Live At The Burton Cummings Th

**Before I begin, just know that the listing here is wrong. The product comes with two discs, a CD and a DVD. At least, I'm fairly certain it comes with both. I bought my copy at a store the day it was released, and, unless there's some alternate packaging that I'm not aware of, you'll be getting a CD/DVD combo. That said, I suppose the only way to know for sure is to buy it from a store. If you buy it from Amazon and don't get the DVD, you can't really complain as they held to the product description. Anyways, onto the review...

I would like to echo the sentiments of the other reviewer. The songs are very polished, darn near the quality of the albums they came from. But, that begs the question, if you already have their other albums, why pick up this one? You'll find very little variations, very little banter with the crowd, and very little of anything that seems like a real Weakerthans performance on the CD. Now, it's possible that the in-between song banter (that is on the DVD) was cut out due to the brimming CD length (clocks in at a bit over 67 minutes). But, the omission of the other stuff is inexcusable for a live album. Either they are the very best band on the face of the earth, or there was a little studio magic going on here. As I've seen the Weakerthans live, and seen tons of clips of them playing live, I can guarantee it's not the first. NO band is THAT good. They're human, and that's why I bought this, to hear the humanity of John K. Samson's heart-wrenching songs. Instead, I essentially got a "Best of" CD. The other reviewer was right, if you were to buy just one Weakerthans album, this is the one. However, if you're a fan of the band and own their other releases, there's really not enough here to justify plopping down 20 bucks. No new songs, no new-sounding favorites, absolutely no liner notes beyond the performer credits, just nothing to write home about here.

So, that's the CD. How about the DVD? Now this, this is what you're paying for. Although there are clear signs of studio magic here as well, it seems less so than on the CD. For one, they included all of banter with the crowd. And, even if the live performance was patched and stitched up in a studio, it still is an admittedly fun experience watching the band play live. Nothing you couldn't have gotten off of youtube, but nonetheless, a good production with lots of camera angles, great lighting, and a pretty energetic band. That aside, don't expect much more than a visual of what you found on the CD. There are ZERO extras here. No backstage happenings, no interviews, nothing. About as bare-bones as you can get.

So, what's the verdict?

The CD: 2 stars
The DVD: 3.5 stars
Total: Eh, we'll round up... 3 stars.

This is a great CD. It feels like I am at a Weakerthans' show. It has a great span of songs and has lived in my car since it came out. I love listening to it.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars