When the opportunity arose to review Paul McCartney’s new DVD, I nearly passed on it. Why bother? That was my initial thought. Didn’t I just purchase a Paul McCartney concert DVD — Paul McCartney: Live in Red Square — last year? Was there something on this new release that would allow it to stand out and be different from the earlier?
The answer, quite simply, is both yes and no.
For the casual fan of McCartney who may have purchased last year’s DVD, there might not be a need to purchase this new one. Granted, there is a subtle shifting of the set-lists on the two DVDs, so you may want one over the other due to there being a performance of a particular song.
As the earlier DVD has two completely unique concerts included, though, chances are your favorite song is going to be somewhere in there.
Having said that, there is something innate in this newer DVD that intrigued me enough so that I kept watching the concert until Paul and his band’s final bows; it was the sense that I was really watching home movies and filmed memories, rather than a concert film.
A concert film is most definitely what Live in Red Square is. Actually, the word film very nearly doesn’t fit that release. Live in Red Square is very nearly a music documentary. Though it aptly chronicles McCartney’s tour as it makes a historic swing into Russia (historic as he was the first of the Beatles to ever do so), it manages to leave me feeling like an outsider looking in.
Does that make sense?
Even though I adore the Beatles and McCartney, it left me feeling like I didn’t quite love them as much as the average Russian fan did. It made me feel like a pretender to the name of “fan.”
This newer DVD, however, presents McCartney and his band in a much more intimate atmosphere. Sure, there are the requisite statements peppered throughout the film of how important McCartney’s music has been throughout the years, and what it means to each one of the celebrated names who chirped in their two cents.
Article comments
1 - Andrea Tirpak
Excellent musical craftsmanship ... Paul McCartney and his young band do The Beatles and Wings right! If you love the music ... PERIOD ... this is a great buy. What more can I say???