Wellington, New Zealand (24-Feb-03)

Nice clear, steady picture with brilliant sound.
Bob gives a strong performance and i think this is one of the best 2003 dvds i've seen.
The setlsit is good and the highlights are Things Have Changed and Desalation Row is brilliant!

DISC D061.hq
SOUND Starts near-fine (very clear with good separation but just a shade hollow) then improves to full-on fine as we go. And don’t miss the seven minute audio bonus Watchtower - powerfully atmospheric, as though beamed in from the eye of Hurricane Vanessa. Ooh-hooh, the storm is threatenin’...
IMAGE What a great film! The screenshots look good, but still do this beauty less than full justice. There are occasional brief occlusions and the odd bout of camera-wrestling too (worst during 4th Street), but forget about them and revel instead in the generous, scrumptious helpings of apple pie in between. (Indeed, there’s a little sequence in the middle of Pages that catches D, BB and Larry standing side by side in an ascending line that’s as choice a piece of Bob-film as you’ll see anywhere.) The camera’s raised left-side position allows only a quarter profile, mainly back-view (see screenshots) of keyboard Bob but for guitar Bob is just right - and with the split this night fifty-fifty, that's good enough. Pictures are light, bright, fresh and richly but very naturally coloured. All players get screentime - BB (who stands, from our vantage point, directly behind Bob) in particular. Though he’s often without a head (second s/s), you get to see plenty of his playing, anyway.
RUNNING TIME Main film 68:30 with the slideshow/audio bonus a further 8:30 (although its Watchtower lasts only 7:00, followed by a long tail-off of well-deserved applause). Of the show’s 16 songs, we get to see all or part of the first twelve. Floater, Summer Days and LARS then go unrecorded with closer AATW given back in audio only. For clip/cut info, toggle the blue link below the track-list above.
PERFORMANCE Charlie left the band at the end of 2002 and Le Fred took his first bow on 18 April 2003. But Bob was booked to play a short tour Down Under in February ‘03 – so what to do? The answer, my friend, is Billy Burnette, ex-Fleetwoods guitar-for-hire stop-gap, who seems during his brief three week stint with the band to have been caught on DVD just once, here at Wellington. Although this was his tenth show of eleven, the mantle of New Boy still appears to rest heavy on his shoulders, with his playing characterised in the main by restraint, caution and intense D-gazing. Note in Don’t Think Twice especially how his eyes bore into Bob with rapt concentration (or maybe he’s just standing there thinking he still can’t believe his luck!). But, whether down to Billy or not (and probably not, in truth - in fact, it’s mostly down to Bob) this performance hits the spot with a vengeance. (Note: a contemporary review of the gig claims that D varied the words of It's Alright Ma to make a political comment about President Bush. If true, it would have been very out-of-character, but - watch and see - he didn't and it's not.)
HIGHLIGHTS The acoustic run of Pages/Des Row/ Don’t Think Twice is steely strong and superbly filmed to boot.
COMMENT Something rubbed off: Burnette’s 2006 live album Memphis In Manhattan includes one Bob cover. If you had to pick from D’s huge body of work just one song to sing, play, record and release, which would it be? Simple Twist? Series of Dreams? Durango? Dignity? Billy (must have had his reasons) went with Everything Is Broken.
THANKS Black Cat
STARS If you want to see a sampler from this show and have D671, watch its Pages. But, better still, just hunt up the show itself and enjoy! This one’s a hidden gem. Five.

I just got this one in and it is worth a review for sure. This line-up was much-maligned at the time and I always felt unjustly so. Some of the great music on this DVD also puts those judgements to shame. But first: the quality etc issues. This is rated above as 4 stars for steadiness and I think that is a touch generous, it is very shaky at the starts and ends of tracks, at the beginning disturbibgly so. Still in the meat of the songs the camera is quite nicely focused on Bob, and we get to see the others in a wider shot too. The sound is quite acceptable for an audience recording, slightly boomy due to the venue acoustics but with the vocals way out front and clear.

But the real reason for writing this review is the stunning acoustic set during which I realised how much I miss Bob's guitar playing. I never thought I would write those words after listening to innumerable out-of-key, endless solos during the 90's, but he plays a great, minimal solo on "My Back Pages", and you can clearly how his singing was influenced by his guitar lines and vice versa. "Desolation Row" and "Don't Think Twice" are also excellent, the latter featuring another fine Bob acoustic solo. I must say that the electric stuff was less inspiring, but still high energy. I thought Burnette held his own fine, although he sure did not take his eyes off Bob! All in all a solid 4 stars and perhaps 4 and a half for the acoustic set. Great to see this one, thanks Ben!