Lightning Bolt - The Power of Salad

RYAN:
Where to start…
OK, well first off, I was super psyched to get this baby in the mail. I had been hearing a bunch about this from Brian and became pretty interested in the DVD. I can honestly say I was not disappointed. The film is definitely a really great look into the music, shows, schtick, scene and personalities of Lightning Bolt…for better or for worse (I will get into this later).
The ROCKumentary is pretty evenly split up between live show footage and in-van interstitials…with a bit of this and that interspersed. Let me start with the live stuff. One word…AWESOME. These guys can rock and this video makes that clear. It is so great to have a good band’s live show documented. It is so important. Not that a bit of video could ever replace a live experience, but it is a shame that so many great bands just go away with no live footage.
Next, to the off-stage stuff. Personally…I could do without 80 percent of this footage. Now, I would like to be clear. Not everyone will agree with me. I basically do not care much about the happenings of other folk’s lives. I never read or watch autobiographies. I just don’t care. It is pretty interesting to watch 2 people interact sometimes, but mostly I just want from this dvd what I want from all of my favorite bands…rock. I don’t care what Ozzy is doing, I don’t care where Redd Kross shops, I don’t care who King Buzzo hates…I just want the rock.
As a teacher of film-making, I have to mention one pet peeve of mine that this DVD includes. It is too long. As a compilation to be viewed over the course of multiple sittings it is very cool. In fact, that is how I have watched it recently. As a documentary meant to be viewed all in one…it is too long. The film-makers did a great job of capturing the intensity of the LB shows…but the length of the piece takes the edge off. It is a shame too, because the last 10 minutes of the film are amazing. Excellent footage, amazingly well placed edits and a style that overflows. From Conan on…I love it.
A few side notes:
-there is an awesome shot at 59:44 on the DVD. BC has dragged drums out into the crowd and faces BG. The two of them keep playing and sort of stare each other down. To me, this is a great piece of film-making. There is a great tension there that really wraps up the experience for me.
-the animations are a great addition to the DVD. Watch them.
-not sure if the practice section is on VHS…but watch that too. There is a great line from BC. Something like “why would people want to watch us practice?” It is perfect considering people are about to drop some dough to do just that.


You should too...it is worth the 16 bucks (DVD) easy.I was hooked immediately. I have been to every show that I can find ever since and love it every time. Wait…this is a cd review…I almost forgot.