Disco de Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: “Bad Girl Boogie”

I've always thought that studio albums don't even compare with live performances. I've also always loved Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. But even I was astounded at how great "The Last DJ" sounds live. From the opening notes of the title track to Mike Campbell's solo on "Lost Children" to the final chords of "Can't Stop The Sun", Tom and the Heartbreakers sound incredible. It's almost like listening to a completely new album. And that's not all. The band goes on to play classics including "Change of Heart" and "I Need To Know", then closes with a ten-minute-long "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and a "You Wreck Me" encore.

Unfortunately, the editing is poor. In some songs the camera changes every three seconds. Some shots don't last for more than half a second. Occasionally the camera will slow down for a minute to watch Tom sing or to pan across the stage, but it doesn't happen often enough. One of the longest shots is of a woman in the audience singing along to two verses of a song. Who knows what's happening on stage. Also, the lighting on some camera shots leaves a lot to be desired. In other places, however, the colors and lighting effects are awesome. Overall, the quality of the music makes the camera problems seem minor.

The extra features are hardly worth mentioning: two TV commercials promoting "The Last DJ" album and some random outtakes of Tom making a video.

As of this time, Amazon hasn't included a track listing, so...

The bonus CD features four songs from the band's appearance on PBS's Soundstage program:

If you own the Soundstage DVD, it's hardly worth the extra six dollars.

So, what more do you want? It's Tom Petty live. Buy it.

Not a bad live dvd. Tom Petty plays songs from the Last DJ which was a pretty decent album. But he avoids the classics that would make this a must have for anyone who wasn't a die hard fan. The CD has a few tracks but again nothing you have to own.

But if you like live DVDs as I do, then you'll certainly enjoy the time spent with Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Since it is just a bit older DVD than "Sound Stage", Tom plays more guitar, and I like that.