Tesla - Comin' Atcha Live! 2008
Performance
Production
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Tesla - Comin' Atcha Live! 2008
Performance
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The only time I ever saw Tesla play live was at the old Bayou Nightclub in Georgetown, Washington, DC, during what I believe was their Bust A Nut tour of 1995, if my memory serves me correctly. It was right after they fired guitarist Tommy Skeotch, due to his ongoing substance abuse problems, and then decided to carry on as a foursome - even when playing live. Big mistake. Imagine seeing Def Leppard or Judas Priest in concert with only one of their guitarists. Sure, Frank Hannon did a heroic job at rearranging and performing all of the guitar parts himself, but there was just no way that he could have done justice to that huge two guitar attack that dominates all of their albums. It's no wonder that the band broke up the following year. Skeotch rejoined Tesla in 2000, and they embarked on a full-scale reunion tour that was documented on their 2001 live album, Replugged Live. When Tesla hit the road again on their Electric Summer Jam Tour of 2006, Skeotch was out of the band again, this time due to the ol' "needed to spend more time with the family" excuse. We'll see how long that lasts. Tesla has since welcomed new guitarist Dave Rude into the band, and this DVD shows just what a fine fit he has been. I had been anxiously awaiting a live concert DVD from this band ever since I first started collecting concert DVDs - and that is a pretty damn long time. Tesla's Time's Making Changes is a great collection of the band's MTV-style music videos, and Five Man Video Band is one of the best "unplugged" videos of all time, but now we finally have a full-fledged concert DVD to rock out to. Comin' Atcha Live! was filmed at Myth nightclub, in Maplewood, Minnesota, on February 22nd, 2008. The sold out crowd of about 4400 were certainly fired up right from the start. I guess coming in from the ball-freezing cold of a February Minnesota night, and then pouring a few rounds of liquid courage into your bloodstream, to warm things up, could have had something to do with it. The band kicks off the show with, what else, "Comin' Atcha Live", from their 1986 debut album, Mechanical Resonance. They then fast-forward nearly two decades to their latest studio album (not counting the two covers albums), Into the Now, and rock out to the very catchy "What A Shame". These two songs sound like they could have come from the same album, as Tesla have remained very faithful to their Def Leppard-meets-Led Zeppelin, bluesy and melodic, hard rock formula throughout their 20-plus year career. It's a damn good formula too. The setlist continues to jump back and forth between the old and new, going all the way back to their oldest and most endearing anthem, "Modern Day Cowboy", and then unleashing what is perhaps their heaviest new song to date, "Miles Away", which sounds a bit like Zeppelin's "Kashmir", had Jimmy Page also included steroids on his daily injection menu. Surprisingly, the only song Tesla played from their new Real to Reel covers album, which is what they were touring in support of, was the UFO anthem, "Rock Bottom". Wow! If you ever doubted what a monster guitarist Frank Hannon is, or just what a tight band Tesla are, then this performance should end all speculation. For those of you who agree with me that Tesla's The Great Radio Controversy was one of the best hard rock albums of the late 80's, then you will be pleased to know that four of it's best songs were performed at this show. Tesla's follow up album, Psychotic Supper, was also well represented with four songs, and they turned out to be some of the surprise highlights of the show. "Song And Emotion", the bands tribute to the late Def Leppard guitarist Steve "Steamin" Clark, was preceded by a short video segment where Hannon talks about Telsa's amazing gig opening for Def Leppard on their Hysteria tour, which is where he first became good friends with Clark. The band then blows you away with a powerful and heartfelt performance of the song. "Freedom Slaves", a song I never paid much attention to on the Psychotic Supper album, was another real showstopper. The band trots out one brand new song, "Dear Private Ledbetter", that is supposed to be on their forthcoming new album that is due out in October. The song is in the style of "What You Give", with lots of mellow acoustic strumming and a big guitar solo in the middle. I wasn't all that impressed with the song, not because I don't like to hear new material, but it was definitely the weakest link in the set. "Edison's Medicine", Tesla's tribute song to the man they named the band after, Nikola Tesla, served as a rousing closer to the encore set. It's a shame that this revolutionary scientist is barely even being discussed in public schools today. I'd recommend reading any one of the great biographies about the man. He was truly a "man out of time". But I digress. Lead vocalist Jeff Keith has always had a pretty raw and raspy voice, but he was really showing signs of wear and tear at this show. I couldn't quite decide whether he sounded more like an eighty year old woman who has smoked two packs a day since she was about twelve, or Cartman from Southpark. Just don't expect him to sound like he does on the studio albums. My biggest disappointment with this DVD, was the lack of any 5.1 surround audio track. And that is a real shame, because everything else about this DVD was top notch. The video, which was enhanced for 16:9 widescreen HDTV, looked spectacular, and the camera work was also outstanding. Another minor annoyance was all of the behind-the-scenes footage and interviews that were interspersed between some of the songs. When will these producers ever learn? This could have been one of the best concert DVDs of the year had it included a good DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix. The real slap in the face is that the back of the DVD case lists the audio as being Dolby Digital 5.1. The sole Dolby Digital 2.0 mix sounded pretty decent using the Dolby Pro Logic decoder on my amplifier, but it does not compare to a good 5.1 surround track. The special features mainly consist of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the band during the tour. The best part for me was probably the "Outtakes" feature, where Rude and Hannon partake in a little blues jam as they test out a couple of guitars in a local music store. Into The Now was an excellent comeback album for the band, and now Comin' Atcha Live! proves that Tesla are still a great live act. I highly recommend them both. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - August 2008 |
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Running Time: 126 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - July 2008 |