A DVD recording of veteran Rick Wakeman live on tour
Midwest Book Review | Oregon, WI USA | 07/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rick Wakeman's Grumpy Old Picture Show is a DVD recording of veteran Rick Wakeman live on tour, as he performs his one-man "Old Picture Show". His performance includes rants about the frustrations and adversarial irritations of modern daily life, and a reprise from the hit BBC television series "Grumpy Old Men". Performance collaborations with Gordon Giltrap, Jemma Wakeman, Chris Blakey, The English Rock Ensemble and The English Chamber Choir further enhance this rousing, timeless capture of Wakeman's dry wit and laugh-out-loud funny moments. 143 minutes."
The show does not work on DVD
progrocker | 08/25/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"A DVD of Rick's 2007-2008 Grumpy Old Picture Show tour. This DVD features Rick on stage with a full compliment of electronic keyboards and what looks like an electric piano. Before and between songs Rick tells jokes and stories and shows images and prerecorded video bits on a screen behind him. The screen allows him to play along with some guest musicians. The problem is that this format does not work well on DVD. I could imagine that seeing this show live in a small intimate venue like the ones it was performed in would have been enjoyable. On this DVD the footage was edited so that there are split screen images of Rick playing along with his guests. Sometimes the video footage ends up filling more than two thirds of the screen and Rick is reduced to performing in a little box. Starship trooper is an example of this in which we get to see only a little bit of Rick and a lot of his band. Some of the jokes are starting to get a bit old too. The thing I really liked about this DVD was seeing Rick perform some things that he has not played for a while like "Judas Iscariot" and seeing him back on keyboards as well as piano. If you don't have the "Rick Wakeman Live in Concert 2000" DVD or " The Other Side of Rick Wakeman" DVD you should definitely get those first because they are much more satisfying viewing experiences. A final note - it was kind of sad to see that the hall in which this concert was held was not nearly full. Anyone who gets a chance to see Rick live should definitely do so. You will not be disappointed!"