Classic Rock Legends: Gong

Rating:
Summary: Gong Live On TV 1990
Review: Classic Rock Legends is a series of DVD's taken from European TV programs showing a group in concert during the eighties and nineties. There are many from progressive bands like Gong and Caravan.

This DVD is about 51 minutes long. It was taken from a French TV program. The same show is available on CD. The CD is known by two names: Gong Live 1990 or Gong Live On TV. The CD has one extra song, Gorbachav Cocktail. This track was just yanked out of the CD and the edit was poorly done. You can tell a song was removed from the middle of the show.

The video quality of the DVD is pretty good. The filming was done well, with the camera focusing on the right parts of the band and the correct moment. Many of the newer, made for DVD concert films are poorly filmed, with the camera flipping around from player to player at the wrong time. The group is dressed up in their planet gong outfits, and there is a nice, spacy backdrop. Otherwise, the stage show is nothing spectacular. Both Gilli Smythe and Daevid Allen look old. This was 1990, the must look like the Rolling Stones now.

The sound quality is good, but not excellent. The sound is only available in stereo. But, you wouldn't expect more for a concert taken from a 1990 TV show.

The only special features this DVD has is track selection (and the tracks are incorrectly numbered) and a catalog of the other DVD in the Classic Rock series. The booklet that comes with the DVD is more of the same.

The concert is very nice, but not the best live Gong you can buy. There is a very good Flying Teapot, that is played in a way that is not available on any other CD. The rest of the tracks are songs that the group has done several times live. (If you want to know what all the songs are, check out the song listings of the Live On TV CD). They do them slightly differently, but not significantly. I Bin Stoned Before gets to be a little tedious. Otherwise, most of the music is very good. Unfortunately, the track left off the DVD, Gorbachav Cocktail, was one of the best songs from the show and is not available elsewhere.

So, should you buy this DVD, or should you just get the CD, which has the one extra song? If you want to see what the group looks like (especially in make up), then you should get the DVD. It isn't bad.