PIOT - Moscow comments/reviews
Thursday, 3 December 2009
You are welcome to place your comments below.
Comments: 25
From: Bram Van Aarle Date: Friday, 4 December 2009, at 10:25 am
Will the postman deliver the goodies today in Europe? :-)
From: Steven Francis Date: Friday, 4 December 2009, at 8:45 pm
I got my copy of the CD/DVD in the post this afternoon, and have sat and watched the concert footage. I have to say that I am very impressed with the overall turnout of this release.
I am very impressed with the look of the footage, and the quality of the sound. When you get to sit and watch the footage for yourself you sit down and view the DVD as it was shot 21 years ago, I for one quite like this. The picture is not sharp like most modern releases, which I feel just adds to the overall effect of this disc.
Thank you to Ian and everyone that was involved in helping this release see the light of day.
From: Doug Mitchell Date: Saturday, 5 December 2009, at 7:07 pm
Watching and listening to it right now, audio is awesome, when you play as good as they do, that's pretty much a given. But, whoever mastered the audio, (or recorded it originally), they did a fine job.It sounds awesome through my hifi and speakers.
The concert itself,.....its ok, not the best i have seen them not only live, but on DVD, but check the extras out, you will see why the events leading up to, during, and at the airport after, show how the whole "Event", an unkind reviewer would say, "Jolly", :). makes it astounding that this was recorded at all, go on....its worth it.
Surprisingly, it is in my mind already, also a perfect "snapshot" of a momentous time in the world, the late 80's, Thatcher, the fall of Communism. Or at least, the Russian flavour of it. You get to see the real Russia, the real people during this change.
The BIG hair,the clapped out vehicles, the top to toe in Denim, the last word in style, and of course the doubt, worry, and hope.
Of what to come, this new world, the EastWorld, i'd recommend you check out the Song Eastworld, you should find it on Youtube, or on some of their CD's, im guessing written in the aftermath of this trip. you even get Madonna swimming with cars in the song. Surprisingly, a link i had never made before.
So,
is it worth the Money? of course..
Is it any good? better than good, they give their all on the stage, as always, at points in the film, there are camera shots of people on shoulders, hands aloft, in the moment, band and (at that point, and maybe for all time),Fan - in symbiosis that i have actually seen with my own eyes many times, last time, at the Barrowlands on their Final Gig, that shows you that the essence of Big Country, the joining of people through music and a common feeling, goes everywhere.
and the extras - a fascinating documentary on the whole thing, i remember seeing this a long time ago, and its good to see it again in full, another "snapshot" of the times, shady looking Russians, wide eyed (and totally ripped out their heads) English Journo's, all out for a week of fun and Vodka at someone else's expense. Big hair again, oblong shaped glasses, and some clothing that is Shameful, I'm Sorry Ian, but THAT suit... oh dear :), Whats not too like? and a few more memories of the time from people related to it, and a fan roll call.
All good, worth the time and money. AND you get the Audio CD of the gig as well, which i forgot about when i bought it.
Buy it, you will enjoy some great music, some funny bits, and at least, like it. You can show your grandkids what a Post Glasnost Russian looked like.
From: Darren Walker Date: Saturday, 5 December 2009, at 9:46 pm
Simply chuffed to bits! Again thanks to Ian and Debbie for making this possible,the memories come flooding back.An excellent package and although i liked the Barrowlands tshirt the Moscow t shirt is much better quality.
Many thanks Darren
From: Mark L`estrange Date: Monday, 7 December 2009, at 7:01 pm
This was the era that i really got into Big Country so im over the moon memories come flooding back. The T-shirt is fantastic well done Ian and co for putting this together.
From: Wullie Whitton Date: Monday, 7 December 2009, at 10:54 pm
loved the documentary, was worth the money to see alan edwards big hair :) ah the 80s lol
From: Phill Mather Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009, at 1:11 pm
I'm sure one of the backing singers is now playing Teresa in Coronation Street!
