Reviewed by:
idiotbox919, on august 21, 2009
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Sound: Overall the sound on both the CD and accompanying CD are of a very high standard. The band rarely miss a note with Hayley also hitting the vast majority of hers (she misses a few here and there, but you can count them on a single hand) and the energy of the band captured well. Apart from the issues with the crowd mentioned later, everything comes through clearly.
Generally, the live recording is of a good standard but I have a couple of problems with both the CD and the DVD. Firstly, on the CD the crowd levels seem too low. I don't necessarily think the crowd levels should be boosted, that's personal preference, but on some parts where the crowd have been invited to sing it seems incredibly quiet. My main problem with the sound on the DVD is that for a recording in 5.1 surround the rear channel is barely used, except for crowd noise, which as I stated earlier seems incredibly quiet, to me this seems a waste. // 9
Content: As for the set list, I was reasonably satisfied with it. All the expected hits are present such as, Misery Business, Here We Go Again, That's What You Get, etc. In addition to this there is a nice surprise in the form of decoy (a North American B-Side, I think) and the first verse of Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah.
However, having said that there are issues with the set list, firstly the inclusion of an acoustic version of My Heart which was, in my opinion, a mistake. If you're familiar with the band you will know that they have quite a few slower songs which, when you take one of the faster songs and slow it right down, resulted in too much "down time" where you're waiting for the energy to pick up again.
The final gripe I have with the content is with the CD, where a lot of the talk between the songs is cut out. This for me is a problem for two reasons, firstly, I think it robs the band of their chance to show their personality. But more significantly, is that before playing "We Are Broken" Hayley speaks of a charity they are working with called Love146 which raises awareness of sex slavery, however, this is cut from the CD and were it not from the DVD I would not have known about it.
In addition to the concert there is a short 40 days of riot documentary about the tour and life with the band. It's a nice little feature but I feel it could be much longer and more in depth, for a case of how I believe it should have been done look at Lamb of God's "Walk With Me In Hell" DVD.
However, all gripes aside, it should be noted that you are getting the CD and DVD for the same price that I would expect to pay for the CD alone, so value for money is high. It is for that reason that content gets an 8 instead of 7. // 8
Production Quality: The production is good, without ever being great. The camera gets nice shots of the crowd with some stunning shots of Hayley, however, it is clear that, as far as whoever edited the DVD is concerbed, Hayley Williams IS Paramore. The clear focus for the entire show is always Hayley with very little screen time for anyone else, particularly Zac on drums, who is rarely seen at all.
However, there is good reason for this, Hayley is by a large margin the energy of the band. She runs about stage, headbangs and gets the crowd going. The others are much less exciting. Jeremy and Taylor do have their moments (the flip in "Pressure" is awesome) however, they are less consistently energetic. The big disappointment in terms of showmanship is Josh, who seems to be under the impression that because he is occasionally needed for backup vocals he can never be more than a foot away from his mic.
The cameras capture the energy of the band well and get some nice sweeping shots of crowd action. Overall, the picture quality is good, however, if you do want the best quality you should pick up the blu-ray copy which is a significant increase over the DVD.
There are occasional dramatic slow-mo bits or freeze frames, which add to the intensity without becoming tiresome.
Please note: Add 2 to the score if referring to the blu-ray version. // 8
Impression: Overall, I would definately recommend this. It is by no means groundbreaking, but it ticks all the boxes without ever doing anything exceptional. As I mentioned earlier, special features are somewhat lacking when compared to the Lamb of God DVD I used as a comparison, however, Lamb of God outdid themselves with this and had I not been somewhat spoilt by their offering I may have rated the content here more favourably.
The highlight of the DVD is definately the near perfect performance given by Hayley Williams, further confirming that she is an incredibly talented vocalist for someone of her age and experience.
If it were stolen or lost I would definately buy another copy as I think it's a very well done CD/DVD set, as I stated it doesn't really do anything extra, but it does all the basics very well. // 8
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