Aerosmith: You Gotta Move

The DVD is set up so you can watch just the songs, with no breaksbetween them, or so you can watch the whole movie, with documentarybridge segments leading into each live performance. CHOOSE THE SECONDOPTION! (It is the first option on the menu.)

I made the mistake of choosing to watch just the songs first. I hadnever seen Aerosmith perform, and had not heard their music in years,so it all seemed to be a jumbled frenetic blur.

But I felt that I must have missed something, and I did have the DVDfor the weekend… so the next night I watched the whole movie, as itwas meant to be viewed.

Suddenly it all made sense. Each song worked on its own, like picturesin a frame instead of a busy collage, and the pace was perfect. I beganto understand what this band is about, and why it has endured for threedecades. I liked the movie so much that I watched the whole thingagain.

I still cannot grasp exactly how three guitar players and one drummercan build up and sustain such a rich and complex wall of sound behindSteven Tyler's stupendous vocals (and 20,000 screaming fans) –although seeing them rehearse and record in the the studio — workingup the various parts, then pulling them together — did help me beginto understand. Other bands need to add keyboards and a horn section, ora fiddle section, plus a few extra percussionists and backup singers,to achieve that sort of high intensity.

* A curious footnote. On the "Willie Nelson & Friends…" concert DVD,noteworthy for its many badly mixed and evidently unrehearsedperformances, the very best thing on it, inserted at the end to leavethe viewer with a good last impression, is a pair of improbable butbrilliant duets sung by Willie Nelson and Steven Tyler, the first inWillie's style, the second in Aerosmith's. Shows what great vocalistsboth men are (in case you didn't already know).

2) Aerosmith: You Gotta Move (2004)

**** (out of 4)

From their early records like Toys in the Attic and Rocks all the wayup to P.U.M.P the boys knew how to deliver a high energy concert fullof sexual innuendo plus a crowd full of beautiful women who certainlydidn't mind showing off their sexuality. In 2004 the boys went back totheir roots and released Honkin' on Bobo, which was a bluesalbum—done Aerosmith style of course.

Aerosmith: You Gotta Move originally aired on A&E but this DVD releasefeatures more interviews, more loud music all in a glorious 5.1package. In interviews Aerosmith said they wanted their first live DVDto be something memorable and this certainly is.

The features works perfectly as a documentary, which mixes in theconcert cuts perfectly.

If you ever wanted to know what goes on back stage before the concertthen this film gives you a wonderful look. Everything from thepre-concert rituals to even arguments over what songs to include on theset list is here for fans to see. The most interesting stuff is thetalk about the making of the blues album and how it almost didn't getreleased because they didn't know if they could make it strong enough.Also mixed in is some scenes with the boys meeting fans plus the likesof other rock stars who are just as star struck as the actual fanspaying for the tickets.

I've seen Aerosmith nine times since that show in 1997 butunfortunately didn't catch this last one. I had high hopes this DVDwould capture the spirit of an Aerosmith show and for the most part itsucceeds. The show starts off with the always welcomed Toys in theAttic, which they can't do any wrong with. The version is played justthe same as previous tours but it's a good way to get the crowd going.The raunchy Love in an Elevator follows and if you've ever seen theseguys live, you just know this is a song to bring the roof down. Up nextare Road Runner and Baby, Please Don't Go, which are from the latestalbum. I first came familiar with the band with their Get A Grip album,which of course featured Cryin'.

Out of the nine shows I've been to this one has been played at each andI can't wait to hear it for a tenth time. The harmonica solo towardsthe end of the song is worth the $100 price tag for tickets.

Up next we get The Other Side from P.U.M.P. followed by classics likeBack in the Saddle, Draw the Line and Dream On, which are allincredible songs for the show. The guitar solo by Joe Perry during Drawthe Line shows why he's one of the best in the business and can anyonetop Tyler's vocal performance from Dream On? Another highlight ofseeing the boys in concert is hearing Perry take the microphone and doa blues number, Stop Messin' Around. The encore then kicks in withrecent crowd favorites like Jaded and I Don't Want to Miss a Thing,which, depending on the show, can sound great or bad. As silly and assappy as I find IDWTMAT, I can't help but fall for it each time I hearit. It's probably due to the vocals by Tyler but the concert versionalso has a nice piano solo, which sets the song up nicely. Finally theboys hit the climax with a rocking variety of classics and recentsongs. Sweet Emotion kicks things off followed by the new Never Loved aGirl, which fits in perfectly. The greatest hard rock song, Walk ThisWay follows with Train Kept A Rollin' closing the show out.

As with The Making of P.U.M.P, this feature here will be a huge delightto fans as well as though who haven't experienced an Aerosmith concertbefore. The band perfectly blends the sexuality of rock with the bluesand performs one of the best live shows out there. Plus, it never hurtswhen a band has played together for such a long time.