(this is a heady crew at a DMB show. Notice the dude wearing an I heart Nuggets shirt.)
Last weekend I read a great interview with the director of a new Arctic Monkeys concert DVD. Besides giving homage to The Last Waltz, the Citizen Kane of concert docs, he made a great point about a terrible cliche in the genre. Crowd shots always kill the mood. "It's like you need to show proof that it was a good show," he said. I completely agree.
So many times i've been watching a favorite concert doc, the director makes a quick cut to some loser fan, and I totally lose my emotional connection for 10 seconds or so. Most people wouldn't mind, but I suppose most people aren't as critical as me. One of my big issues is that I know how ridiculous I look at shows. I can't dance, and at the same time, I'm totally over-involved in the moment. But the whole idea is to lose yourself. You don't want to worry anyone judging you, let alone somebody filming you for a DVD. I would be pissed.
To this day, I've never seen any crowd shot that I thought was either entertaining or worthwhile. Two of the best concert docs ever, The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense, have almost no crowd shots. I think that plays a subliminal role in why they're both so revered. After all, you won't buy a "Rent" dvd that has crowd shots. You don't buy a "Les Mis" dvd that has crowd shots. Why should a concert dvd be any different?
Coventry was simulcasted in movie theaters throughout the country and my friend Chris told me that there was a 10 second close-up of me during a crucial Reba jam. I probably looked so free.
ReplyDeletetotally agree! this is why so many concert dvds utterly fail. Every Live DVD should look like Pearl Jam's Touring Band DVD. Raw video and audio. no frills. no bullshit. and especially very little in the way of crowd shots. the only acceptable thing, for me, would be like an aerial shot of the Gorge focusing on the entire event as a whole, as part of a scene in nature, if that makes any sense. but yeah, who the fuck wants to see specific individual fans looking like retards (even if they are having a blast). it's just awkward. its like getting a mental image of like a former teacher when you're having sex. just a total buzz-kill.
ReplyDeleteIceman I think you nailed it with the teacher image. Jeff, I'm sure you looked marvelous. In two minutes I'm going to begin an endless quest to find that close up, post it everywhere, and make sure all of our friends see it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, we need to play again Iceman... asap. A fucking SAP!!!!
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