6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Too Much Rawk for just one hand!
Date of Review: Jul 3, 2008
The Bottom Line: If you like Butch of the Marvelous 3, then pick this up for the Acoustic show... it's a blast.
I have been a fan of Butch's from the mid 90's. I've seen the Marvelous 3 play several times (3 in Jacksonville, 1 in Orlando, 2 in Chattanooga, and 2 in Atlanta). I was among those devastated by the Breakup of the Marvelous 3. When this DVD came out, I ordered it on multiple occasions and every time it was backordered for months. So much love to Amazon for finally getting the DVD into my possession.
Now for the review of the actual DVD:
First, there is no booklet, very little artwork, and no special features. (Not a picture of Butch ANYWHERE!!) The DVD starts out with a few songs of a show done in Japan when he was opening for Avril Levine. I was disappointed that this DVD's sound was made to play over a 2 speaker TV. I had high hopes for playing this over my surround sound and reliving the late 90's for 2 hours, no dice. However the sound quality IS good for a live performance. In the Tokyo show, you cannot hear or see the crowd, so a lot of his talking to them comes across a little strange as there is no response, no applause, nothing. In between the songs there are little bits of him and the band wandering around Tokyo, or getting their makeup done for the show, but nothing really telling about him.
The Budokan show was in my mind, only a so-so performance in comparison to what I have seen Butch do live. The camera shots were often to close to see his "throw the pick, kick it, catch it, and never miss a beat of the song antics). They also spent an awful lot of time focusing in on the other members of the band. As a whole, the set was not as tight or fluid as I was used to seeing from Butch.
Now the "Bonus Live Acoustic Set" was worth every penny I spent on this DVD. Butch in a "living room" type set, with an acoustic guitar talking to the audience, playing the songs I love along with his typical banter and mocking of other musicians. Here he is in his glory, belting out his heart and soul to the audience and sounding beyond incredible. In my opinion, this should have been the focus of the DVD with the Budokan show as a little bonus for those who wanted to hear a few electric songs. The almost orgasmic highlight was Jayce and Slug walking up on stage to play "Freak of the Week" and "Every Monday" with him. In this 90 minutes of the DVD Butch is brilliant, funny, and back to the Butch we knew with the Marvelous 3. This DVD is a must have for any die hard Butch or Marvie fanatic. If you know the orgasmic power of Butch picking up his red white and blue guitar, or know how to show "Too Much Rawk for just one hand" then you need to go ahead and order this DVD.
Rating:
For the Budokan show - 3 Stars
For the Acoustic show - 5 Stars
In the end 4 of 5 stars... sorry Butch but you should have picked one of your better shows for the opening part of the DVD, Budokan was not one of your best performances.
