Cro-mags – The Final Quarrel: Live At CBGB 2001 (MVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: B- Concert: C
The loss
of CBGBs may be even more profound than even the biggest fans of punk, past and
present, realize. Many stories have
already been written, reflections been recorded and projects issued, but they
are only beginning to tell the full story.
As the gritty New York is succeeded by a cleaned and polished version of
questionable integrity, concert DVDs like Cro-mags
– The Final Quarrel: Live At CBGB 2001 become all that more poignant and
ironic.
The main
concert is a good enough one, but the playback here is so feels so brittle from
the video that it interfered with my enjoyment of the proceedings. However, it is still a good one and likely the
best record around because I cannot imagine how this could be fixed or cleaned
up without adding artifacts or making it look phony. There are 16 songs including:
1)
World Peace
2)
Show You No Mercy
3)
Malfunction
4)
Street Justice
5)
Survival Of The Streets
6)
It’s The Limit
7)
Hard Times
8)
By Myself
9)
Don’t Tread On Me
10) Face The Facts
11) Do Unto Others
12) Life Of My Own
13) Signs Of the Times
14) Everybody’s Gonna Die
15) Blitzkrieg Bop
16) We Gotta Know
Interesting,
but the bonuses outweighed the main concert, despite its relevance.
The full
frame 1.33 X 1 image is soft throughout on the main concert, but actually looks
a bit better on the bonus concert. Some
say the bad video is part of the Punk aesthetic, but here, it is just the way
it turned out. The Dolby Digital 5.1
mixes for the two concerts really stretch out the stereo sound that was
captured, somehow. Extras include
Harley Flannigan hosting a brief tour of CGBGs before it disappears forever, he
and his son jamming, slide show and the second concert featuring his band Harley’s
War that outdoes the main concert for me.
However, he has had several bands and is a rocker of true
integrity. Even non-Punk fans should see
this disc.
- Nicholas Sheffo
