DVD Compilation #04

D014 LATE EIGHTIES

Here’s what D014 offers:

(1) Martin Luther King Birthday Tribute, January 1986 (12:45) comprising a happy-clappy, substantially re-written Released (see picture inset on top screenshot) followed by a no-nonsense Wind from D with Peter, Paul & Mary and Stevie Wonder then an all-star Happy Birthday MLK singalong through which Bob stands wearing his usual fish-out-of-water, man-in-lonely-crowd, wish-I-was-somewhere-else expression. Good quality pro-shot.

(2) Amnesty Concert, June 1986 (8:40) featuring complete pro-shot License To Kill then Shake A Hand from Bob backed by Petty and The Heartbreakers. Sound is good.

(3) San Diego, California, June 1986 (5:00) Bob + TP&H again, this time incomplete pro-shot versions of 4th Street and Clean-Cut Kid.

(4) Akron, Ohio, July 1986 (2:00) Another CCK, fast, furious and incomplete, sound poor.

(5) Washington, DC, July 1986 (4:20) First, whilst part of a half-heard 4th Street is played by an unseen band, we’re treated to extended crowd scenes of zero interest. This is followed by yet another CCK, in poor sound. Though the TV reporter namechecks D and the Grateful Dead, the backing band is once more TP&H.

(6) Mansfield, Massachusetts, July 1986 (2:45) gives us another chance to savour - you’ve guessed it - CCK, though this time in better sound.

(7) Gershwin Gala, March 1987 (2:10) and at last something worth waiting for - a sparkling little bijou from Bob in lovely sound and vision (see third screenshot). The only regret concerning Soon is its brevity - short but decidedly sweet.

(8) Tokyo, Japan, March 1986 (34:40) Nearly 35 minutes of pro-shot concert footage sounds promising, doesn’t it? But only two songs here are complete and one of them, naturally, is CCK (its fifth appearance on D014, which is at least four too many). The other whole song - indeed this chapter's sole redeeming feature - is a nice 4th Street. Otherwise, we get segued samplers, running from one to three minutes (only Heaven‘s Door is longer) of 12 tracks compiled from two or three line snippets kebabbed together seemingly at random (i.e. with no attempt to preserve the sense or structure of the song). Sound quality is variable - all in all, disappointing, unsatisfactory stuff.

(9) The Bridge School Benefit, Dec 1988 (33.30) And so at last to the main event: a six-song pro-shot acoustic set from D + GE. For some reason, I’d always understood that this recording circulated in only moderate quality. But here we have decent, very watchable film (see last screenshot) over sound that’s plenty good enough to enjoy and, if you like your Bob up-close and acoustic (and who doesn‘t?) then this half-hour is a treat indeed. After Neil Young introduces him as “my favourite songwriter in the world for many, many years, including this year”, perverse Bob kicks off with two covers - San Francisco Bay Blues (gig in Oakland, thus a local song) then Pretty Boy Floyd. But then come four of his own: God On Our Side, North Country Girl, Gates of Eden and Forever Young. NC Girl he finishes with a broken string and, with his guitar whisked away and the crowd baying for more, he wanders over to sit at the stage-left piano. GE moves in and the two confer. You can just imagine Bob saying “You ever hear that acoustic part Knopfler played to my McTell? Wanna try that?” Sadly, though, before anything comes of it, a replacement guitar is produced and so on they go as planned. Oh, what might have been...

Though D014 has two things to commend it - Soon and the Bridge School Benefit - both these can be found elsewhere, on D596 and D252 respectively. Otherwise, there’s not too much here.

THANKS AC
STARS Three