CD sounds great - even the pan pipe organ noises on Thousand Yard Stare sound OK these days - and really enjoyed watching River of Hope again, for the first time in about 20 years.
Cannot wait to see The Seer NY get the same treatment.
From: Mark Challinor Date: Tuesday, 8 December 2009, at 8:22 pm
Had mine delivered yesterday,but gotta wait til xmas day tho!,all the feedback sounds great cant wait to hear that and the Barras gig
From: Wayne Sadlier Date: Thursday, 10 December 2009, at 6:09 pm
Stuart Adamson
"We've always been aware of the fact that music can be more tha entertainment, for it can share ideas between people, that it can cut acroos language barriers"
Nick Rowe Phonogram
"If Big Country were a capitalist machine churning out rock/pop to unsuspecting people who didn't want to buy it; then I might feel a little bit guilty inflicting this on the Russians"
Now we finally have on DVD/CD a record of that event.
First the DVD, seeing that the budget wasn't there to do a restoration ogf the original tapes, it's not a bad transfer, a few "sparklies" here and there, and a very slightly "dusty" look giving it a vintage look.But the stereo sound is superb. All in all the company who did the transfer did a very good job. And we get loads of extras, the documentry, which I had seen in full before. Is there a full video of just the bands performance a the Russian Embassy somewhere? Written notes of what people remember of the Russian trip. A fan rollcal and several pdf files of notes of buisiness meetings. All in all a very good disc.
Now the cd, my first listen was in church through our sound system, mixing desk, amp and some quite powerful speakers. What did I think? Who ever did the recording, mixing etc, did a great job, the louder we pushed it the better it sounded, (try nearly 500 watts per channel. From Tony's bass and Mark's kickdrum to Bruce's mandolin and Mark's cymbels, the sound is crystal clear. Lets put it this way the sound is so good I don't mind the keyboards or female backing vocalists!
This is a great document that records an extremely interesting part of Big Country's history.
The guy I was working with, the church's worship band leader started singing along..Then told me he had been a fan in his teens! He also said of some of the keyboard parts, "he's playing a Roland JX, I used to use one". I thought yeah right, then lo and behold I watch the DVD and there it is...smartarse!
I will leave the last word to Ian,being interviewed in Red Square, "I've lost my words.....has anybody seen them". Priceless
From: Philip Cohen Date: Friday, 11 December 2009, at 12:35 am
This CD + DVD set delivers the goods. I'm delighted that you were able to locate the documentary. In the scenes showing the group at the Russian embassy, there is some visible videotape damage, but because the original film footage was assembled & edited on videotape, it would be too costly to re-transfer the film footage to videotape. I understand that. Maybe in the future you could release "The Seer:Live in New York"?
From: Gavin Boyle Date: Friday, 11 December 2009, at 8:21 pm
Absolutely delighted with this package. The T Shirt is good quality, very impressed. The Cd, as with Barrowlands, is a rare opportunity to own the Soundtrack to this concert. The DVD is packed with extras including the wonderful (and at times very funny) River Of Hope documentary. This shows the lengths that Band and Management went to, in order to give the Russians a chance of enjoying what we in the West took for granted at that time. This for me, sums up what Big Country have always been about and why I have been a life-long fan of the Band. My heartfelt thanks to Ian and Debbie Grant for making this possible. A must-have for any Big Country fan.
From: Ari Tuomikoski Date: Sunday, 13 December 2009, at 2:44 pm
Thank you many times, it's great dvd/cd packet.
In 1986 I was at the Provinssirock summerfestival in Finland. There I saw Big Country's gig which was a very great show. Finnish Television ( YLE ) filmed it and I believe it's still safe. Is there any changes to get it on dvd. I have saved seven tracks in that TV-program.
From: John Porter Date: Sunday, 13 December 2009, at 7:41 pm
Just received my copy here in Melbourne.
