This is a DVD version of the terrestrial TV live recording from 1992 at the Town and Country Club, London (now known as The Forum). Recorded at the height of the bands popularity, this documents a sell-out show. I gazed at the DVD box with a smile when this turned up as I really hated this band when they were commercially popular, although I must admit that 10 or so years ago I did see them live in Nottingham and was rather impressed, a fine wine grows with age.
The guitarist is smoking on stage, ah those were the days eh, quite disappointing as that is the only thing I really take note of the overall band performance which in general is going through the motions, although singer Spike has a marginal bit of banter with the crowd merely to introduce the songs, whether this was edited I am not sure as I was not at the show.
The crowd are really into ‘White Trash Blues’, there is actually quite a lot of movement considering this is bluesy rock n roll like the Stones or Rod Stewart even (by nature of Spike’s gravelly vocal tone too), I still find it hard to fathom how popular this band were. But pre-internet, you were at the mercy of printed magazines I suppose, although about a year after this concert the band went from hero to zero and disappeared, grunge was the next big thing you see. Their hit ‘Hey You’ really gets the crowd singing but the track ‘King of New York’ kills the momentum of the set, this ballad really has a full stop in the bands otherwise upbeat show, although it is nice to see lighters on show and not mobile phones!
The DVD itself is not without its flaws, the picture quality of the cover is a bit grainy, the picture quality could have also been digitally cleaned, but alas this is still in the grainy picture format that was available before the true digital age. Directors were obsessed with flicking between colour and black and white and then the grainy screen resolution, at the time cutting edge, now it’s quite frustrating! This was a TV programme don’t forget, in fact I remember the airing of Thunder Live at the Town and Country club too [I have The Damned, New Model Army and The Icicle Works on video Pete Ed] , but the inclusion of closing credits over the latter stage of their set during ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ really raises my level of annoyance. The running time is only 50 minutes, so I wonder if this was in fact edited as this is rather short for a headline show, but there is a real trick missed here. The band are touring in 2013 and I would have liked to have seen some interviews, reflective notes etc about this show at least, but there are no menu’s and no other content on the DVD, it’s a straight rip from a VHS quality recording and still includes “Central Television Production” closing credits and shaky text.
This will be a good accompaniment to your collection of you are a fan of the band or want a more modern format of the show you attended, but otherwise, DVD content is usually much more comprehensive by today’s standards than what is on offer here, but it is a genuine historical document of a band that split opinion and were at the height of their popularity.
Paul Maddison
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