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Poison - Seven Days Live
R0 - United Kingdom - Cherry Red Films Review written by and copyright: Simo Liikanen (31st December 2006). |
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The Film
 Remember the time when the hair bands used to put out a new album and actually play the new songs live on tour? This Poison live concert DVD is a flashback of that era, and it is a mighty good example at that. Poison ruled the glam scene and MTV in the '80s with hits like Unskinny Bop and Every Rose Has Its Thorn, which probably left its mark - good or bad - on everyone during that time. On this DVD Poison injects itself into the willing audience in the UK, in April 1993, on one their rare European stints. The tour supported their album Native Tongue, which was released amid the Grunge revolution that wiped the glam off the map for nearly half a decade. In addition to waning success, the band was living in turbulent times after the less than amicable departure of the original guitarist CC DeVille. Poison was never a band of critically acclaimed musicianship, but the entry of the replacement Richie Kotzen brought to the band technical guitar playing that actually toned down some of that criticism for a good reason. Native Tongue was the only effort of this line-up, and it represented a more mature, bluesy and somewhat more serious direction. On this DVD, the band stands solely on its own merits: the songs and the playing. Absent are the sparks and bombs - the usual essentials of a Poison show - and instead you get a stripped down stage with a backdrop and lights. There's still plenty of leopard skin and bandanas - and hair. Scaled down show notwithstanding, Poison does here what Poison does best: the band entertains. Throughout the set the energy level is high with the band members, Kotzen, bassist Bobby Dall, drummer Ricky Rockett and especially lead man Bret Michaels running around the stage, pumping up the audience and shaking hands with the front row. This openness and clearly visible enjoyment of the hard work on stage is what really differentiates '80s music from the '90s Grunge. The band really displays their showmanship. During the previous ten years the stage show runs like a freight train, and actually the band sounds quite convincingly heavy at certain points, as opposed to the lighter sound on CDs. Rockett and Dall make a decent rhythm section, and mandatory drum and guitar solos are included. It's not up to the Van Halen standard, but they keep you from keeling over due to boredom. The musically stronger Native Tongue material, composing nearly half of the show here, does peak here and there, especially Body Talk . Still the crowd favorites, as well as the strong points of the overall show, are the big hits of the previous albums. This may very well speak for the fact that despite successful annual summer tours recently‚ with original guitarist CC DeVille‚ Poison pretty much keeps the set list constant without any songs from Native Tongue. The set list (tracks from Native Tongue are marked with NT): The Scream (NT) Strike Up the Band (NT) Ride the Wind (a good one!) Good Love Body Talk (NT) (best new track, IMO) Something to Believe In Stand (NT) Fallen Angel (NT) Look What the Cat Dragged In Until You Suffer Some (Fire & Ice) 7 Days Over You Unskinny Bop Talk Dirty to Me Every Rose Has It's Thorn Nothin' But a Good Time Without some obvious editing between the numbers, the overall show seems to be unhampered. Microphone squeals are followed by Michael's pointed shots at the soundman, and a fair amount of onstage banter are left to grace the experience‚ in true Poison fashion none of them are too shameful, but not quite offensive either. This captured era is somewhat problematic: Native Tongue bombed, and the new, musically improved line-up did not satisfy the fans that were still around. Here we wander into the realm of subjective opinion. If your Poison includes Deville and the 80's stuff, this will probably not be your favourite illustration of the band. If you like the glam scene and decent musicianship, this will be a nice ride down the right lane. For me, I embrace it as snapshot of a living, breathing band instead of a band that seems to be going nowhere. Nothin' but a good time, indeed.
Video
The editing of the DVD has been done with good, conservative taste without the flashing, tilting or hectic editing of the contemporary music videos. Stage lights are sharp and clear in tone. Colours are pleasantly bright and pastel, which fits the glam band perfectly. Some grainy b/w handheld video footage is intertwined to keep the look fresh, and some unnecessary split screens are used but only briefly. The picture quality is more than decent despite the original footage from 1993 obviously not having been filmed digitally. Having said that, some quite clear compression artifacts are unfortunately visible throughout the transfer. Aspect ratio is 4:3, and the running time is 81:14 minutes. "Single layer" disc is coded "R0".
Audio
The disc contains one audio track, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo despite the box claiming 5.1 surround. The sound is clear and retains all the concert bugs, i.e. squealing and such.
Extras
There's simply no additional extras adding to the concert experience. If you want a concert, that's what you'll be getting. This may be a honest blessing in disguise, since some of the scrapings on other DVD's are actually very pointless and sometimes embarrassing. There are, however, some additional "Bonus trailers" unrelevant to Poison or glam from the other releases by the company. These are mainly extracts more than trailers, but these are included: - The Creation: Red with Purple Flashes (1:29 min) - Hawkwind: Love in Space (1:16 min) - Groupies (late 60s documentary) (1:15 min) - Pat Benatar: Summer Vacation (1:31 min) - Hawkwind: Black Sword (0:54 min) - Pat Travers: Boom Boom (1:25 min) There's also a "full DVD listing".
Overall
Clear and decent package brought to life after ten years for the enjoyment of fun music. This one is for an hour and a half of good times!
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