Vans Warped Tour '03 DVD, Various Artists
I’m beginning to like music DVDs more and more – not only do they bring videos to me which I wouldn’t usually get to see, they seem to be stretching to live gigs, festivals and events too. The quality of each release is also on the up, with extra features, interviews and perfect sound quality now as standard. Warped Tour ’03 lives up to all the expectations anyone could have and does exactly what it says on the cover.
As well as extended interviews with the likes of Less Than Jake, Andrew WK and staff and crew of Warped, this disc really brings the entertainment to your TV screen – because let’s face it, not many of us actually get to see Warped in action. There’s almost two dozen live tracks on offer, each having multi camera angles and interjections and introductions by band members. Glassjaw are a highlight with a great version of ‘Ape Dos Mil’, while Avenged Sevenfold and Vaux do the hardcore-lite thing pretty well too.
It’s not all of the hard stuff mind you, with Tsunami Bomb and Rufio performing well, but Slick Shoes’ version of ‘Darko’ is arguably the best song here – it makes me want them over here even more. Mad Caddies and Less Than Jake are as entertaining as ever and even Simple Plan, performing ‘You Don’t Mean Anything To Me’ are passable. To be fair there aren’t many bad tracks here at all – Face To Face are solid yet unspectacular, Something Corporate dull and Mest, well, are Mest. Thrice’s acoustic cover of ‘All That’s Left’ ends things on a positively beautiful note too.
There’s little else to add except a further recommendation that you pick this DVD up. It’s full of entertaining stuff and at nearly 2hrs in length is well worth the £15 or so you will expect to pay. Now if only the tour could come here…
www.warpedtour.com
Kung Fu Records
Paul
