ANGE - Seventies-Eighties - Deux Décennies De Concert

Rating:
Summary: Overall, I'm glad they put this out
Review: This is a review for Ange - 70's/80's - Deux Deciennies de Concert on DVD

Here's what you get:
The first concert is from 1976. The set list is Le Soir du Diable (from their first album Caricatures), Sur la Trace de Fees, Le Nain de Stanislas (being two of the best songs from Emile Jacotey), Fils de Lumiere, Au-dela du Delire (two of the best songs from Au-dela du Delire), and Les Noces (from Emile Jacotey). The concert runs almost 35 minutes. I thought that this was an interesting concert, having never seen Ange perform, but don't expect much. While the concert is shot well (you get to see the band or good shots of the individuals most of the time) the quality is poor. The mix of the sound is not great, and the band sounds pretty amateurish (the guitar is badly out of tune during Fils de Lumiere, fluctuating tempos, etc). But hey, it was 1976! Like I said, it's interesting to see the songs performed live, and the clothes, hairstyles, instruments, theatrics, etc. are fun to look at from an historical perspective.

The second concert is from 1977. When I say concert, I mean you get to see Ange filmed in a basement with no audience other than the film crew. Everything is better on this one - the playing, filming, and sound mix. The set list is almost all of the Par les Fils de Mandrin album. This part runs about 40 minutes.

The final concert is from 1985. I've got to be honest and say that I haven't mustered the energy to sit through this one. Ange plays most of the tunes from an album called Fou!. I've never heard the album and I don't think I'll be getting it anytime soon- very 80's sounding stuff with a good helping of Ange melodrama. A couple of the tunes are okay, and they do play part of Hymne a la Vie and Ces Gens-La. This show is filmed in a small arena with decent sound and lighting. The musicianship is on a more professional level. The audience looks like they're having a good time. There is also on-stage female nudity! You have been warned. This part runs 50 minutes (the concert, not the nudity), although the first several minutes seems to be a short documentary (the voiceover is in French).

There is also an interview with Christian DeCamps from the basement that the '77 concert was filmed in. It is all in French - no subtitles. I can't speak French so I don't know how good this is.

Bottom line: if you are a fan you should probably get it, more for the '77 concert and the historical importance of the '76 concert. If you are just getting into Ange get the studio albums first. My recomendations would be Le Cimetiere des Arlequins or Au-dela du Delire.