Hidden Track

We explained back in August that we’ve been suckers for bootlegged live concert videos since we were mere newbs. Nay, n00bs. This week we’ve come across another batch of amazing videos freely available for the taking on the torrent sites, so it’s time for another All-DVD edition of Grousing The Aisles.

David Byrne 11/15/1997 Pro-Shot [DVD]:

David Byrne keeps everyone happy at his shows by playing a nice mix of his wonderfully cool solo songs and the Talking Heads classics we all love. In 1997 Byrne and his band performed on Sessions at West 54th, a television show he hosted at the time. We were hoping Byrne would interview himself a la the Stop Making Sense extras, but John Hiatt does the honors this time around. Thankfully a kind collector taped an airing of the show and uploaded the DVD files to a torrent site so we can all enjoy Byrne’s energetic performance.

When you watch this DVD, you’ll notice that everyone in the crowd sits down during the performance. The show’s producers must have fed the audience valium, as I couldn’t help but dance when I watched this video on my computer. No one can get my ass shaking like David Byrne can (no homo). David opens the show with Freaky Fuzzy, a tune from 1997’s Feelings that has a catchy chorus and a funky beat. Miss America and Dance on Vaseline are two other Feelings songs that Byrne and his band absolutely tear through at this taping. Byrne will never shake his billing as “ex-Talking Head,” but his solo stuff really deserves much more credit. That being said, the best tune of the night was Making Flippy Floppy. David assembled quite the backing band for this tour, and they add new life to a buncha old nuggets from the Heads’ catalog. Read on after the jump for more DVDs from Neil Young, the White Stripes and some pretty cool indie bands on late-night TV…

Neil Young 06/13/2003 Pro-Shot [DVD]:

Neil Young showed the assembled jambands of Bonnaroo how it’s done during his headlining set at the festie in 2003. Young was on tour promoting Greendale when he stopped in Manchester to play a set that was heavy on greatest hits and light on new material. Earlier this year a soundboard recording of the set circulated, and now that audio feed has been paired with the pro-shot video that was broadcast on the screens at Bonnaroo. The result is a concert DVD that is so much more enjoyable to watch than any of Young’s recent official DVDs.

We’ve always known that Neil loves to jam, but the man played just 12 songs during a three-hour-plus set. Cortez The Killer and Down By The River were expanded to 30-minute epics that featured Young sounding as good on guitar as he ever has. We’ll never get sick of hearing Cinnamon Girl, and this version is a doozy. The members of Crazy Horse do a great job of pushing Neil during his classic “one chord” guitar solo at the end of the tune.

Other must-hear tunes include Like A Hurricane and one of my all-time favorite songs: Hey Hey, My My. This year, The Police and Tool came to Bonnaroo and dropped shortened versions of the set they were playing at typical gigs on their tours. Neil Young on the other hand gave in to the spirit of the festival and dropped the setlist and jammed the night away. We like that.

Late Night With Rock - Volume 4 [DVD]:

This past summer was filled with many amazing late-night television appearances by some of the best indie bands in the game. Tinypig, a user over at dimeadozen, has compiled 18 of the best performances from the summer on one DVD as part of his Late Night With Rock series. I’ve heard of all the bands on this DVD, but I haven’t heard them all play so it was good to get a taste of what these bands offer. Eisley and Okkervill River were especially impressive of the bands that were new to me.

It was also cool to see bands I’ve been listening to all summer like Cold War Kids and Modest Mouse play their songs for the television audience. A few other standout tracks include Wilco playing Either Way on the Tonight Show and newly minted popstar Feist dropping 1234 on Letterman. Hopefully Tinypig keeps up the good work, and continues to release these compilations so I don’t have to remember to set my DVR every night.

White Stripes 10/01/2002 AUD [DVD]

One of the biggest regrets of my seven years of living in NYC is that I missed the White Stripes free concert at Union Square in 2002. Meg and Jack had just broken big, and I just couldn’t get out of work to check out the madness. We finally found a decent video of the show, and now I feel worse than ever.

The Stripes kept the large crowd entertained as they tore through high-energy song after song during their 55-minute set. Jack shows why he has the best presence of nearly anyone in the game, and pig-tailed Meg pounds away on the drums looking pretty as always. Highlights include Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Farmer John and their always interesting cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene.

Towards the end of the show Jack announces they are gonna play one more and starts up Boll Weevil. The Stripes apparently ran too long, and the power was cut during the middle of the tune. That didn’t stop the Stripes as Jack and Meg asked the crowd to be quiet and played an impromptu acoustic version of Boll Weevil for the extremely appreciative audience. If you don’t download the DVD (which you should), at least check out the YouTube clip of the whole Boll Weevil incident.

Do you download live concert DVDs or just audio? Seen anything hot and sexy out there? Let us know what you collect by leaving a comment below…