Rating:  Summary: Great music, but not as good as last year's installment Review: To those who don't know too much about Bonnaroo and the importance of it, I say one thing: "buy everything with the Bonnaroo name on it!" You'd be hard pressed to find any better collection of music than any of the 3 CD's (one single disc and two double's) or either of the double DVD sets. This is modern music's Woodstock. Along with all the classic acts' opportunity to show the world why acts like The Dead, Allman Brothers and James Brown have been entertaining millions for decades.This DVD features great song highlights by groups like Ben Harper, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Jack Johnson, The Roots, The Dead, Flaming Lips, Allman Brothers Band and James Brown among many others. The only complaint I have is that with this 2003 DVD the video director took a lot of artistic liberties which draw away slightly from the enjoyment of the pure musicianship that was the sole focus of last year's Bonnaroo 2002 DVD. Aside from this minor difference the DVD still highlights the great performances and the over-all enjoyment of all involved with this festival on behalf of both performers and audience alike. This a must have great music/festival DVD that should only be passed up for only one reason: Buying the 2002 DVD first. -peace
Rating:  Summary: 2nd Place among Bonnaroo DVD's Review: It would be hard to match the content of last year's DVD, and this one does not do it. It contains some awesome performances: Warren Haynes, Polyphonic Spree, Flaming Lips, etc. But last year's truly documented the performances while this year's takes those performances and makes them serve as sort of a music video for the entire festival. There are songs cut short here: Yonder Montain and Robert Randoph have longer versions of their songs cut short in the interest of keeping things moving along. I will not complain about the missing performances. You always will have someone mad about one performance or the other being shafted (and moe. got the shaft this time around), but my complaint is that the DVD is more about cool looking images during songs and not about the actual performances. I thought it was very well made. It had some good backstage stuff with the Dead and Ben Harper. And the segue from Nickel Creek to Sonic Youth was pretty cool. One last thing. When they actually do talk to people in the campgrounds, think about this. There are 80,000 people there, but they use the same fat guy in two different segments. Was there NO ONE ELSE to talk to?
Rating:  Summary: Bonnaroo 2003 Review: I was so bummed out when I got my Bonnaroo DVD in the mail. Where was Ziggy Marley, ekoostik hookah, Neil Young and Keller. Definately give thumbs down on the director of this documentary. It was like he wasn't even at the festival and just picked random artists performances. How could you put one of Ben Harper's oldest songs on the DVD. He had just come out with a new album that year but the director decided to put some old tune that wasn't even Harper's greatest works. I hope this year alot of negative feedback gets to the write people so we get a better idea of how Bonnaroo was for those who can't make it.
Rating:  Summary: Great music, but not as good as last year's installment Review: To those who don't know too much about Bonnaroo and the importance of it, I say one thing: "buy everything with the Bonnaroo name on it!" You'd be hard pressed to find any better collection of music than any of the 3 CD's (one single disc and two double's) or either of the double DVD sets. This is modern music's Woodstock. Along with all the classic acts' opportunity to show the world why acts like The Dead, Allman Brothers and James Brown have been entertaining millions for decades. This DVD features great song highlights by groups like Ben Harper, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Jack Johnson, The Roots, The Dead, Flaming Lips, Allman Brothers Band and James Brown among many others. The only complaint I have is that with this 2003 DVD the video director took a lot of artistic liberties which draw away slightly from the enjoyment of the pure musicianship that was the sole focus of last year's Bonnaroo 2002 DVD. Aside from this minor difference the DVD still highlights the great performances and the over-all enjoyment of all involved with this festival on behalf of both performers and audience alike. This a must have great music/festival DVD that should only be passed up for only one reason: Buying the 2002 DVD first. -peace
Rating:  Summary: Not as good as 2002 Review: Can't quite place it... there's great music's and performances all over... but something's missing... certainly not as electrifying as the Bonnaroo 2002 DVD. I thought the sound was a little low-fi too on this DVD as compared to Bonnaroo 2002 DVD.
Rating:  Summary: Mediocrity Review: Oh boy, twenty-three performances! That's a feature? That's twenty-three songs from how many hundreds that were performed? And there isn't one untouched live song with the crowd heard, no slow motion, all the words matching the singer's mouth, etc. Filming creativity is fine, but give me a few moments completely live. And since the producers were too cheap to give us a decent insert with a correct order of performances or song names, I took out the second dvd thinking ooh, maybe some better songs on this one. Wrong. No songs on this one. A performance schedule, some photos, and other useless - but mildly interesting- filler. People want to see live music. A legend like Neil Young plays at Bonnaroo, and a concert movie trailer is more important? Weak! On two dvds there should be hours of performances for this kind of money.
Rating:  Summary: happy happy happy Review: this dvd is awesome, it shows the whole festival, people, places, etc,.every time i watch it, i am smiling and it always leaves me happy, its turned me on to alot of new bands. the backstage stuff, and rehersals are pricless, i'm glad it was a document on the whole festival, rather than just a concert.danny clinch did an outstanding job... get it today.
Rating:  Summary: Where is Keller Williams? Review: How could you all leave Keller Williams out of both of your DVD's, the man is one of the most entertaining on the scene. I would have bought this if he had been on there. Hopefully you'll get it right next year.....
Rating:  Summary: Mellifluous aesthetics Review: An amazing cinemagraphic accomplishment pushing the window of documentry is the new Bonnaroo DVD. The festival was a beautiful array of sights as well as music and Danny Clinch did an amazing job of capturing the entire experience. The editing, shots, and setups heightened the feel of being there. Sequences such as the last part of the polyphonic spree scene are so well done with the editing. Truly an artistic film to take the viewer beyond the music and incorporate all there could be to see in Manchester Tennessee. As far as some bands not being on the list, hey some contracts suck (Neil Young not being apart of any compilations), time allotted sucks, but the film stands just as strong without some of artists we all love. I've been to Bonnaroo and I can say this video is worth having and watchin hundreds of times over.
Rating:  Summary: Awful documentary of a great festival Review: The bonnaroo 2002 dvd was great, but this dvd features too many pictures of hippies on the swingset and not enough shots of the bands who are actually playing. My thoughts on Bonnaroo have always been that the music is awesome, but the Superfly-related aspects are clearly an exploitation of the fans (more in 2003 than in 2002, and a trend that I expect will continue), and this dvd is an example. They cut some songs (such as YMSB's "Mother's Only Son"), and the camera sometimes made me dizzy as it went from hula-hoops to bubbles to dreadlocks without really showing the crowd or, most importantly, the bands. Also, the bonus disc is useless (worth watching once I guess, but only once), and was clearly made to make even more money off the dvd. As someone who attended this festival, I must say that I was severely disappointed by this dvd. They made some bad choices of which bands to feature, but I guess that is a matter of each reviewer's opinion (still, you would think that headliners such as the legendary Neil Young would be on it). I guess Superfly just assumes that everyone who attended the festival will buy the dvd, and they are probably right, but those who do will also be unhappy with it. I was frequently trying to find myself in the crowd shots, or see the band playing up close, only to find that there are few shots of either. I'll see you at bonnaroo 2004, but only for the music, and I don't think I'll be buying the dvd to that one (unless I see it first, which I urge everyone to do with this one before buying it).
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