i'm going to be selfish here...

it's my blog and i'll do whatever the hell i like. i picked up the Live8 dvds on the way home today. not so much for what it stands for (which is important) but for simply one reason.

Pink Floyd.

i admit it - i'm greedy for Pink Floyd. and it certainly didn't hurt that the performance (first for all 4 members since June 1981) was phenominal. and fortunately, Pink Floyd is one of the few bands (at least on the US rendition of the DVDs) that has a complete performance. so from the opening heartbeats (they were the only band that had (needed) no introduction) to the smiling band walking off stage, it's all captured. the only change from the original broadcast was when Roger thanks the crowd at the start of Money, is lowered so you barely hear it.

i've been flipping thru the rest of the discs (including the Floyd rehersal footage) and it's interesting. the biggest cut i noticed was with U2's set - between Verigo and One, there was the human rights bit that was cut out, which makes for a painful transition. plus at the end of One, they do a bit of Unchained Melody that is completely snipped, again another awkward edit.

otherwise, it's not bad. very nice transfer, and the 5.1 audio isn't really used for anything other than crowd noise. except for Money which uses it for the cash registers. and speaking of Money, it sounds like they did slow the beginning slightly (the backing tape played a little too quickly, so they had to slow it down when they went into the song). i'll have to compare.

the bass Sting plays is well worn. i liked Annie Lennox's arrangement of Sweet Dreams (altho the keyboards were a little lost in the mix). for you Simon LeBon fans out there, his face got FAT. can't help but laugh at how old Esther looks. i realize that she's in her 40's, but still, the shot that they have of her in the DVD case makes her look OLD. kinda disturbing (in a creepy Skeletor way).

no real idea who the majority of the artists who have a song on the discs, but i'll give credit to Robbie Williams for a very spirited performance. Scissor Sisters (has NSFW boobage, so don't say i didn't warn you) are just plain weird (their cover of Comfy Numb, not played at Live8, is interesting, so points to them for that). i miss the intro for The Who which was pretty funny, they could have at least kept the band intro for it.

so while i bought it strictly for Pink Floyd, you should check out the real reason that the concerts were held.

Live8 website
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