Mental As Anything – Live In Concert at The
Basement (Umbrella Entertainment
DVD/Region Zero/0/PAL)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B Extras: C Concert: C+
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD can only be operated on
machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero PAL format
software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the
website address provided at the end of the review.
The New Wave/Pub Rock/Country/Skifflesque band Mental As
Anything (sounding like an intended variant of the great New Zealand band Split
Enz) (formed in 1976, first hitting it big in 1979) from Australia with more
outright humor and more ordinary ambitions.
On the verge of their 30th anniversary, Umbrella
Entertainment has released a more recent concert they taped in 2003 in
Australia with the band still as lively as ever. The songs include:
1) Too Many Times
2) Let’s Cook
3) To Love Us Too
4) Concrete & Clay
5) Spirit Got Lost
6) If You Leave Me I Can Come Too
7) One Thing Leads to Another (Not
The Fixx hit)
8) Come Around
9) Live It Up
10) Let’s Go To
Paradise
11) Stretchmarks
12) The Ballad
Of Narelle (Part 1)
13) Mr. Natural
14) Instrumental
As Anything
15) Talk To Baby
Jesus
16) Berserk
Warriors
17) Nigel
18) Egypt
19) Got Hit
20) Apocalypto
(Wiping The Smile Off Santa’s Face)
21) Looking For
Bird
22) (Marie’s the
Name) His Latest Flame
23) He’s No Good
For You
24) (Just Like)
Romeo & Juliet
25) Whole Wide
World
26) You’re So
Strong
27) The Nips Are
Getting Bigger
The set pulls from their earliest hits (like tracks 18,
27) and they pay well, but for me, it was too many covers and too much
Country. Still, I give them points for
having the energy that many of their contemporaries do not and that they have
not sold out their fans. If you like the
music, you will like this concert. Even
if you don’t, it is a respectable showing.
The 1.33 X 1 image is a little soft, but colorful and on
the clean side with shots of the band that are at least involving. The DTS 5.1 soundmix is also rich and has a
decent soundfield, though with a bit more bass than I would have liked, but we
have not had an Umbrella DTS DVD yet and this is the best-sounding disc we have
received from them audio-wise by default.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes are a bit better than expected, if
not as good as the DTS. Extras include a
Music Video for Stretchmarks, long
interview with the band and four bonus music clips:
1) Swinging Safari
2) Sweetheart
3) Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love To Town
4) Rock ‘N’ Roll Music
As noted above, you can order this PAL DVD import
exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
