Posted by colinham on 4th December 2001 10:37 PM (then edited 5th December 2001 07:08 AM):

STEVE PRESTWICH BAND - LIVE AT THE BASEMENT
Roll with the Rthymn

This review is proudly sponsored by EzyDVD

Feature: 2001
Distributor: Warner Vision Australia
Studio: Chief Entertainment
Running Time: 1 hr. 45 mins.
PAL; All Regions, Rated: PG
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1; Extras: DD 2.0
DVD5

[color="#808080"][size=3] Funky Rock Blues with a touch of Country [/size][/color]

Intro
Steve Prestwich has had a long career in the Australian music scene since immigrating from the Liverpool in 1971 with the family, settling in Elizabeth, an outer Adelaide suburb which, as we saw in Long Way to the Top, was a breeding ground for quite a number of rock bands. The Steve Prestwich Band is the last in a number of bands to feature drummer Steve, the last being Cold Chisel. He got his first drum kit at the age of 9 and played his first professional gig at the age of 11 in 1965.

Steve is a songwriter and many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, but as Steve admits in the interview on this DVD, he didn’t sing because it didn’t fit too well with a drummer at the back of the band. After Cold Chisel he decided to do his own thing and recorded a solo album and formed his new band. At the ripe old age of 40+ he ventured to the front of the stage but still likes to have those drum sticks in his hands. I noticed that when he sings at the front microphone he always has to be doing something with his hands, even if just banging a tambourine or clicking his fingers to the beat.

The Band in this performance, Live at the Basement, comprises: Steve on drums and vocals; Jack Evans on electric and acoustic guitars; Kara Grainger on electric, acoustic, slide guitars and vocals; Mark Howard on electric bass, double bass and vocals; Jenny Marie Lang on acoustic, slide guitars, mandolin and vocals; and Darren Heinrich on keyboards.

The Show
The Live at the Basement series reviewed thus far has been of a very high standard and very even. Unfortunately I feel let down by this title for a number of reasons. Despite the great array of instruments listed above, the overall performance in my opinion falls flat. The sound is mainly on a high plane and lacks the richness one would expect from this group of instruments. I found that even with turning up the volume and adjusting the sub woofer volume, I could not hear the double bass. Even worse, Steve’s constant striking of the snare drum with drum sticks quickly became tiresome, jarring the aural senses. This may have been attributable to the nearness of the microphone for his vocals picking up the rat-tat-tat and multiplying the sound. It was a relief to this reviewer when he was not near the drums or on the lone track (White Dove), when he replaced the sticks with the brushes. Then there is track 16 which features momentary feedback in the first few bars, spoiling an otherwise beautiful song.

The Programme
The programme gets off to a poor start, not only with the aforementioned attack on the snare drum, but with the less than inspiring introduction by Steve himself: “Hi ya. I’m Steve Prestwich”. (Remember Grace Knight? Now she knows how to sell her performance.)

The programme offers a massive 20 tracks, with three of these repeated in the Bonus interview footage as studio performances. For the record the numbers are: Hold Tight; Early One Mornin’; Hurt Me So; When the War is Over; Get Onboard; White Dove; Best of a Bad Situation; Shake That Thing; Trouble Free; All I Wanna Do; Since You’ve Been Gone; Love Ya Baby; Someone Caught My Eye; Water into Wine; Heart Turned to Stone; Harbour Lights; Way Down; Days of Wine; Flame Trees; Devil of a Time. All the songs were written by Steve Prestwich with the exception of Flame Trees which he co-wrote with Don Walker. Six of these, according to the slick are new songs while Flame Trees and When the War is Over are considered classics from earlier years.

Steve’s voice is deep and has a rather rough edge to it. This appears to have him forcing the vocal chords to reach the upper notes, and sometimes not quite making it. Despite this there are some very nice numbers given thoughtful treatment. Since You’ve Been Gone is a new number from Steve’s recent solo album and features the vocal backing of Kara and Jenny; White Dove is a lovely number, sans drum sticks, with a beautiful instrumental arrangement featuring Jenny on the mandolin; and Wine into Water has great keyboard work from Darren, but with forced vocals.

Video Transfer
The filming of this performance was in the hands of seven cameramen and was of the high standard set by the previous editions in this series. Thankfully there was a complete lack of heads bobbing across in front of the cameras. This may have been due to what seemed to be a smaller audience. The colours are bright, strong and has good blacks and contrasts.

Audio
On the other hand the recording was not as satisfactory, with the glaring fault of the feedback mentioned earlier, and the missing bass. I don’t think the heavy snare drum can be attributed to the sound engineers but they should have been able to dampen it a little. Maybe others will not “hear” it in the same light as I did. The live performance is presented in Dolby 5.1, while the Bonus extras is in Dolby 2.0.

Extras
The Bonus documentary is Steve Prestwich interviewed by Doug Mulray in the studio of thebasement.com.au and the filming alternates between colour and black and white. As with those that have gone before, the interview includes snippets from the live performance. In addition there are three numbers performed by the whole Band in the studio. These are: Best of a Bad Situation; Water Into Wine; and Someone Caught My Eye. The audio on this section is in DD 2.0.

Case: 2-part button Keep case
Startup: Menu: Song Selection; Documentary; Bonus Tracks
Language: English
Subtitles: No


[color="#808080"][size=3]And The Survey Says...[/size][/color]
This DVD failed to live up to my expectations but that is not to say that everyone will feel the same way, especially if you happen to be a fan of Steve Prestwich’s compositions, style or his vocalperformance.

[color="#808080"][size=3]Purchase This DVD[/size][/color]
Click here to purchase this DVD from EzyDVD.


Colin Hamilton
Reviewer