Product: Ziggy Stardust [VHS]
Rating: 5.0
Ziggy Stardust
Famously, but incorrectly, touted as Ziggy Stardust's "retirement gig" this legendary concert was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3rd July 1973 (it was actually after the 1980 Floor Show, on 20th October the same year that Ziggy bowed out). In common with the Sex Pistols 100 club gig, if everybody who claims to have been there actually was, then there must have been 100,000 in attendance.By no means well recorded - it's taken 30 years of mixing to get "right", and in my opinion the drum sound is now even worse - it remains the definitive live Bowie recording. The Spiders were a wonderfully tight band and just the right side of messy. For those of us lucky enough to have heard the original recording, with Ronson's guitar overpowering everything, including, occasionally, Bowie's voice, this is a bit of a letdown. However, Bowie's voice is wonderful, with an effortless clarity that's missing from subsequent live recordings such as DAVID LIVE and STAGE.The video is by Pennebaker, famous for his Dylan fly on the wall documentary "Don't Look back". Shaky camera work, and out of focus zooms, more often than not result in Bowie looking like a grainy red blob amid a sea of blackness. However, in my opinion this actually adds to the mysterious aura that Bowie built around Ziggy. It looks like the film had to be pushed quite hard to get anything out of it at all - this could possibly be the first grunge video! The Odeon looks like a huge, heaving cavern. It's a million miles away from the polished Glass Spider and all the better for it. Considering the state of the original print I was dubious as to whether it could be improved for this DVD release. It couldn't.Previously unreleased additions include the complete "Width Of A Circle", some between song banter, and commentary by Pennebaker and Visconti. Unfortunately the additions are not what fans have waited 30 years for. Disgracefully, The Jean Genie/Love Me Do, on which Jeff Beck joined the Spiders onstage to play guitar is STILL missing. Whether this is down to a royalty dispute or Beck's embarrassment of his glam rags, I don't care, but the omission seriously undermines this release. It was, in many an opinion, the highlight of the show.Until the complete show is released, Bowie Fans will continue to feel short changed. Come on Mr Beck - sort it out!