Product: Bond - Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Good musicians, amateurish performers
First, the music here is first rate. As musicians, they've clearly done their homework. So I give it a high rating because the musicianship is so accomplished. However, as performers, they seemed like what they are (as I discovered from watching the bonus material): session musicians, and therefore not used to the direct glare of the limelight. As people unfamiliar with this aspect of performing, they seemed unsure what to do in the crosshairs of all of that attention, and their exuberance seemed contrived. Haylie's (the first violinist and evident spokesperson) rock-and-roll exhortations were diluted by her giddiness at finding herself and her cohorts front and center of this big show, instead of in their usual seats, a couple of rows back under a conductor's baton, which was where they had been sitting before this brainstorm struck them (or whomever).The thing was, the show had a contrived spectacularity to it without the performers themselves being individually spectacular or dazzling in any way, thus unable to genuinely participate in the thing they were trying to create. I think they were debuted prematurely, before they had the experience to deal with this sort of presentation. Also, the sexuality they so blatantly flaunted on the keep case and album cover was nonexistent. They were simply out of their league, the band a mere business enterprise designed to cash in by sexualizing classical performers. It's a gimmick that falls flat. Whoever planned the image for these women overlooked the fact that sensuality in performers is an aspect of self-awareness and confidence. People like Madonna and Sarah Brightman and Shania Twain are sexy because they're totally aware of themselves, possessing a relationship with their audiences that requires lots of practice and experience. All of the women I just mentioned spent years on the stage perfecting their craft. It's not just a question of donning tight clothes and changing how your eye makeup is applied. It's obvious that the women in Bond are not genuine to the gimmick they've chosen. This comes off as "Josie and the Pussycats Do the Classics."Despite all of that, the music is very good. But so what? Why did it require this sort of presentation? Sarah Brightman, in her ownSarah Brightman in Concert, in the very same hall, simply performs, allowing her talent to carry the show, to dazzle us, transfixing us in awe. While Bond's music is good, I'm not so awed by it. There's nothing that unusual about the music itself beyond their gimmick, which flatly failed. In some ways, the show was an annoying distraction to the good things going on. These are intelligent, talented, and attractive women, and they should present themselves more honestly. I would have preferred they wore beautiful evening gowns instead of the cheesy attire they selected just because someone believed the outfits were "sexy."Perhaps I'm being too harsh. Once the novelty of the bigness of what's happened to them wears off, maybe they'll get more in tune with their own presentation, and the next DVD (if they survive as an act) will be better. For now, I recommend this DVD, since the cost is reasonable and the music is good. But don't expect to be seduced and spellbound, as if Sirens were playing classical music.