a lot of traveling watching DVDs on a portable DVD player instead of my home theater. This makes it hard to judge the picture quality and sound of a DVD. So before I pass any judgments, I wait until I have the time to take a look at the DVD on my home system. I was ready to give 5 stars to Live in New Orleans 311 Day before I watched it on the plasma/surround system.It turns out that the picture quality in Live in New Orleans 311 Day is fair at best. The DVD was recorded in 2004 (on 3-11), so there is no excuse for a "fair at best" picture quality. The under average picture is hardly noticeable on a standard def TV, but it's very noticeable on a high def plasma TV; I think that just "flat" would be a good way to describe it. The technology to deliver a high quality picture was well in place prior to this recording (click on my name above and see my Amazon Listmania List of The Best Rock DVDs With High Quality A/V), and for 311 not to go with quality for this release--that captures almost their complete catalogue to date--is a shame.The visuals are well-directed and don't jump all over the place every 2 seconds (as is true with way too many music DVDs; for some reason the notion all too often is that changing the visual projects the energy of a song...and that's a stupid notion). The camera shots in Live in New Orleans 311 Day give you nice long looks at each performer at the right time; if you were actually at the show, you'd probably be looking at the performer that the camera is on. This made for a viewing experience that enhanced the illusion of having a front row seat to the show, but the picture quality quickly reminded me that I was watching a DVD on my couch at home.The biggest shock to this DVD production was the sound. Your only option here is standard stereo. No Dolby 5.1. No DTS. No Surround. Stereo on my portable or standard TV sounded fine, but c'mon guys. I'm not sure that I even know of a music DVD that at least wasn't offered in Surround in the last decade. The sound on Live in New Orleans 311 Day really ruins the illusion of being at the show using a home theater.2 - "The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell." - The guys prior to hitting the stage definitely committed to each other to go out and play the music true to the studio versions of the songs. All of the tracks on Live in New Orleans 311 Day are performed precisely. And as I mentioned earlier, they give you all of their best songs. 64 to be exact! It's like a 4-hour show. Incredible. So to give such a great performance, but deliver it with poor recording quality, just has me scratching my head.The band gives you all of the songs that you'd really want to hear plus some cool bonus material leading up to the show. There are other reviews that give the track listing so I won't waste space.3 - "Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music." - There are no over-the-top theatrics...which is great. The guys just play the music, and as I said earlier, they perform the songs to perfection.So to sum it up, 311's show on 3-11-2004 was killer...especially if you were at it. But if you wanted to experience it in high def with quality audio you indeed needed to actually be there, because the DVD is one of the most lacking that I've ever viewed in the picture/audio departments. However, the performance is superb and really shows that 311 is a very talented group of musicians. The performance makes it worth the purchase.Basically, this is a must have for any 311 fan or anyone who likes good music. This DVD is truly an incredible feat. A 5 hour concert including 64 songs! The amazing thing is, there are songs that the band left out I would have loved to see them play on this DVD, I could name a bunch. That right there is the mark of an amazing band.This DVD is 5 hours of pure bliss. First off, 311 is the best band I've ever seen live, and this DVD comes close to capturing the experience. (Although nothing compares to the real thing!) Find out for yourself, I guarantee you'll be amazed. It's incredible wathing it, song after song after song, each one enjoyable to the fullest. In the set, 311 plays a few covers, including Led Zeppelin's Dyer Maker and The Clash's White Man in Hammersmith Palais. I highly respect Led Zeppelin, them being one of my favorite bands of all time, and 311 is one of the few bands I can respect doing a Zeppelin song. They nailed it.If you get this DVD and are any kind of 311 fan, I guarantee you wont be let down. The true mark of a band who has reached a pedestal would be one that can put together a 5-hour, 64-song concert and still have fans (me being one of them) say, "I wish they would have done this song, or that one, etc". I think it's incredible any band can do that. And with them leaving out those songs I would have loved to hear, I still love every single song they do on this DVD.This DVD was very well done, both by the band and the creaters of the DVD. It captures the way 311 was meant to be heard, live! If you've never seen them live, get this DVD, or go for the real thing, they're both amazing.Thank you for taking the time to read my review and thank you 311 for all the years of great music!
