Sometimes we feel we just have to draw your attention to something. Sometimes a release is far enough off the beaten track to maybe be under various radars, and we feel that we must light the path towards something that most Guitarist readers will love.
So, even though this month´s mag is so full of good stuff so we can´t fit a review in, here´s what we got - and what you can expect - from the latest DVD release from The Dee: Tenacious D.
The Complete Masterworks Volume 2 is a two-disc DVD set that features a full show from the Pick of Destiny tour, shot in Seattle and offering the usual mix of showmanship, laughter and far better acoustic guitar-playing than you´d expect.
We don´t want to give too much away about the actual show itself but, as Jack Black spouts during the intensely personal tour doc (more of which in a while): “This is pure Broadway, baby.”
The stage sets and production are quite extraordinary, with the band finding themselves whisked from Kyle ‘KG´ Gass´ scruffy bedroom to...elsewhere...!
Both strumming a selection of all-black Gibson acoustics, the set covers all bases, with highlights including the pant-wettingly funny Sax-a-Boom, Dio, and F*ck Her Gently to the equally good but musically extra-valid Wonderboy.
When The Metal rolls around, complete with the ever-present ‘housemate´ Lee clunking around the big stage clad in a robot suit, there is a danger that there won´t be any complete ribs in the house. Awesome.
As to the tour doc, it proves once again that its not all fun and games on the road. Jack and Kyle struggle with constant demands on their time, with the latter especially unimpressed by the media´s constant attention to his far more famous bandmate. In a memorable dressing room scene, backstage at one of America´s biggest TV shows, Kyle explodes in a genuine display of ‘Sense of Humour´ failure, while another sees Black reading several less than complementary reviews of the Pick of Destiny film and trying not to become similarly incandescent.
Black brings his wife and small baby with him wherever his goes, while KG seems happier introducing his new girlfriend to all and sundry, and there´s more than enough humour to counteract the subtle yet defensible pathos.
As long as you make sure there´s no-one in the room who´ll report you to the police at the merest mention of an F word or three, this DVD deserves a Stella-night in. Put eight Grand Biere tins on ice, take the phone off the hook and enjoy one of the best DVDs released this year.
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