I must admit my expectations were high for this release, having watched the excellent South Bank Show earlier this year which focussed on Nick’s career, from the early days of The Birthday Party, through to today. In many ways I was not disappointed – it’s just that the SBS is a hard act to follow really.
The DVD contains live footage from Le Transbordeur in Lyon, France, and a John Hillcoat directed documentary “No More Shall We Part – The recording Sessions” as well as two videos he directed for “As I Sat Sadly By Her Side” and “Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow”(more of that later – but suffice to say the guest stars are worth the price of admission alone!!!) and another video for "Love Letter" directed by Tony Mahony.
I’ll start with the concert footage – of which the sound is amazing, the atmosphere is fantastic, but the picture quality somewhat lets it down – maybe it was just me but everything seemed a little ghosted (this is starting to sound like one of those reviews in DVD magazines where they slag of the amorphic sound in the DVD release of “Caddyshack” or “Porky’s -The Revenge” – but it did stand out alongside the quality of the rest of the DVD).
The performance the band give is as intense as you’d expect – all serious faces, black suits and the crowd lap it up. Nick leans into the crowd as if leaning into a strong wind – the adulation supporting him. The lighting is vivid, accenting the faces of the band perfectly.
Standout songs include “Red Right Hand”, “As I Sat Sadly By Her Side”, “The Weeping Song”, “The Mercy Seat” (wow!) and “Into My Arms”. Like all good concert footage it makes you feel like you were there. The band are tight as a gnat's chuff, partly because of their longstanding core line-up I suspect.
The documentary is a fascinating look into the recording sessions for “No More Shall We Part” in Abbey Road, so – obviously my first point of reference is the Beatles “Get Back” film and the non-fun fest that that was. Surprisingly, with the intensity of the music, this indeed, looks much higher on the laugh count!
It doesn’t look like much has changed at Abbey Road since 1969, the surroundings seem familiar and you imagine that it must feel like hallowed ground. They seem to be enjoying themselves – laughing even, children hang round (they probably didn’t in The Birthday Party days) and the only moments where the fun seems to slip is (the very amusing) teutonic irritation of Blixa as his guitar keeps on feeding back to the bemusement of the studio tech! Elsewhere he proves he’s not the tetchy muso type by sitting making funny noises with a little child in the studio.
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It’s interesting to see the creative process in action – and the perfectionism of the team as they bring in outside musicians and backing singers, particularly Nick who is as intense about the whole process as you’d imagine – although he does find time to laugh and lark about – which you wouldn’t imagine.
The performance of “As I Sat Sadly By Her Side” is particularly good, with Nick playing at a beautiful Steinway piano. The recording process is shown to be quite a tedious process – something anyone who has ever spent any time in a studio will confirm – as more time is spent talking about banging a tambourine than actually hitting the bloody thing! You get to see the band working alongside the orchestra – showing their musical knowledge off – anyone else remember “All Cows Eat Grass” from school music lessons?
Most alarming thing of all is seeing nick in a pale yellow Pringle-type sweater – not the usual (mostly dark) suit!
It’s an interesting documentary – not as far-reaching in scope as the South bank show – but showing an interesting glimpse into the making of an album, which the SBS did not.
The videos are also excellent - “As I Sat Sadly By Her Side” contains more Nicks than you can shake a stick at thanks to a hall of mirrors and “15 Feet Of Pure White Snow” has a sepia toned performance in some sort of surreal working men’s club oddly inhabited by Jason Donovan and Jarvis Cocker – among the audience dancing funkily – which has to be seen to be believed.
"Love Letter" has a beautiful video – with TV images in blue contrasting with a sepia image elsewhere, beautiful palettes of browns blues and greens predominate, with images of Americana – open plains, roads and diners shown in still images and time lapse – it’s an arty affair – but engaging and totally befitting the song.
All in all an excellent DVD – one for the hardened Caveophile or the casual observer looking for a way in.
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