Recorded live in Melbourne, Australia, at The
National Tennis Centre in November of 1989, this fully restored video (with newly
mixed and mastered surround sound) provides a great chance to see one of the
most popular and prolific bands of our generation performing together, live in
concert, to a very receptive and appreciative audience … a well-received homecoming of sorts.
All three Gibb brothers are there (and at one point
pay tribute to their late brother Andy by performing "How Deep Is Your
Love") … and they look and sound as good as ever … all still young and
healthy and in fine voice as they run through nearly thirty of their best-known
hits. (Watching this, it's hard to
believe that this concert took place nearly thirty years ago … you just don't
realize how fast the time has gone until you watch something like this and receive a good reality check!)
That's not to say that there aren't a few surprises
in the set list. They open with a couple
of unexpected non-hit tunes … "Ordinary Lives" and "Giving Up
The Ghost" … not what one would expect as "audience grabbers"
from the git-go. After performing a
couple of their early hits ("To Love Somebody" and "I've Gotta
Get A Message To You") they jump into a couple of songs from their then
brand-new album "One," featuring the title track (which I've always
felt should have been MAJOR hit) and "Tokyo Nights." A couple more tracks from the new album are
featured later in the set.
In between, we're treated to their incredible
harmonies on long-time Bee Gees favorites like "Words," "New
York Mining Disaster, 1941," "Holiday," "Too Much
Heaven," "Run To Me," "World," "Spicks And
Specks," "Lonely Days," "How Can You Mend A Broken
Heart," "I Started A Joke," "Massachusetts,"
"Stayin' Alive," "Nights On Broadway," "Jive
Talkin'" and "You Should Be Dancing," as well as snippets of songs they wrote for other artists like "Heartbreaker" (Dionne
Warwick) and "Islands In The Stream" (Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton).
I have to admit that the lighting for the show is pretty dark and many of the stage shots are often taken from a bit of a distance, which make the close-ups that much more
enjoyable.
Still, it's all about the music and you won't find
much better craftsmen than The Brothers Gibb.
Good song selection … good concert … and a nice
addition to any music video library.
Available February 2nd … and just twelve bucks from
Amazon.com …
