I love live music and live albums. I think I've been pretty clear on that. I went on at some length about the flaws of R.E.M.'s live set, heaped praises and hosannas on a Tom Petty live DVD, and was pretty happy with the Manchester disc from Oasis' Lord Don't Slow Me Down.
Last week, I urged Tom Petty to release a CD version of the Gainesville show he released as part of the Runnin' Down a Dream DVD box set. It's now time for me to talk out of the other side of my mouth. This week, I'm going to tell you the DVD portion of Barenaked Ladies' Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan is the more enjoyable part of this CD/DVD package.
Typically, I'm not much for live DVDs as I'm too lazy to trot the five feet from my couch to the DVD tower. I've bought a handful of them and they rarely get watched. Normally, I use my MacBook Pro to rip the audio feed from the DVD and listen to these DVDs on my iPod and bitch because a fullscale CD version wasn't made available. I don't have to do that with Talk to The Hand. Artists often release CD/DVDs packages and the DVD usually has more songs than the CD. BNL released this combo with identical programs on both discs.
Now that we've discussed the package in principle, let's talk about the music. BNL are a great live band. TheWifeToWhomI'mMarried and I have seen them five times and would gladly make that six if they ever return to our neck of the woods. The reason? Barenaked Ladies are live entertainers in addition to being a great band! The entertainment factor is more apparent on the DVD, particularly during "Angry People."
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