Rivalry Records Showcase DVDRivalry Records puts out some of the finest hardcore and is definitely a label to be on the lookout for in 2007. Pretty much every band they have worked with have went on to bigger, and more well known labels and the ones that haven't probably will in the near future.
This is a follow up to their 2005 Showcase DVD that I didn't check out, so I can't draw any comparisons. It features eleven bands from the label's roster: The First Step, Ceremony, Go It Alone, Verse, Betrayed, Allegiance, Champion, Blue Monday, More To Pride, Time For Living, and Killing The Dream. It took place February 25, 2006 at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, CA with over 800 in attendance. There's over 90 minutes of live footage, with each band playing about 3 songs give or take 1. There is an interview with The First Step and some photo galleries, not much in terms of extras, On the box it says interviews and extra footage, which is very misleading in my opinion. If you are a big fan of Champion, it'd be cool to have some songs from their last set, same can be said for Time For Living (loved the clown hype man haha).
Good camera work was used throughout each band's set. There was plenty of camera angles used and as well as synching up with the music well, some nice effects were used too. The worst thing was the actual sound, while it wasn't the fault of the recorders just the venue and/or band equipment. Some bands sounded better than others though, Go It Alone and Blue Monday had the best live sound of the bunch. The DVD menu was nice and easy to navigate and was aesthetically pleasing, very nice introduction of Verse's "Follow Conform Repeat" to start it off too.
Solid layout that relies on using live shots of the bands involved with the DVD. The back cover has the lineup as well as a brief summary about the DVD and of course, more live shots. The DVD face is printed in orange with the Rivalry Records logo in white. It would've been nice if they would've put something on the spine rather than leave it blank except for a small ass RR logo.
Rating: 3.5/5
Videos Worthy of Replay: Ceremony, Go It Alone, Champion, Betrayed and Verse
Synopsis: Not too bad of a DVD but its SRP of $17 is a tad pricey for the amount of content you get. Outside of the live footage there is nothing really in terms of interviews and what have you except for an interview with The First Step and photo galleries.