Return to Bangleonia: Live in Concert (2007)

Good, but could have been better

While the performance of the band was good, the sound mix, patricularly the 5.1 surround, seem a bit off. The lyrics are drwoned out in the 5.1 mix, and the 2.0 doesn't have all that much sepration. My other complaint with this DVD is that it is in non-anamorphic widescreen, even though it was shot in HD. This should have been released in anamorhpic widescreen, which would have helped it look much better on my HDTV. Instead, I am forced to watch with either bars on all 4 sides, or zoom in for a much grainier, pixelated image. July 8, 2008

Better than Expected

I have been waiting for a live Bangles concert since MTV's professionally produced broadcast of the band's December 1986 Pittsburgh performance. Even though I subsequently recorded a VHS copy of the rebroadcast live performance I was hopeful and official version would some day become available. Alas, it has not. Not yet, anyway. The next best thing is RETURN TO BANGLEONIA.

The 2000 performance was filmed at the famous House of Blues and is captured from various roving cameras. The digital recording is of superb quality. RETURN TO BANGLEONIA is truly a professional product. I hope that a CD version of the performance eventually becomes available. More importantly it was great to see the Bangles together again.

I was initially wary of buying this DVD. Some of the reviews gave rise to the belief that this was not a whole uninterrupted concert. The cartoony-looking DVD cover only served to perpetuate my quandry. When I finally made the purchase I was happy I did so. The DVD is a complete performance, and then some.

The Bangles went their separate ways when the group was just about at their peak. Following the very successful albums/CDs DIFFERENT LIGHT and EVERYTHING, the group stalled. The greatest hits CD, very often a warning sign, and its VHS companion hit store shelves in 1990. The Bangles went their separate ways. It was a decade before they fully reunited for an AUSTIN POWERS soundtrack and subsequently released DOLL REVOLUTION. Unfortunately the decade break took its toll. Marriages, families, and other important distractions ensured that the Bangles would enter the public eye at infrequent intervals.

Even in RETURN TO BANGLEONIA we are treated to some of the wear and tear on the band. Unlike the 1980s' Pittsburgh concernt, where the gals bubbled with energy and enthusiasm, Susanna Hoffs appears to be the only member of the band truly enjoying the performance. Even Michael Steele seems more distant. Maybe this was a precursor to her hopefully not permanent departure from the band. At the conclusion of the House of Blues concert you see her strut off stage while Hoffs and sisters Peterson group hug-bow. It is too bad that Steele does not appear in any of the interview segments in the special features.

In watching and listening to the BANGLEONIA DVD I noted that many of the numbers were performed in a more folksy manner. Accoustic guitars are more evident in this concert. There is no great effort to try and replicate the sound of the original recordings. In some ways this was a disappointment and in others it was refreshing. In any event, the price is right and DVD is high quality.
June 13, 2008

With an agenda

I watched this concert years ago on TV and i thought it was fantastic. It would deserve a five star rating, but its not complete. About 20 minutes of music are missing, three songs are entierly cut and two other songs are partly hacked in a really bad way. The extras are a bland run of the mill. An interview were they tell the same old stories once again, a commentary were they tell some more old stories and even the same stories from the interview. This disc also contains two songs as accoustic versions. I know there was a third but the camera was probably on Michael Steele one time too many:

My main complaint is that Michael Steele, the bassist, is hardly featured here. She isn't involved in the commentary, the interview, and only a little in the gallery. The pictures in the gallery from around the reunion days feature her exactly one time, perhaps to give the impression away she was never much involved in this reunion at all and any fan from these days knows that this is simply not true. Maybe the other three Bangles found themself prettier or whatever catty nonsense the reason was.

One of her songs (I'm not talking) is deleted, and another song (You were on my mind) where she sings lead together with the other three Bangles is cut too. Even though she was a bandmember at the time, they managed to make it look like she was hardly involved in this concert at all. There was a third song cut, but the title escapes me right now and that song was never part of the TV version either. Parts of Manic Monday and Walk like an Egyptian are deleted as well, and they did it so badly, its just hilarious. Their excuse is the good ol' "licensing issues" but this disease seems to beset mostly songs where Michael Steele is more featured than usual.

The remaining three Bangles (Michael Steele left in 2005 and its obvious why) seem to have an agenda to belittle Michael Steeles involvement in the Bangles and this particular concert as far as possible. Sure, they suck up on her in the commentary occasionally but it feels flat and forced as if they would read a script and who listens to the commentary of a LIVE CONCERT anyway. I found their idle chit chat about "back in the day" really boring and occasionally it seems they don't even know their own songs, for instance when Debbi Peterson cracks up about a specific line in September Gurls and her sister Vicki Peterson have to remind her why it was sung that way or Susanna Hoffs who doesn't recognise the intro to one of her own songs. It just made me cringe. Another low point was their 'explanation' why Michael left and given the fact that she was a member of about 15 bands make them sound like they just want to cover up themselves. Go and listen to it for yourself.

There was talk in the past about including recorded video material from the sessions to Doll Revolution and backstage stuff, but its not on this disc. Michael Steele would be on this material, and that was enough to give it the axe i guess.

If it were the complete concert without any agenda, it would deserve 5 stars, because the concert is energetic fun, and a good reminder of greater times with the Bangles, even without the aforementioned missing songs its still four stars but the agenda of Vicki Peterson, Debbi Peterson and Susanna Hoffs deserve no star at all and they show it off too obviously here. Hence, i gave two stars as a compromise. December 18, 2007

Return well worth the wait

Arguably, the 80's were not the greatest period for good music, but there were some outstanding songs, some great bands and some wonderful periods. Whether you were there or not, the songs of the Bangles have filtered down now to "classic radio" and have become part of the mainstream. But this concert shows these four musicians/singers to be one great band with all the requisite hooks, harmony, personality, looks and charm to keep most of their material from being time-warped and restricted only to oldies shows. The songs are still strong today (even with the exception of the overly cute "Walk like an Egyptian") and the new material is easily equal. With loyal keyboardist Harpo, the Bangles state their case that they weren't a formula band, not some clever marketing idea, but a real life rock and roll band. This is one enjoyable show - not perfect - just a great deal of fun, with great music from four musicians who enjoy what they do and an obviously appreciative audience. November 2, 2007

What I missed!

Wow. I never did get a chance to see the Bangles live. Seeing the music video on MTV or VH1 when they actually played music did the Bangles no justice! Seeing this concert I thought how sexy the other 3 members were. Of course I felt Susanna was always sexy. But to actually see her in concert. I would've thought she just stood there and sang(most bueatiful women don't have to jump around to get your attention, lol). But to see her rock and move to all the songs played was a treat in itself. And sexy she is. Hearing her say she used to "do splits on stage because she could" was like "Wow I wish I'ld seen that back when". But now years later seeing Debbie, Vicke, Michael I thought these women had a natural beauty to them that I missed. Shame on me for only watching Susanna those years back. I can only hope for another reunion. Michael come back... October 11, 2007

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