Cutting Crew/Little Steven/Style Council – Live At
Full House Rock Show (German TV
Concert Series/3 Separate DVDs)
Picture:
C/C+/C Sound: B- Extras: C Concerts: B-/B/B-
Another
music concert series little known in the U.S. is coming to DVD and it is called
Live At Full House Rock Show,
certainly not to be confused with the stupid sitcom of the same name but a
series from Germany that was featuring top music talent of the time. For this first look, we look at three volumes
that all have their moments of 30 shows that were produced.
Cutting Crew was hot in 1987 with the
still-remembered I Just Died In Your Arms,
then moderate hit One For The Mockingbird
and somewhat lame I’ve Been In Love
Before, both of which appear in their seven-song set. This show captures them at their peak, though
I Just Died In Your Arms is not as
good here as hoped for. Still, it is an
interesting appearance.
Little Steven had not yet become the well-known
actor from The Sopranos when he was
on a political tear against Apartheid in South Africa (as a founder of the Sun
City Project), heavy collaborator with Bruce Springsteen and battling the
atrocities of the Iran-Contra Affair at a time when Pop Music was still able to
be socially relevant with the likes of New Wave in the middle of airheaded
bubblegum tunes. Songs like Los Desperados, Pretoria and Out Of The
Darkness have as much edge and power as ever.
Style Council had one small hit in the U.S.
with My Ever Changing Mood in 1984,
but that is not among the eight songs featured here. They were not my favorite English duo from
the “new romantics” movement, but Paul Weller of the great band The Jam is a
founding member and is here, so there will be interest from that end too. Not bad overall either.
The 1.33
X 1 image for all three were taped in the analog PAL format, all in color, but
all except Little Steven are much
softer and detail-challenged than expected.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes are a bit better than the Dolby 2.0
versions, though the original sources are not as sonically sound as the
competing Ohne Filter show, which we
have reviewed often elsewhere on this site.
Still, they were in stereo and the 5.1 mixes are preferred. Extras include interviews with the artists at
the time of the concert by Alan Bangs that are worth your time. All have interesting things to say.
- Nicholas Sheffo
