DVD Review: RIDE, RISE, ROAR

According to urban myths life begins at 40 and in 4 years time my life will begin but in the 1980’s I was a kid still finding his feet in the big bad world, soon to make the movie into high school. When you’re young you tend to remember the things you hated, the clothes, food, done films and music some those things don’t really appreciate until you’re a bit wiser and older. In the 1980’s Music, I didn’t really like but when you here the manufactured crap of today or reality show winner music wannabe, looking back to the music from the previous decades its a godsend. One of now many highlights of the 1980’s was the weekly trips down to the seaside with family and it was the music I alway remember and of one particular band Talking Heads and it’s from here my admiration for the band started.Now lets roll on 25 plus years to present day, Talking Head’s are no more but their ex-frontman David Byrne is still going strong and has returned to our small screens with his new concert/documentary RIDE, RISE, ROAR.

The documentary is essentially a promotional piece for his recent 2009 tour “Everything that happens will happen today” which marks Byrne’s collaboration with fellow music icon Brian Eno. Despite the fact the movie is promoted as a Concert doc RIDE, RISE, ROAR is actually a combination of the concert (shot in several venues including, New York, London and Edinburgh) as well the Behind the scenes look as we get to see the thought process (though not in great detail) and how one of Byrne’s shows becomes a dance-music fusion throwing into the mix a host of new songs as well as the classic ones.

He may nearly be 60 years old but David Byrne has the energy and presence of a 25-year-old, his creativity sparkles harmoniously very well with the contemporary dancers and it does seem a natural step for the silver fox maestro. Like many great rock legends like David Bowie, David Byrne is certainly been an artistic force of the last 20 years which has helped him re-invent himself helping him bond with the new breed of avant-garde popstars and bands like Franz Ferdinand have a hell of a lot to thank Byrne & Co for their sound and existence.

If your a icon you always have to kick off the show with a favourite jingle and Byrne certainly does that with Once In A Lifetime a perfect icebreaker and he later joins that song with fellow big hitters such as I Zimbra and my personal favourite Burning Down The House. The song was actually performed with everyone wearing tutus (including Byrne), so if you are looking for that nostalgic ride down memory lane RIDE, RISE, ROAR certainly does the job.

David Byrne is a hands on artist and he likes to give the audience the interactive experience, with no 2 shows the same. The dancers give the show that extra edge as they whizzed in and out and even at times the dancers danced with the backing singers and even picked up instruments too, though if there were actually playing them is another story. Their involvement in the documentary were great but at times they were their own worst enemy, they fitted perfectly into most of the songs to giving them an extra dimension, but there was moments you found it hard to decipher who was the main centre of attention other times felt out of place. This may be down to the director Hillman Curtis roots which were focused in arthouse style which took away some of Byrnes limelight.

Overall RIDE, RISE, ROAR is the nostalgic trip down memory lane for Talking Heads fans which may make it, non-fans of the band or Byrne in general to enjoy this movie. RIDE, RISE, ROAR is no way near the quality of the classic Stop Making Sense but it does do is reminded us the old silver fox David Byrne is still around, full of the energy of a young whippersnapper and he can certainly still burn down that house!