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Rating: 
Summary: BRILLIANT! ERASURE AT THEIR BEST!
Review: Andy Bell is such a fantastic performer and singer as well. This concert runs a little over 2 hours and features some of their best hits and b-sides as well. What's most fascinating is you don't know what kind of costume Andy is going to where next. His truly amazing vocals on over the rainbow are not to be missed. Vince Clarke also gets in on the act this time around unlike the wild tour where he was just reduced to doing his thing on the keyboards. Enjoyable, entertaining, and a great item for all erasure fans.
Rating:
Summary: TEN Stars Would Not Be Enough!
Review: At long last Erasure has released a dvd of one of their live concerts, and what a spectacular visual (not to mention audio!) feast it is! I've never seen Erasure live, but I have seen clips from some of their concerts on their Hits! dvd, so I had some idea of the sort of thing to expect. Even so, "The Tank, The Swan and The Balloon" (filmed in 1992 with a running time of 135 minutes) is quite unlike anything I've ever seen before. The concert moves through a number of themes, which take their cues from the songs themselves. It's almost like a musical set to the music of (and performed by) Erasure; certainly, it's more of a stage show than a traditional "concert." It's dramatic and campy, with lead vocalist Andy Bell going through seven complete changes of costume, most of which are unusual, all of which are entertaining, and most of which have some connection with at least one of the songs he's singing! The balletic opening with Andy's entrance as a swan (in a swan boat whilst engulfed in white feather boas), for example, is absolutely beautiful; and his "fish-scale" pants are fun and very effective. Most spectacular (not to mention entertaining!) is his blue-sequined, um, "backless" cowboy outfit (which is complemented by Vince Clarke's hilarious Mae West costume)! Apart from Andy and his costumes, there are two superb back-up vocals (twin sisters) and a full complement of dancers, all of whom also go through a number of really interesting costume changes which are usually themed to the music. As for the choreography, it's nothing short of spectacular, which is especially apparent during the sole instrumental number (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) which, together with the Arizona-desert backdrop, sets the "cowboy" atmosphere for the upcoming set of songs. That leads me to the songs themselves. The cowboy-themed numbers include a cover of the country song Stand By Your Man and The Soldier's Return (I'm not sure where this song comes from; I'm not familiar with it and it's not on any of their studio albums). Andy does a breathtakingly beautiful rendition of Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz. Of course, there is the tribute to Abba featuring all four songs from Abba-esque. The rest are all Erasure's own songs: Who Needs Love Like That, Love Is A Loser, and Oh L'amour (from Wonderland); Sometimes (from Circus); A Little Respect, Ship Of Fools, Heart Of Stone, and Chains Of Love (from Innocents); Blue Savannah and Star (from Wild); Stop! (from POP!); and all ten songs from the Chorus album. Disc two contains the only dvd extra, which is a 25-minute interview (from 2004) with the choreographer, the costume designer, Andy Bell and, at a separate location, Vince Clarke. In a nutshell, they discuss how the idea and themes for the show came about (like the swan, for example), how the music was choreographed, how the ideas for costumes came about and were achieved (that blue-sequined cowboy outfit, which was insured for $125,000, apparently took 5 people 3 months of full-time work to hand bead!), and so on. Excerpts from the concert and snippets of behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals, etc., are interspersed throughout. In conclusion, it's obvious that a lot of work went into bringing this musical extravaganza about, and I highly recommend the dvd to all fans of Erasure. Whether you've seen their concerts live or not, if you like the music of this extremely talented British synth-pop duo, you will certainly enjoy this concert. I've watched it twice since getting it (which was less than a week ago), and it is hands down the most entertaining concert I've ever seen! Extremely highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Ever faithful, I endure
Review: Coming off a their first UK #1 single "abba-esque ep" Erasure took their Phantasmagorical show on a world tour. For years I heard how great it was and how amazing the staging and art direction were. Unreleased as a VHS video in the 90s I was eager to get the recent DVD release.
Erasure have always been campy in their videos and are always putting together some of the most outrageous imagery. This video was no excpetion.Opening with "SIREN SONG" And Bell emerges riding a large Swan andsporting a shirt of large white feathers (?). Almost dreamlike in the visuals the first part of the show take us on a journey featuring Greek Sirens, dancing skeletons and Vince Clarke in a archaic underwater diving suit.
A instrumental break happens where we are treated ro a wild west country dance between cowboys (sporting bare butts and chaps) and cowgirls all set to a electronic cover of "the good the bad and the ugly."
The second half begins and Erasure continue to move through the songs. Andy continues to dance his pants off (literally!) and take off in a hot air balloon. Andy does several more costume changes including a strange globe dress- definetly keeping the audience guessing.
