Cheap The Paris Concert for Amnesty International - DTS (DVD) (Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Paris Concert for Amnesty International - DTS

LESS THAN COMPELLING, BUT FOR THE DALAI LAMA
This concert is basically a Peter Gabriel showcase that unfortunately casts Gabriel and a number of high profile "stars" in a less than flaterring light. It has all the overproduced lustre of an awards show, including noxious blabbering by some official from Amnesty, a few Gabriel influenced animations and a sense that this had the element of social contract obligation to it.
But it has its moments: Tracy Chapman is terrific and delivers the goods, as does Kassiv, a Latin group that is on fire from the start. However, Springsteen is in Tom Joad laconic low gear and while he presents well worn songs in a different light, he just never connects. This seems to be about him asserting his good intentions and rightful conscience. Youssou N'Dour gives it his best, but when Gabriel joins him, it is poorly choreographed, a bit too cliched, and in general deflating to the energy N'Dour seemed to be msutering. His "7 Seconds" at the end of the concert lays an egg, for a lot longer than 7 seconds. Mic problems abound and syncing the lips and the music never quite match up.
Gabriel is a disappointment throughout. Apart from previewing his song from UP, he just never seems to be that into the performance, and having been absent a good while by this time, it is a bit jarring to see how he seems to have let himself slip into beer-belly middle age. He reminds me of a computer consultant wondering where the cheapest pizza is. Kofi Annan makes his appearance, coincidentally not long after having visited Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. I have always found Annan a bit of a joke, and while I am sure he harbours righteous thoughts, his disconnect with reality has always struck me as subverting what he should be standing for.
In fact, the only real dynamic appearance on this tape comes from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and he is absolutely un-self-absorbed, which in comparison to a number of other performances, stands out all the more clearly. He has a simple and direct message that connects with peole who have no real interest in anything other than the music. What I found humourous though is that, although in Paris, he addresses the crowd in English, as does the British woman who seems to fawn all over every celebrity.
All in all, it's entertaining, a bit of an infomercial, but Chapman and His Holiness give it a little something extra that basically redeem the effort.

Great Bruce, Gabriel/Youssou, Chapman, Radiohead, and Zep
The sound is quite good overall, camera work likewise. Well worth getting if you're a fan of one or more of the main acts.
Bruce plays alone, and does a great bottleneck guitar blues version of "Born."
OK, so Zep isn't a charter member of the PC rock club, but they showed up and really burned. Caveats: "Babe IGLY" was a bit bombastic, and Plant looked and sometimes sounded too old to be doing the Zep material. Given that their "Welcome to Clarksdale" album generally sucks, the first P&P tune, from that album, was damned good, with a blistering yet cerebral solo from Page.