When it originally aired in December 1993, Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” session stood out like no television concert performance before or since.
Viewers were awestruck by the naked emotion and stark sincerity that the Seattle band brought to a then-unthinkable acoustic setting while invasive cameras pointed at their faces.
As it happens, the concert was even better than most thought. “[This concert] will be edited different [than it was performed here]. This is a television show,” remarked Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain during the taping. As Cobain predicted, producers modified the final results by removing a majority of the banter — including his harbinger statement — and altering the set order.
Cobain’s observation attests to why live music — a primarily spontaneous art form — seldom works when created for television, a traditionally static and polished medium. The better option? Concert footage that originally existed independent of broadcast parameters. When well-presented, it can be nearly as engaging to watch as seeing a show in person.
Yes, the live experience rules. But it’s impossible to be everywhere, let alone travel back in time. And that’s where tape vaults come in. The forthcoming release of Nirvana’s “Unplugged In New York” (Geffen), which features the unedited concert (as well as the trimmed MTV version), is one of several new or recent archival music DVDs that afford fans a front-row seat to vintage performances and legendmaking events. Here are some others worth checking out:
AC/DC, “Plug Me In”
(Columbia/Albert)
On this anthology of previously unreleased footage, original AC/DC vocalist and sinewy ladies’ man Bon Scott (above) talks in 1977 about the Australian hard-rock band being erroneously linked with the English punk movement. However unimaginable it may seem today, the comparison provides insight into the live-wire energy on display here. Taped at high schools, theaters and soundstages, the Scott-era performances electrify. Lead guitarist Angus Young gives hyperactivity a good name while hopping around in his schoolboy uniform. Early ’80s concert clips prove Scott’s death inspired the boogie-based band to further improve upon its already machinelike precision.
“The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show”
(CMV/Legacy)
From 1969 to 1971, the Man in Black hosted a weekly variety show centered on family entertainment and live country, blues and folk. This two-disc highlights set features numerous Cash performances, including a then-controversial (because of its reference to drugs) rendition of “Sunday Morning Coming Down” that ultimately won the Song of the Year award. Equally fascinating are the guest spots — ranging from a fresh-faced Eric Clapton to a stoic Neil Young. Keep a remote handy to fast-forward the sentimentally mushy between-track narratives.
“Bob Dylan: The Other Side of the Mirror: Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965”
(CMV/Legacy)
Director Murray Lerner’s smartly sequenced and subtly suggestive “The Other Side of the Mirror” traces not only Bob Dylan’s evolution at the Newport Folk Festival but that of his early career. In 1963, the Minnesota native is a scrawny albeit assured folkie with a slight twang and blue-collar sensibility. Dylan returns in 1964, visibly more mature, confident and beguiling. He can’t do wrong. A riveting solo take of “Chimes of Freedom” is an indicator of one year later when Dylan plugs in, alters history and “betrays” the folk community that crowned him king. In a sagacious twist, Dylan ignores the boos and speaks his mind with a symbolic pair of closing acoustic songs.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Live at Monterey”
(Experience Hendix/Geffen)
Before Woodstock, there was the Monterey Pop Festival in California. Though many believed The Who would steal the festival spotlight, audiences came out buzzing about Jimi Hendrix, who turned in an otherworldly performance. Abetted with the “American Landing” documentary that chronicles Hendrix’s British ascent preceding his June 1967 U.S. debut at Monterey, this vivid DVD presents the sonic pioneer in all his outrageous glory. Dig Hendrix’s pink feather boa, exotic sexuality and instrumental command. Above all, witness his still-stunning exhibition of spraying lighter fluid on his Fender Stratocaster, setting it afire and smashing it to pieces as the crowd looks on with a combination of awe, fear and revulsion.
Kiss, “Kissology Vols. I & II”
(VH1 Classic Records)
Gimmicky, yes. Campy, sure. But the critically reviled quartet knew how to put on a fantastic show. Volume I of this three-part chronology (the third installment is due in December) concludes by documenting Kiss’ creative peak with two complete 1977 concerts — including fancy costumes (see Gene Simmons, above), kabuki makeup, mobile platforms and fake blood.Yet the revelatory matter arrives via late-night TV broadcasts and a January 1975 gig. Shot in color and black-and-white, the group’s homemade outfits, thin physiques and dynamic chemistry convey the hunger and resolve of a garage band that happened to have world-conquering dreams. For those who enjoy train wrecks, Volume II traces 1978-1991, a period in which Kiss the group devolves into Ki$$ the corporation.
Led Zeppelin, “The Song Remains the Same”
(Warner Bros./Rhino)
Boasting a cleaned-up picture and remastered sound, this concert film remains as problem-ridden as it did decades ago. Only now, the head-scratching integration of the band’s (including Robert Plant, above) 1973 Madison Square Garden performances with surreal imagery, odd vignettes and backstage affairs functions as a humorous relic. A menu allows users to skip the movie and go straight to the songs. And while inferior when compared with 2003’s essential “Led Zeppelin” collection, the hallucinatory excess and bonus material (extra songs, interviews and amateurish TV reports) warrant another look.
Ramones, “It’s Alive 1974-1996”
(Rhino)
“It’s Alive 1974-1996” spans the Ramones’ (including Joey Ramone, above) entire career and adheres to a coherent order. Most important, the two-disc performance set spotlights the band’s formative days. Clips from a 1974 date at CBGB reveal a basement-reared act that can barely play its songs but which already possesses its brash attitude, lanky poise and tough-in-leather look. Less than two years later, the foursome’s distorted crunch, blitzing speed and melodic drive have gelled into a propulsive force. Save for a few embarrassing moments — a 1980 appearance on England’s “Top of the Pops” matches the band with strings — the Ramones never change.
U2, “PopMart Live From Mexico City”
(Island/Interscope)
Sometimes the biggest mistakes make for great entertainment. Intended as a spoof of pop culture and consumerism, U2’s 1997 PopMart tour pushed ironic spectacle to laughable extremes (with Bono, above). Dwarfed by a 170-foot-long LED video screen, giant cocktail stick, lemon-shaped mirrorball vehicle and McDonald’s-mocking golden arch, the trivialized band members look equally silly (singer Bono wears a muscle shirt) and become victims of their own joke. The pageantry works on DVD. See it if only to witness an ostentatious concept that raises the question of why nobody possessed the sense to prevent it from happening.
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