After all the buzz that surrounded this concert for the better part of a decade I have to say this concert was average. The song selection was good (All of the album "Chorus" was performed) and I particularly liked how their classics songs were reworked in the very analog/ electronic style introduced on Chorus, complete with bleeps and noises. Unlike the Pet Shop Boys "Performance" tour where the group had almost no interaction with the audience, Andy engaged the audience quite a bit and provided commentary and interesting asides.
Overall I would say this was an okay release. Musically it was awesome and a live cd would have been great. Visually it was worth watching but doesnt warrant many repeat viewings.
Rating: 
Summary: Come to the cabaret.
Review: Filmed at the height of their popularity, this concert features Andy sashaying and Vince sequencing through most of their hits (up to that time), along with a few rarities to please the hardcore fans. The twin background singers and the marvelous dance troupe keep the energy level going, and the set design is worthy of a 1930s Berlin cabaret. Highlights include a complete performance of the "ABBA-esque" EP, a moving cover version of Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow", and a dancers-only version of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (no doubt inserted to give Andy time to change into his sequined cowboy outfit, which must be seen to be believed). All in all, probably the definitive Erasure concert film.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome DVD Sound & Video Quality!
Review: In 1997 I had the opportunity to witness a live concert of Erasure in front row! It was incredible hearing the lyrics of my favorite songs LIVE! The wait is over, after playing this DVD I was taken back to that stage once more. The 5.1 dolby digital sound is superb and the bass is strong, the performance of Andy is as usual, INCREDIBLE! Hope to see them again in another tour soon and have another live concert recorded for us to have! These DVD will keep me dancing for a long time!
Rating:
Summary: creative zenith
Review: surely one of the most uniquely extravagant and thoroughly entertaining masterpieces of live musical theater ever performed.
Take an amazing director, a stellar band, and themes to please all races and persuasions, and you get a truly magical night out on the town (or something to smoke your unconscious out to in your living room)!
The dancers are so hot and herein lies the creative genius of this disc. Electronic music is fully fleshed out by the ever changing sets and exceptional dance routines. Rarely do you find these elements in an electronic band's repertoire (contrast it with the typical rave, where two guys wearing headphones are simply grooving behind the synths all night).
Erasure is always entertaining but, to me, this disc captures the penultimate live experience upon which all other live shows should be measured.
A grand spectacle of the highest caliber!
Rating:
Summary: The best of Erasure Live
Review: This is really a superb document of Erasure at the absolute peak of their powers and popularity. Over two hours of Andy Bell prancing and singing his heart out, and Vince Clark tweaking instruments and participating in the festivities to a greater extent than he did on any of their other tours. If you ever loved Erasure, and you ever had a great time at one of their concerts, this is something you will want to have.
The DVD strings together a remarkable number of their big hits, with a few rarities, like "The Soldier's Return" and "Love is a Loser." I watched it straight through when I got it, and can't wait to watch it again. Andy Bell is a fantastic showman--superb to watch in action. The Lights! The costumes! The dancers! The Drama! Not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: every erasure fan needs to own this
Review: this video is of the tour they went on in 1992 after the release of abbaesque. in the states, it was known as the phantasmagorical tour. they closed it out by playing 10(yes, that's 10) straight shows at the wiltern in la. i think i still have the t-shirt somewhere.
a wonderful concert with unbelievable staging and props. i've been to several erasure shows since and all have been smaller, more intimate affairs. in fact, out of all the concerts i've ever been to, nothing has ever approached this one erasure tour in production value.
everyone who is or ever has been a fan of erasure needs to own this dvd. the hardcore fans probably already own bootlegs of this tour that have circulated around, but the dvd is so worth it.
if you don't know erasure or are not sure if you're a fan, i would recommend picking up "pop!" and if you like the songs, then getting this dvd.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! I couldn't take my eyes off of the performance!
Review: WOW! I just got done watching the first disk of the DVD. OH........MY........GOODNESS! It's fantastic! Words cannot express how wonderful it is! The start was great, the middle fantastic and the ending overjoyous, I loved ALL the many different unique costumes.
Vince dancing How adorably cute. I'm so glad Vince took an active part in the performance.
Andy, Andy, ANDY..... How sexy he is when dancing! Voulez Vous really gave me a rush. He's such a great dancer, looks so good in those hot pants and is a delight to watch on stage. I truely enjoyed every minute of the performance. There wasn't a dull moment of the show.
Looking at the track listing I was all excited that "Over the Rainbow" would be performed, but was confused when "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was what was played. What a brilliant performance anyways.
I can't wait to see the interview on the second disk. I'm so happy to have witnessed this DVD. It will keep me smiling for eons! Wow, I'm just so impressed by this performace. I would highly reccommend it to anyone who is an Erasure fan.
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