22
Nov
2005
Among the special features on the Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls - Live at Circa '21 DVD - the release of which is being celebrated at Rookie's on Saturday, November 26 - is an early promotional video in which the band members describe their group's sound to an off-screen interviewer.
Bass player Bob Kelly says, "We play a mix of happy pop rock. Fun music." That's about as terrifically honest a description as you could ask for. (It's also slightly more accurate than guitarist Leo Kelly's subsequent, sardonic description of the band's output as "interracial, orthodox, lesbian acid jazz.")
What's wonderful about Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls, and wonderful about its first DVD, is that the band is just as unpretentious now as then. If they have loftier goals than giving audiences a good time, I don't know what they'd be, and Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls - Live at Circa '21 is a great time, a polished concert performance with enough amusing extras to not only satisfy fans, but potentially cause others to join their ranks.
Am I biased because I'm thanked in the liner notes? Not really, considering my sole contribution to the project was to serve drinks to the band's fans there for the filming at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse; it's not like I'm getting royalties or anything. (I'm not, am I, guys?)
But I can personally attest that much of that night's undeniable energy and high spirits remain intact in the DVD. Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls' roster of up-tempo and bluesy rock songs is audience-pleasing without being either simplistic or repetitive, and - through marvelous close-ups of Liz Treiber, drummer Greg Hipskind, and the Kelly brothers - the sheer joy that the group exudes is palpable; there's a "Can you believe we're filming a DVD?!?" giddiness to the endeavor that's, quite honestly, a thrill to behold.
As a DVD experience, the Circa '21 concert has been marvelously preserved, although I do have a couple of gripes. Treiber, while singing, is too-often filmed straight-on with her mouth pressed almost directly against the microphone; you rarely get to see her lips move, and the ferociously animated Treiber has such a dazzling smile that you wish you could see more of it.
And the editing is too frantic. We're rarely treated to a shot that lasts longer than five seconds, and despite the variety in the shots themselves, you want the incessant cutting to be given a rest; in a few numbers - "Friends & Family" especially - you could set your watch to the percussive edits.
But I love that I can bitch about the DVD's editing; the fact that my grievances are about choices rather than presentation is actually a testament to the DVD's professionalism. Four camera operators managed to shoot the band through a spectacular variety of angles and points of view; the shots fool you into thinking there are more cameras operating than there actually are. Only when the cameras pan to the audience does the photography lack clarity, but that doesn't occur frequently, and the performance's lighting and sound design are beautifully rendered on the DVD.
A bevy of bonus materials complement the concert footage. We are given an informative tour of, and history behind, Iowa's Catamount studio, where the quartet recorded its latest release, Hulathong. And the DVD's previously referenced promotional material is terrifically entertaining; the band's youthful effervescence is sweetly touching, and all four reveal a snarky, dry humor, especially when Treiber and the Kellys describe how their mothers might not even be aware that they're in a band. ("She thinks I'm a stripper," Treiber says with Sarah Silverman-esque deadpan.)
The DVD's cheekily titled World Tour footage, too, is a must-see for fans. In addition to early footage of the group traveling and performing in venues across the Midwest, this material shows the group in a sunny, relaxed light, and their banter - as they riff on videos of the '80s, Roseanne, and the joys of Fraggle Rock - is sensationally silly.
Best of all, the DVD features a commentary track in which - beyond the expected back-pattings and expressions of gratitude - the quartet offers some terrific insights, and answers to numerous questions you might have had.
For instance, of all the songs performed at the Circa '21 performance, the only inclusion that bothered me was Treiber's a cappella rendition of "Amazing Grace," which was presented as filler while the Kellys tuned their guitars; it's the one time in the concert when Treiber indulges in American Idol-style show-offiness. Yet on the commentary, she reveals that the song was an impromptu choice - saying that this was the first time she sang the song in public "since fifth grade" - and this knowledge helps make her spotty rendition not only forgivable but, considering the context, ballsy.
Like the entire Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls - Live at Circa '21 DVD, the group's commentary track doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest; it's fresh, and funny, and it reveals four performers so psyched about about their current career trajectory that their joy is utterly infectious. I would have appreciated more information on the track regarding the actual filmmaking process, but that's just me; the band's conversation, as it blasts off onto wild, unpredictable tangents, is as enjoyably goofy as the band itself, and invaluable for the story of how a young Bob Kelly - long before Steve Carell's 40-year-old virgin - managed to urinate up his own nose.