Love It
Thanks to Ian and Debbie
From: Bram Van Aarle Date: Monday, 14 December 2009, at 11:49 am
The girl blinking her eyes, waiting for the show to start. The boy staring at the set, just like I did in 1989. The gig a bit commercial but great! The documentary, nice! A plane with reporters following Big Country. Must have been crazy times. Ian looking very young and with long hairs. The band great shape, eager for the gig in Moscow. Thx!
From: Bram Van Aarle Date: Monday, 14 December 2009, at 11:57 am
Ian and Debbie thx for the hard work and posting this DVD all over the place! A commercial succes would be a deserved victory for all that hard work. Happy Christmas and a happy new year to you, Big Country and everyone who visites this site. A sparkling 2010 beneath the Big Country Winter Sky. A year in which climatechange will be stopped so in 2040 we are still alive on this planet.
From: Andrew Inkster Date: Thursday, 17 December 2009, at 7:21 am
Very apt that the PIOT DVD/t-shirt package arrived for me in Australia on December 16. A day I don't look forward to turned into a celebration. Put the DVD in, sat back and just enjoyed the boys on stage. I think I concentrated on Stuart a fair bit, his enjoyment of the gig obviously grew as the set list went on. Was wonderful reading the insights and learning a few new things about how the whole event came to be. A celebration in itself, looking back. T-shirt great quality, will be worn with pride.
I ended up shedding a little tear for Stuart, on the saddest of days for Big Country/Skids fans. This DVD was just the tonic. Thank you Ian and Debbie :-)
From: Phil Campbell Date: Friday, 18 December 2009, at 11:54 am
I grew up in Kirkcaldy until I left in 1984 at the age of 18.
I have listened to BCs music all of this time and yet, today I read the account of Stuarts passing.
I am surprised how much it affected me, but Big Country and The Skids were part of the generation shaping my life and my future.
They are without doubt, one of the best British bands of that generation and certainly one of the best Scottish bands ever.
Stuart is and will be sadly missed. Glad to see his memory lives on. Peace.
From: Ciaran Dunne Date: Thursday, 31 December 2009, at 6:16 pm
Recieved t-shirt @ dvd before christmas,both are top quality,finding it hard to take t-shirt off!
From: Paul Clarke Date: Thursday, 31 December 2009, at 6:59 pm
got my t shirt and dvd also got the Peace In Our Time - Live In Moscow 1988 Embroidered sweatshirt all will be worn and played with pride .top quality . just need to update my profile picture on facebook with me wearing them.big thank u to debbie or yourself for the fast posting ............didnt think they would ov got here b4 christmas.
thank u take care paul
From: Big Yellow Moon Date: Saturday, 2 January 2010, at 1:02 am
IMHO they played the definitive version of Steeltown that night, a brilliant concert despite a lot of setbacks as the documentary shows.
From: Jonathan Wightman Date: Tuesday, 5 January 2010, at 7:22 pm
I was very pleasantly surprised at the sound quality of the DVD/CD great t-shirt too. The documentary is fascinating totally unbiased and gives a great insight in to some of the rubbish - mostly people - bands and managers have to deal with just to put on a concert. Obviously there was significantly more involved in putting on what was an historic concert in Moscow but what shines through is the performance as good as ever.
From: Rick Graham Date: Thursday, 7 January 2010, at 5:12 am
great release! great to have the documentary too, not seen it foy years! I'm surprised people are saying the sound is so great though, can barely here bruce's guitar. the drums seem to get the best part of the mix.
From: Darren Catterall Date: Saturday, 9 January 2010, at 5:33 pm
Received my copy this morning,just watching the documentary and about to watch the concert. Enjoying it so far,can't believe it's over 20 years ago when I bought it on vhs.
From: Darren Catterall Date: Sunday, 10 January 2010, at 10:01 pm
loving the live cd,it's better than I expected it to be.
From: Garry Bower Date: Tuesday, 19 January 2010, at 6:34 pm
Brilliant package, great to see this concert again. Recomended purchase.
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