The Cars - Live
Performance
Production
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The Cars - Live
Performance
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This performance is a live 1979 recording from the German television show Musikladen, which uniquely captures The Cars during their only European tour and promoting the forthcoming release of their second album Candy-O. The Cars formed around 1976 and honed their skills in the Boston bar scene for the next couple of years. 1978 saw the release of their self-titled debut album, which featured a lot of the great songs they had been perfecting in all of those Boston clubs, and perfectly blended rock, punk, and new wave styles into one of the best albums of the decade. The Musikladen performance features almost all of the songs from their debut album, skipping only "Moving In Stereo" and "All Mixed Up". Those two gems are definitely not worthy of skippage, but then again The Cars is one of those rare albums without a single throwaway song. The Musikladen show was recorded in what appears to be a small club, with a small stage, and a rather unappreciative crowd, who seemed dumbfounded by this unique band that they were seeing. The band took the stage to the sounds of a car engine revving for a few seconds before it takes off and eventually screeches to a loud crash. This kicks off the opening song of the show, "Good Times Roll". The band is young, energetic, and couldn't possibly have more contrasting onstage personalities. Orr is the dreamy-eyed, laid-back, ultra-cool bassist with the smooth, deep voice. Okasek is the tall, thin, eccentric guy with the quivering vocals, and oddly shaped head. And Hawkes.... well Hawkes, I believe, inspired many a computer geek character on The Simpsons TV show, with his ultra-nerdy appearance. But, damn, the guy could play a pretty mean synth. The other two guys were just your average looking, run-of-the-mill rock musicians, who could more than hold their own on the guitar and drums. The band's playing was tight and energetic. The song performances were very faithful to the originals, but sounded much more raw on stage. Much of the extravagant production of the albums was stripped away to reveal the true essence of the songs that had been honed for years on the club circuit. The song selections from the Candy-O album was rather disappointing. "Night Spots" and "Candy-O" are decent enough songs, but do not compare to some of the other great songs from that album like "Let's Go", "It's All I Can Do", and "Dangerous Type". "Take What You Want" is a never before released song where Hawkes comes out from behind the keyboards to add another layer of guitar to the mix. This is not a particularly great song, but is a special treat for any Cars fan. Hawkes also gives a great performance during "I'm In Touch With Your World", as he frantically recreates all of the weird background noises manually, instead of relying on keyboard samples. Considering the source of the material, the picture and audio quality are about what you would expect. The DVD comes with only a Dolby 5.1 audio track, and no alternate stereo track. The 5.1 mix turned out pretty decent, considering that it was mixed from the original mono source. The instrument separation was fair, and the mix was raw and crisp. The video looked like you were watching a 1970's television show, meaning it was not very good. It is about the standard you would expect from an older VHS tape. The stage lighting was terrible, consisting mostly of white stationary spotlights, that seemed to be aimed straight into the cameras during most shots. It looked more like the television set it was, rather than a rock club. You just needed to appreciate that this was a 1979 TV show appearance, and not exactly a real concert recording, and you will not be too disappointed. Cars fans will find the excellent reunion interview, included on this DVD, as important as the performance itself. The five original members sat down together the year the DVD was released and talked candidly about being in The Cars. The timing of this interview is especially significant since Ben Orr succumbed to cancer shortly thereafter. It was obvious by his manner and appearance during the interview that he was gravely ill, but he still managed to put on a happy face, and genuinely seemed to enjoy being with his old bandmates again. Although it would be nice to have a better produced recording from an actual concert performance of The Cars, such as from the Heartbeat City tour, this is an important historical document of a young band ready to turn the corner to superstardom. Cars fans should not hesitate to check this one out. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - September 2004 |
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Running Time: 46 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - October 2000 |