Erasure: On the Road to Nashville (2007 Video) User Reviews

An interesting detour for 80's electro-pop

[imdb-15079 · 8/10 · 19 February 2007]

Andy Bell and Vince Clark are best known for their 80's style electro-pop music. Andy makes no secret about his sexuality and as a result his performances can range wildly (small pun intended). From "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (which I heard him sing at the Milton Keynes Bowl on the Wild! Tour) to "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" (from the Abba-e s q u e EP - sorry for the spaces but the IMDb spell-check insists on changing it to esquire), Andy demonstrates the amazing versatility of his voice.

The Road to Nashville was filmed at the Ryman Auditorium, the former home of the Grand Ole Opry, on May 6th 2006. Part of the Tour surrounding the album "Union Street", which, with the assistance of Steve Walsh, was the Band's foray in to producing existing Erasure songs with more than a small hint of Country.

I attended the concert held in Glasgow at the start of the tour, hearing the soulfulness of "Piano Song" and the upbeat signature tune "A Little Respect" with a slide guitar on one side of the stage and a penny whistle on the other was astounding.

The DVD pack contains an audio CD with the concert on it, and a couple of "Fancam" video performances which are good for a giggle.

I've given the DVD a rating of 8/10. Not because the DVD is particularly exciting or innovative, quite the contrary but because I'm a big fan of the band and the sound of Union Street is so unusual in comparison to their usual fayre. A new album is due out in May 2007 which was recorded in Maine. It will be interesting to see if the U.S. influence remains.

so few bands are brave enough to go acoustic and live

[michellelocke007 · 7/10 · 9 September 2010]

just love it when erasure continually comes out with live concert performances from their tours and this one is no different. i have the DVD and cd which came together as a package and have seen and heard both. it's nice to see andy strip away his over the top costumes and stage antics for a much more subdued and emotion ridden performance in front of a live audience for a smaller venue. the soulfulness of his voice and emotional depth that he puts into every song is great to hear and just watching his body language through each piece. i also enjoyed the extra footage of andy recording at a home in maine...casual and relaxed while vince and an accompanying musician play along. i'm hoping for more releases of their live performances.

Stripped

[88state · 10/10 · 18 February 2007]

For an electronic band, to go acoustic was a brave decision. But a great decision too. Having been a fan for over 20 years to see & hear a live acoustic set - shows that these guys are still on top of their game. Reeling off hits and obscure album tracks to the strains of strings almost as fluently as the normal electronic set.

Erasure may not be the "in" thing, but perhaps their failure to reach commercial success nowadays is that they are not afraid to try something different and write & perform the way they want too rather then try to please the plastic pop population.

Highlight tracks are Victim of Love, Against my View and Boy, all sounding different but classic Enjoy this concert of difference - and welcome Erasure back into your head!!