MagooooOOo! The new As I Lay Dying DVD “This Is Who We Are” came in the mail today! It came complete with limited edition poster (which I will probably lose in my apartment) and limited edition t-shirt (which I will probably immediately accidentally shrink then have to cut the sleeves off of so I can wear it like a respectable human being). More importantly, the DVD set came with three discs. The first is a retrospective documentary on the history of the band thus far. It seems a little silly thinking that a band like this has had enough history to warrant a documentary…but then again, they’ve been at it for the past 8 or 9 years. It seems weird to me that a scene that still seems so young has bands that have been in it for a decade. That’s a long time to be living the dream. I guess that only validates the legitimacy of the music they’ve been producing. The second disc is a collection of live performances of songs from their three releases (“Frail Words Collapse”, “Shadows Are Security”, and “An Ocean Between Us”). The last disc has music videos and other random stuff that they’ve released.
Now, I haven’t watched the documentary in full yet or the music videos (even though I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them all here’n’there in my adventures as Fanboy the Magnificent), but upon tearing open the UPS box I slammed the live DVD into my DVD player, turned the volume up, sat down with the dog, hit play, and let the glory of ear pounding metal wash over Jack Wolfbiker and me.
Oh man was it nice. The live portion of this DVD set was done in an interesting way. Rather than recording and showing the entirety of one live set, the band recently played a couple different shows and compiled selections from each set. Let me explain a little better. As I Lay Dying has been one of those bands that started playing in the basement of random community centers and churches for like, 8 people, then started playing smaller bar-type venues, then gradually worked their way up to headlining US tours and playing festivals like Cornerstone (about 10,000 people) and other huge European metal-fests (upwards of 30-40,000 people). The first couple songs on the live disc are from a show they played at a community church in San Diego (where the band hails from) for about 150 kids. At this show they played their entire first CD cover to cover as these were the songs they would play at that stage of their career. The next few tracks we see are from a set they played at a 300 person venue in San Diego as they played their second CD cover to cover. The next segment is from a show at the Grove in Anaheim to a sold out crowd of 1700 people. This show in its production value is more a testament to where they are at their current level of success. They’ve got stage lighting, banners and banner-changes, high quality professional sound gear, a big stage to run around on, risers to climb all over, and all the fun gadgetry that goes with a full-fledged (major) indie-label touring band. The last couple live tracks on this part of the DVD are selections from a couple festival shows they played. These are the videos where the cameras swing back behind the guitar player and reveal the veritable sea of people they’re playing to.
All in all it’s a pretty awesome way of documenting a band’s live performance. Between each section of the DVD, the band members talk a little bit individually about the uniqueness of each type of performance. Little things like the informality that makes playing in a church or garage or community center fun. They talk of the frustrations of playing at a club where you have almost negative room to move around in where you wind up swinging your bass around and cracking your singer in the back of the head (okay, that’s an anecdote from the Killswitch Engage live DVD…but it still applies...). The difference between playing on a small stage where all your movements seem so much more epic because the crowd is literally a high-five distance away from you versus playing on a stage the size of a football end zone (I have no idea if that’s a valid size reference, but I’m going to say it with authority hoping that you’ll buy it) where you’re all of the sudden a small part of a much larger image…your movements and energy have to be able to fill the space you’re given to make it a much bigger performance. I’ve got to say, I was kind of hoping to be shown a more cohesive live set so I could really get into the swing and flow of their performance. But seeing the band explore each step of their growth on stage was really unique, unexpected, and cool!
Needless to say, these guys have grown as song writers and as performers and their set is as brutal as it is tight. Jordan, although small, is a damn metronome on the drums. You can literally set your watch to his playing. Nick and Phil run and jump all over the stage while melting face all over the place with their respective shredology. Josh, the bass player and singer, is crystal clear while Tim’s screaming is bowel-gurglingly guttural. Man oh man it’s fun watching five ultra-nice dudes from San Diego play ridiculously ridiculous music and garner the success that they not only deserve but tirelessly worked for.
Matt’s grade for the DVD: A
Level of predictability of “Matt’s Grade” on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being not predictable and 10 being really really predictable: 10
Now, I haven’t watched the documentary in full yet or the music videos (even though I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them all here’n’there in my adventures as Fanboy the Magnificent), but upon tearing open the UPS box I slammed the live DVD into my DVD player, turned the volume up, sat down with the dog, hit play, and let the glory of ear pounding metal wash over Jack Wolfbiker and me.
Oh man was it nice. The live portion of this DVD set was done in an interesting way. Rather than recording and showing the entirety of one live set, the band recently played a couple different shows and compiled selections from each set. Let me explain a little better. As I Lay Dying has been one of those bands that started playing in the basement of random community centers and churches for like, 8 people, then started playing smaller bar-type venues, then gradually worked their way up to headlining US tours and playing festivals like Cornerstone (about 10,000 people) and other huge European metal-fests (upwards of 30-40,000 people). The first couple songs on the live disc are from a show they played at a community church in San Diego (where the band hails from) for about 150 kids. At this show they played their entire first CD cover to cover as these were the songs they would play at that stage of their career. The next few tracks we see are from a set they played at a 300 person venue in San Diego as they played their second CD cover to cover. The next segment is from a show at the Grove in Anaheim to a sold out crowd of 1700 people. This show in its production value is more a testament to where they are at their current level of success. They’ve got stage lighting, banners and banner-changes, high quality professional sound gear, a big stage to run around on, risers to climb all over, and all the fun gadgetry that goes with a full-fledged (major) indie-label touring band. The last couple live tracks on this part of the DVD are selections from a couple festival shows they played. These are the videos where the cameras swing back behind the guitar player and reveal the veritable sea of people they’re playing to.
All in all it’s a pretty awesome way of documenting a band’s live performance. Between each section of the DVD, the band members talk a little bit individually about the uniqueness of each type of performance. Little things like the informality that makes playing in a church or garage or community center fun. They talk of the frustrations of playing at a club where you have almost negative room to move around in where you wind up swinging your bass around and cracking your singer in the back of the head (okay, that’s an anecdote from the Killswitch Engage live DVD…but it still applies...). The difference between playing on a small stage where all your movements seem so much more epic because the crowd is literally a high-five distance away from you versus playing on a stage the size of a football end zone (I have no idea if that’s a valid size reference, but I’m going to say it with authority hoping that you’ll buy it) where you’re all of the sudden a small part of a much larger image…your movements and energy have to be able to fill the space you’re given to make it a much bigger performance. I’ve got to say, I was kind of hoping to be shown a more cohesive live set so I could really get into the swing and flow of their performance. But seeing the band explore each step of their growth on stage was really unique, unexpected, and cool!
Needless to say, these guys have grown as song writers and as performers and their set is as brutal as it is tight. Jordan, although small, is a damn metronome on the drums. You can literally set your watch to his playing. Nick and Phil run and jump all over the stage while melting face all over the place with their respective shredology. Josh, the bass player and singer, is crystal clear while Tim’s screaming is bowel-gurglingly guttural. Man oh man it’s fun watching five ultra-nice dudes from San Diego play ridiculously ridiculous music and garner the success that they not only deserve but tirelessly worked for.
Matt’s grade for the DVD: A
Level of predictability of “Matt’s Grade” on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being not predictable and 10 being really really predictable: 10
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