This DVD was a long time coming.
WAY back when Minor Threat was still a band, and frontman Ian McKaye was still bald, and not making educational children's videos about "The Vowel Movement" a group of reporters recorded 2 Minor Threat shows with the intent of doing a d0cumentary. Unfortunately money was short, and eventually the project was shelved, and forgotten about for a long time. A while back the guys at Washington DC's Dischord Records discovered the film. They compiled the 2 recorded shows at Buff Hall in New Jersey and 9:30 Club in Minor Threat's hometown of Washington DC with another grainy, tough to watch show at a venue called DC Space.
I will review each show individually.
DC Space: The Unheard Music Festival
December 17th, 1980
This video is by far the oldest, being taped in December of 1980, only a month after Minor Threat's first show. The set was short, the tape was grainy but there is somthing about it that lets you know you are viewing a piece of musical history.
The performance of this segment wasn't particularly tight, I just personally enjoy it because it is so old and shows the band in its earliest known stages. Heck singer Ian McKaye hasn't even decided to go with his signature shaved head look yet.
Buff Hall - Camden, New Jersey.
Recorded November 20th, 1982
Performance wise, this is my favorite show on the Disc. The performances are tight, and the crowd is absolutely insane. The coolest thing about this show is it was a sort of meeting of the great hardcore bands. They had all the biggest names from the main east coast scenes there. Boston bands, NY bands DC bands, etc..
Notable Songs: Out of Step, I Don't Wanna Hear It, Stepping Stone
9:30 Club, Washington DC
June 23rd, 1983
Another great set. This one was recorded most professionally, at one of DC's largest venues, the 9:30 Club (which is still used today). I think the biggest highlight of the entire show was when HR from Bad Brains' sister came onto the stage (maybe drunk? I'm not sure) and took the mic and sang Filler with Ian. Pretty funny stuff. All the songs were performed well as well.
There is also a Q&A Session with Ian, it's pretty interesting but the format is pretty retarded, the questions are on one section and the answers on another, and additional remarks on a third.
In overall, it was definitely worth buying especially if you like Minor Threat alot and its very interesting, but the replay value isn’t terrific, however it definitely is replayable.
And to clear things up YES I do recommend it but only if you already have the Complete Discography (if you don’t its not what you'd think, its only one CD).
