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  Directed by
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  Specs
  • Full Frame
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • Featurette
  • 4 Music video - Great Southern Land - Iva Davies, I Iwsh I Was A Girl - King Curly, Way Down - Steve Prestwich, Georgia - Ian Moss

A Night Out - Live at the Basement

Warner Vision/Warner Vision . R4 . COLOR . 67 mins . G . PAL

  Feature
Contract

From all that we hear in Melbourne it's a rarity nowadays for a Sydney live venue to exist at all anymore, let alone one which can claim it has been around for some 28-plus years. However, The Basement can proudly shout it from the rooftops as it continues to go from strength to strength, both as a live outlet and also as presenters of an Internet site full of streaming music with some heavy-hitter backing. Originally more of a jazz venue, more recently a sort of policy of inclusion has been adopted, meaning everybody from soul, twangy, pop and rock acts have appeared at various times. This DVD presents samples of a whole range of such appearances both in the live environment and from their studios (which appears to be somewhat of a nursing home for former members of Cold Chisel) via some bonus features.

First up is a double dose of Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarnesy in his soul mode - you know the drill, he does his porcelain prayer-like crouching incessantly and kinda screams a lot. Next up are The Whitlams with two of their tunes, mostly noteworthy as somehow they managed to fit three musos AND Tim Freedman's head on a tiny stage all at once. Leonardo's Bride follow, with two tracks including the lovely Even When I'm Sleeping, complete with Abby nicely girlied up for the occasion. The rather big, bald and imposing school teacher you wouldn't want to cross Chris Wilson pops up next as the first of the one-track inclusions, followed by The Badloves, Ross Wilson picking the bones of Daddy Cool once again, and Jeff Lang doing the slide geetaw thang. Rounding out the package are two tracks from Richard Clapton (with shades, of course) and James Morrison doing his uncanny Three Little Bops impersonation on the piano whilst his protégé Emma Pask does accompanying chanteuse duties.

The track listing in full looks something a lot like this...

When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - Jimmy Barnes
I Put A Spell On You - Jimmy Barnes
You Sound Like Louis Burdett - The Whitlams
Met My Match - The Whitlams
Even When I'm Sleeping - Leonardo's Bride
Sleepy Head - Leonardo's Bride
Further On Up The Road - Chris Wilson
Memphis - The Badloves
Hi Honey Ho - Ross Wilson
London - Jeff Lang
Distant Thunder - Richard Clapton
Ace Of Hearts - Richard Clapton
Let There Be Love - James Morrison

  Video
Contract

This being a compilation and all, naturally what is present comes from a variety of different recording sessions - and quality varies a little throughout. Generally things can best be described as "alright" - colour is alright, detail is alright, contrast is alright - you get the picture. It's all presented in full frame, and probably the most noticeable gremmie other than the general 'alrightness' of the whole transfer is the occasional outbreak of slight aliasing on the likes of guitar strings.

  Audio
Contract

Everything is present and accounted for in Dolby Digital 5.1, and quality is pretty good throughout. Surrounds are fairly subtly utilised, as is the subwoofwoof, which adds a pleasing bit of bottom to things where appropriate. Synching is fine throughout; really the main issue that may be of concern to some is the appearance of hiss on some tracks, an unfortunate by-product that many live recordings suffer from.

  Extras
Contract

A rather standard, static menu has a couple of extra goodies secreted away within...

Documentary: Just over eight minutes in duration, this full frame, DD 5.1 mini-feature is presented by James Morrison, who takes us on a tour of the real Basement, and the offices and studios of the virtual one. Featuring interviews with club owner Chris Richards, journo Bruce Elder and the man with a perfect face for radio, Doug Mulray, plus quick flashes of many of the big names that have appeared at the venue over the years. Naturally this is worth a brief look if you have any interest in The Basement's history at all.

Bonus studio performances All in full frame, all in DD 5.1, and all with headphones firmly on bonces… Iva Davies (Icehouse) runs through Great Southern Land acoustically; King Curly makes the proclamation I Wish I Was A Girl; Steve Prestwich closes his eyes, clicks his fingers and gets Way Down and Ian Moss, or to use pub parlance "MOSSYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!", gets all bluesy and twiddly with Georgia.

  Overall  
Contract

A poster child for musical eclecticism, while displaying some great talent, it would have to be somebody with rather broad and varied musical tastes who will be saying, "Ooh, I must own this DVD". Folks who come under this category should be pleased enough with what's on offer - whilst never stunning aurally or visually, what is there is, well, certainly alright enough...


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1093
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      And I quote...
    "A poster child for musical eclecticism..."
    - Amy Flower
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-535
    • TV:
          Sony 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Onkyo TX-DS494
    • Speakers:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse RBS662
    • Centre Speaker:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECC442
    • Surrounds:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECR042
    • Subwoofer:
          DTX Digital 4.8
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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