Product: Live At The Gem (2007)
Rating: 4.0
Typical Public TV Fare
First, let me say this: If I were reviewing just the music, this DVD would rate five stars, no question. The Elders are great! I first heard them this past September, when I got to see them perform live at the Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Festival in Estes Park. I fell in love with their energetic music despite an "iffy" sound system which had the volume cranked way too high for my own comfort. If I were to pigeonhole their style, it would be "Irish Country Rock".The instrumental tracks "Michael's Ride" and "Turnpike", in particular, remind me of classic hoedown music. It's pretty obvious where bluegrass comes from. Another one, "Love of the Century", reminded me so much of John Denver that I went out and got an anthology of his classics, the kind of stuff I grew up on back in the 1970's. Such was the power of the nostalgia The Elders' music evoked in me. And "1849" packs a major emotional wallop, due to the fact that I first heard it the very week I learned that a close relative had cancer. Something about that wailing chorus raises my hackles every time I hear it.I'm reminded of Runrig, a major Scottish rock band: They, like The Elders, tend to write very serious songs of remembrance and longing for bygone days, decrying the terrible injustices done to the Scottish and Irish peoples. Neither band pulls any punches. While I'm not, so far as I know, of Irish descent, I certainly am of Scottish and Welsh stock, so The Elders' music resonates with me quite strongly.Of course, some of the music is in a lighter vein, such as "Packy Go Home", about a truant little boy who stokes the boiler too high and blows up his school. Another cheerful one is "Send a Prayer".I listened to the CD version of "Live at The Gem", along with studio album "Racing The Tide", for a couple of months before deciding to get the live DVD as well. While it was enjoyable, it did leave me somewhat disappointed. I had hoped to see the complete program, with all 14 songs in order, along with all of the introductory comments by the group members. A good example of this sort of thing would be "The Moody Blues at Red Rocks". Unfortunately, the DVD was pretty heavily edited.The DVD insert contains thanks to "all the wonderful folks at Kansas City Public Television", and that says it all right there. The main program consisted of 11 songs, interspersed with interviews of various fans. The remaining three songs are stuck willy-nilly at the end as "bonus tracks", and look like they might have been recorded on a different evening.What really bothered me was what they did to "Men of Erin". This is, next to "1849", the most moving song of the whole evening, in glorious four-part vocal harmony, completely a capella. In Estes Park, I got to hear closing bagpipes as in the original studio version, but the pipes are absent from "Live at The Gem".Basically, the editors butchered the song. I got to hear something like 1-1/2 verses, and in the middle they cut away to an interview of someone praising the role The Elders play in the Kansas City Celtic music community. While I'm sure that's a good thing, I really wish they could have saved that little tidbit until after the song. I kept expecting to see a scene of a whole bunch of people toiling away in a phone bank, phones ringing incessantly, while viewers are urged to pony up if they want to continue receiving quality programming like this.Oh well, there's no use in ranting about it. If you're really devoted to The Elders, or are just curious about what one of their shows looks like, you'll probably want this DVD, despite its shortcomings. I'd likely still have gotten it, even knowing what I do now.I would also recommend getting the companion CD. Enjoy!