Eskimo Joe - Eskimo JoeDVD

Thu 8th Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

Eskimo Joe is a pretty good band with two pretty good long players.  Have they had enough of a career yet to fill a whole DVD with a feature length documentary, over ten video clips (plus two different versions of two clips), and pretty much every television appearance ever known to humankind – or have they? 

But let’s start from the beginning with the main feature, the “Super” gig recorded at both Homebake 2004 and Big Day Out 2005. This showcases the Jack Award’s Best Live Band in two big performances from the past year. Now Eskimo Joe is a pretty good band, but I never considered them one of the best live bands and it beats me why they won over the likes of Dallas Crane. And this DVD really doesn’t answer that question. 

The live performances are good if you like the songs; but they don’t do much to win over the non-believers. And because the footage is taken from two separate festivals, the set chops and changes losing any intensity and excitement that may have been there. Also I miss the banter and bonding in-between songs, all of which were cut out by the switching between the gigs. Given my choice, I’d have preferred one pretty good gig to their ‘super’ gig any day. 

But the DVD is a good chance to see some of the old video clips again; as many of the songs from their debut album Girl, are accompanied by innovative funny video clips. Those along with the television performances also allow you watch the ever changing hairstyles of the band: I never knew boys had so many options when it came to hair!

Next is the feature length rock-u-mentary. This contains interviews with the three Joes, all of whom seem to be taking themselves a bit too seriously a bit too early in their career. About two albums early, this in-depth retrospective went through the career of the band from the very beginning up to the recent album A Song is a City. And I learned helpful anecdotes, like Joel doesn’t like to play the drums all the time and that before the ARIAs, Stu’s amp blew up! Ooh the drama.

And I really don’t mean to sound so sarcastic because I do like this band. And I like them enough to be disappointed by this dvd.

Also, there’s a hidden karaoke feature on here somewhere as well, but I couldn’t for the life of me find it; probably for the best actually. 

Verdict reads: Fans Only.