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Post by clevelandwhat2005 on Feb 1, 2006 13:03:33 GMT -5
coanbread751 said:
I believe the 04 dvd came out just a few weeks, possibly a month, prior to last years festival. So I would expect this year to be similar.
true point. i hate how long they wait to release it.. you know they had it finished a while ago, they just wait till right before the current roo for publicity. i wanna watch it now.
yeah. The first cd and dvd they released from '02 came out in October of that year. And that DVD was far better than any of the ones they've released since.
For my money, the '02 DVD is the best, followed by '04, and the '03 DVD is really dissappointing. Great behind the scenes stuff on the '03 disc, but they commit the cardinal sin of good concert-film making by not showing the images that correspond to what you are seeing. Instead of showing Ben Harper playing (a sublime visual image), they show him spinning around with an electric guitar while you are hearing him play his lap-slide. Really gets on my nerves. Overall I really enjoy having and watching them all but feel like they could be better.
As far as the quality of the performances they choose, I agree that they don't represent the cream of the crop. This is probably due to the fact that A) they try not to be too intrusive with the camera crews B) they probably have limited resources and can't record every song on every stage with their highest quality equipment, so they have to deploy their camera teams without knowing what songs they will be recording. I for one would find it frustrating if there were cameras obstructing views all of the time, I think they pick and choose a few moments to send cameramen onstage to get good closeups and action shots. C) the lighting conditions on the stages are not optimized for filming, especially in the late-night tents. I think the relative lack of late-night stuff is the always the biggest dissappointment on the DVDs. If the lighting was optimized for filming, it wouldn't be optimized for the live crowd, and that is clearly their focus (as it should be).
Here's what I have always wanted them to do with the DVD:
On one disc, just have complete musical performances (as much as possible), without any kind of narrative, "the Bonnaroo scene" pieces in between. Ideally they could capture some extended jams without cutting them off.
On the other disc, have a one-hour documentary about the whole scene, without focusing on performances (just using them to provide a killer soundtrack)
In my wildest dreams, I wish they could get Michel Gondry, (the best director ever imo at visualizing music) and set up a "filming tent". The artists and crowd would know that a movie is being shot and there will be lots of cameras, atypical lighting, and possibly multiple takes of the same song. Instead of playing whole sets, artists could come in and play a few songs, maybe it could even be a surprise. A truly great director like Gondry could make an incredible work of art that really captured the vibe of Bonnaroo on film using footage from this, the regular performances, and the crowd and scene. See "Stop Making Sense" for an example of how great this kind of filmmaking can be. Obviously would never happen, just a pipe dream.
Also, I don't think the jamband scene is any more or less condusive to proffesional filming than any other genre.
I hear what your saying Ka Mai. I think it was during Yonder Mountain last year that there were cameras really close to the band, and I mean like almost right in their face. This even made me think to myself "how are they playing so well with that camera dude right in there face." Just seemed really distracting for the band I would think. I just don't see how for the '04 DVD they could have left off Umphrey's. Not because they are my favorite but because they put on a 4 and half hour marathon set with moe. taking over during the break. I mean thats something to me that should be documented even if your not a fan of the band. But I understand in order to have a wide variety they need to pick tracks that won't be too long.
I think the lack of late night sets is due to darkness. The lighting would be hard to get down. I'll have to check but wasn't part of the flaming lips set on that years dvd? Liguy I love the idea but I'd go broke!
