Hey Derek,

What DVD were you watching???

The editing was terrific, with lots of interesting camera angles. I especially enjoyed the close shots of Aimee's hands playing the piano on "King of the Jailhouse". And how about her amazing band? I was at this concert, but I don't feel like I 'really' appreciated it until I saw the DVD. You get a whole different perspective when you look at things like the close-up shots of the guitarist going all out on "Long Shot" and the view of the drummer from behind the drum set jamming with the bass player.

Actually, everything about this DVD is first rate. From the production (editing, video and sound) to the performance, to the bonus interview and behind the scenes footage. And the song list was varied with several songs from "I'm With Stupid" and "Magnolia", as well as "Whatever" and the recent "Lost In Space".

Anyway, as you can tell, I highly recommend this DVD/CD.

DVD Tracks:

1. The Moth

2. Calling It Quits

3. Sugar Coated

4. Going Through The Motions (new song)

5. Humpty Dumpty

6. Amateur

7. Wise Up

8. Save Me

9. Stupid Thing

10. Pavlov's Bell

11. Long Shot

12. 4th Of July

13. Red Vines

14. Invisible Ink

15. King Of The Jailhouse (new song)

16. Deathly

Bonus CD Tracks:

1.The Moth

2. Sugarcoated

3. Going Through The Motions

4. Amateur

5. Wise Up

6. Save Me

7. Stupid Thing

8. That¹s Just What You Are

9. Pavlov¹s Bell

10. Long Shot

11. 4th of July

12. King Of The Jailhouse

13. Deathly

I assume the reader is already an Aimee Mann fan or you wouldn't be reading this...so I will speak to the product. It is a very beautifully filmed and recorded concert...nice lighting...great sound, Hi def quality on the film so its sharp and widescreen. In other words..state of the art... and Aimee delivers a beautiful set...of course I'd love to hear more but the bonus CD is a nice touch...and its hard to quibble with any set list she could come up with.

Also..it looks like from the packaging that Aimee Mann has produced this herself so I hope she is supported by many people purchasing and NOT making copies...it will certainly help her continue to make wonderful CDs and hopefully more DVDs.

As most fans of Aimee know or have discovered, it can be difficult seeing her live. In one of the bonus sections, Aimee and her band talk about this. Aimee says that she gets punch drunk after about three weeks; thus her tours consists of several 3 week legs.

I mention this because I was fortunate to see her in Dallas in 2003. One thing that struck me IMMEDIATELY was how pure her voice was. The voice you hear on the CD is what you hear live. And the same is true with this DVD. What I heard live is what I hear on the DVD.

The video is incredible clear, even on my mediocre DVD player. Perhaps there was a smoking moratorium at St. Anne's the night they recorded this. In addition, there is no crowd noise at inappropriate moments such as requests for "Freebird"(See the bonus section for an explanation). This is particularly nice on quiet songs such as "Amateur" and "Save Me." Sad to say, I have to agree with Derek Mok that Aimee isn't the most animated performer but for me the beauty of her voice more than makes up for this.

The DVD includes 2 new songs: "Going Through the Motions" and "King of the Jailhouse." The former is a catchy tune that would sound great on the radio if they'd ever recognize Aimee for the great songwriter and voice that she is.

The bonus section is divided into three sections: a behind-the-scene look at preparation for the concert; a (boring) slideshow; and an interview with Aimee and the band. The interview is the most interesting of the three. It consists of Aimee and the band answering questions separately, kind of like a point-conterpoint interview. Some of the topics covered are favorite songs, cover songs, touring, and record labels.

The accompanying CD allows you to take the concert with you in your car or iPod. It leaves off "Calling It Quits," "Humpty Dumpty," and "Red Vines" and "Invisible Ink" while including "That's Just the Way You Are."

Like all of her stuff (songwriting, singing, fashion sense, etc.), the production quality of this DVD is top-notch. We recently set up our projector and speakers on the back patio deck and watched the concert during a hot summer night, it was fantastic ... like being at an outdoor event. She plays all her popular stuff and some of the new songs from Forgotten Arm (which she refers to in the video as King of the Jailhouse, as the album wasn't released yet). Great stuff. The whole band plays very tight. The interviews are a nice perk. I agree with the other "potty mouth" comments ... it was a little distracting from an otherwise excellent show.