Screw filmmaking insight. This is why commentary tracks were invented.
Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls' DVD Release Party will start at Rookie's (2818 North Brady Street in Davenport) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 26. For information, call (563)324-2434. For more information on the band, visit (http://www.wicked-liz.com).
What's wonderful about Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls, and wonderful about its first DVD, is that the band is just as unpretentious now as then. If they have loftier goals than giving audiences a good time, I don't know what they'd be, and Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls - Live at Circa '21 is a great time, a polished concert performance with enough amusing extras to not only satisfy fans, but potentially cause others to join their ranks.
Am I biased because I'm thanked in the liner notes? Not really, considering my sole contribution to the project was to serve drinks to the band's fans there for the filming at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse; it's not like I'm getting royalties or anything. (I'm not, am I, guys?)
But I can personally attest that much of that night's undeniable energy and high spirits remain intact in the DVD. Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls' roster of up-tempo and bluesy rock songs is audience-pleasing without being either simplistic or repetitive, and - through marvelous close-ups of Liz Treiber, drummer Greg Hipskind, and the Kelly brothers - the sheer joy that the group exudes is palpable; there's a "Can you believe we're filming a DVD?!?" giddiness to the endeavor that's, quite honestly, a thrill to behold.
As a DVD experience, the Circa '21 concert has been marvelously preserved, although I do have a couple of gripes. Treiber, while singing, is too-often filmed straight-on with her mouth pressed almost directly against the microphone; you rarely get to see her lips move, and the ferociously animated Treiber has such a dazzling smile that you wish you could see more of it.
And the editing is too frantic. We're rarely treated to a shot that lasts longer than five seconds, and despite the variety in the shots themselves, you want the incessant cutting to be given a rest; in a few numbers - "Friends & Family" especially - you could set your watch to the percussive edits.
But I love that I can bitch about the DVD's editing; the fact that my grievances are about choices rather than presentation is actually a testament to the DVD's professionalism. Four camera operators managed to shoot the band through a spectacular variety of angles and points of view; the shots fool you into thinking there are more cameras operating than there actually are. Only when the cameras pan to the audience does the photography lack clarity, but that doesn't occur frequently, and the performance's lighting and sound design are beautifully rendered on the DVD.
A bevy of bonus materials complement the concert footage. We are given an informative tour of, and history behind, Iowa's Catamount studio, where the quartet recorded its latest release, Hulathong. And the DVD's previously referenced promotional material is terrifically entertaining; the band's youthful effervescence is sweetly touching, and all four reveal a snarky, dry humor, especially when Treiber and the Kellys describe how their mothers might not even be aware that they're in a band. ("She thinks I'm a stripper," Treiber says with Sarah Silverman-esque deadpan.)
The DVD's cheekily titled World Tour footage, too, is a must-see for fans. In addition to early footage of the group traveling and performing in venues across the Midwest, this material shows the group in a sunny, relaxed light, and their banter - as they riff on videos of the '80s, Roseanne, and the joys of Fraggle Rock - is sensationally silly.
Best of all, the DVD features a commentary track in which - beyond the expected back-pattings and expressions of gratitude - the quartet offers some terrific insights, and answers to numerous questions you might have had.
For instance, of all the songs performed at the Circa '21 performance, the only inclusion that bothered me was Treiber's a cappella rendition of "Amazing Grace," which was presented as filler while the Kellys tuned their guitars; it's the one time in the concert when Treiber indulges in American Idol-style show-offiness. Yet on the commentary, she reveals that the song was an impromptu choice - saying that this was the first time she sang the song in public "since fifth grade" - and this knowledge helps make her spotty rendition not only forgivable but, considering the context, ballsy.
Like the entire Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls - Live at Circa '21 DVD, the group's commentary track doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest; it's fresh, and funny, and it reveals four performers so psyched about about their current career trajectory that their joy is utterly infectious. I would have appreciated more information on the track regarding the actual filmmaking process, but that's just me; the band's conversation, as it blasts off onto wild, unpredictable tangents, is as enjoyably goofy as the band itself, and invaluable for the story of how a young Bob Kelly - long before Steve Carell's 40-year-old virgin - managed to urinate up his own nose.
Screw filmmaking insight. This is why commentary tracks were invented.
Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls' DVD Release Party will start at Rookie's (2818 North Brady Street in Davenport) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 26. For information, call (563)324-2434. For more information on the band, visit (http://www.wicked-liz.com).
