Pineapple Thief - Live 2003 Limited Edition (DVD/CD)

One of the best new bands around at this moment, Pineapple Thief have this very limited DVD/CD live package of 250 copies for, as it says on the reverse, for anyone who wants to share the beginnings of the band.  Not for official release, the hour long DVD features the first three gigs from last year, such as Whitchurch and Rotherham, plus footage from Royan in France.  The quality is basically homemade, with the filming done by hand held camcorders complete with shakes, but the sound is very good surprisingly from a single stereo condenser mic.

The 4:3 frame goes from a single shot live shot, to two and three screens, and black and white for that extra special effect, and not to mention the slow motion on a few songs.

As I mentioned before, it is homemade but it works very well, and it shows what can be done on a low budget. At the end of the feature, everyone who is part of the band, personnel, wives, girlfriends, crew and friends all get a few seconds each which rounds it off very nice. There is a photo gallery from the three shows, and backstage shots too, which are presented well.

The CD features all the DVD’s live material, plus 4 bonus studio tracks, which runs for well over 70 minutes, but some of the studio tracks are aired on the DVD's photo gallery.

Technical Aspects

DVD and CD package PAL screen aspect 4:3 region 2.  Sound is 2:0 stereo, picture quality is average, but from hand held camcorders that is what you would expect, a sort of a live scrapbook, but sound is very good.

Package Features

None as such, just a plain DVD case with DVD and CD.  Track listing on rear, credits and brief information mentioned above.

Summary

This will be sort after in years to come. It is excellent all round if you like the band and don’t mind the camera work. When the band are more established, then a multi camera DVD will give them more justice, but for a first attempt, and not an official release, you’ll have to give it top marks for ideas and creativity.

Danny Mayo

©The Hairless Heart Herald 2001-2009. Reproduction in any means or form of material published on this site is strictly forbidden without the express permission of the editor.