Two years ago, band DVDs were pretty rare and hard to come by. Now everyone’s doing them – all the way up from major label bands ripping off the fans with shoddy live tracks and behind the scenes footage (yes The Ataris, I’m looking at you), to upcoming should-be homegrown stars like NoComply. To be fair to Deck Cheese, it’s probably a good idea to jump on the DVD bandwagon – especially when the end product is as good as this one. While the footage, at times, is no better than bootleg, it’s definitely good value for money and fans of the band should check this out in earnest.
The live tracks provided from the Garage in London are professionally shot (or at least they appear to be) and the sound and atmosphere are captured well. Mixing up older tracks with plenty of newer ones, the band go off – as always – with lots of energy and enthusiasm. Anyone who has seen the band up and down the country in the last 18 months will know exactly what I’m talking about – Kelly’s as animated as anyone front(wo)man and Jon’s guitar playing skills are also as good as any from a UK band. ‘Stories’ and ‘Falling From Crosses’ stick out as two of the better songs here.
The extras are also worth checking out. The studio footage adds a nice insight and the interviews with Oz and Si are also pretty humourous. Watch out for walk-on parts from a variety of UK band members too, it’s almost a real ‘where’s wally’ type game, with members of The Mercury League amongst others kicking about. There’s comedy dancing courtesy of Matt, adventures with chips and salad and plenty of laughs and giggles along the way. Throw in two promo videos and some added, although poor quality, live tracks into the mix and you’ve got a very good DVD from one of the best live bands the UK has to offer.
www.nocomply.co.uk
Deck Cheese
Paul