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In Short: A fantastic concert from Petty and the Heartbreakers. The film: This disc is another example, like the Natalie Merchant: Live In New York disc that came out the same week, of a true artist giving a performance so excellent that it still emerges triumphantly from behind a disc that doesn't neccessarily present it in the best possible manner. This concert, recorded at the Filmore in San Fransisco in March of 1999, presents Petty and the heartbreakers performing versions of some of their most popular hits ("Free Fallin'") and beautiful versions of some of his more recent songs like "Walls", which was recorded for the Ed Burns movie "She's The One". Other songs that stand out during this set include "You Don't Know How It Feels", "You Wreck Me" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance". All in all, there are 19 songs included here and although I've seen my share of great concerts, I wish I could have been there to experience this one. Petty and the band simply rock throughout in a great performance, whether it's pure rock and roll like "Free Fallin" or a slower number like "Walls" or "Angel Dream" . At one point during the crowd cheering, Petty simply smiles and says, "I'm excited, too." Like the Natalie Merchant DVD, the picture quality is not terribly spectular here, either. The image is letterboxed at a ratio that looks close to 2.35:1 and although it's generally watchable, the picture is noticably soft and sometimes grainy looking. Where the picture doesn't always live up to expectations, the sound is certainly pleasing. I've really gotten into the some of the concert discs recently, because although you don't get the whole experience of being in the front row cheering along ( or paying huge amounts of money for tickets ), these discs sound wonderful(or at least the ones that I've listened to) and do a good job of at least trying to replicate the concert ambience at some level. Although this disc doesn't sound as smooth or strong as either Sarah McLachlan's "Mirrorball" or the Talking Heads disc "Stop Making Sense", it generally does get the job done well at replicating that concert environment, capturing Petty's great vocals as well as the great work from the band wonderfully. There's no extras or anything like that to speak of (well, besides quick and very odd shots of people walking around behind-the-scenes between songs, but I don't think that's really an extra), but with a performance like this, who needs extras? Er, well, maybe a music video or two would have been nice. Songs Include: Intro/California, Jammin' Me, Runnin' Down a Dream, Swingin', Breakdown, Listen to Her Heart, You Don't Know How It Feels, Mary Jane's Last Dance, Mona/Bo Diddley, Lay Down My Old Guitar, Even the Losers, Walls, Angel Dream, Room at the Top, County Farm, You Wreck Me, I Don't Wanna Fight, Free Fallin', Free Girl Now Grade:B+ BACK TO THE SITE: Listing Of DVD Special Sales Back To A Guide To Current Film A List Of Current/Upcoming DVD For Sale Soundtracks For Current Films |