Pendulum‘s reputation has been growing steadily since the release of their debut album, the critically acclaimed Hold your Colour. In the space of just four years they’ve shot from the drum n’ bass underground into the mainstream with In Silico which saw the band morp into a rock / dance combo. OK, some might say metal / dance act, seeing as they like to cover Metallica‘s ‘Master of Puppets’ but they also cover Coldplay‘s ‘Violet Hills‘ so you can argue the toss till the sheep go to sleep for all I care.
This live DVD recorded at Brixton’s prestigious venue in December 2008 clocks in at just over 90 minutes and features an amalgamation of their hits to date. It would be simple and mostly true to say that fans of In Silico who have yet to see the band in action will want to catch this, but fans of their early work should give these discs (the DVD comes with a live CD) a wide berth. But that would seem unfair to anyone with travel sickness, as there is a distinct possibility that those particular individuals might not enjoy this particular ride either.
Though Pendulum’s playing is undoubtedly precise, the DVD suffers from Paul Caslin‘s manic direction along with some deeply annoying editing. No clip rests for longer than, say, eight seconds anywhere on this film. Eager to convey the heady, MAD experience of being at a Pendulum gig, Caslin has overdone it. Zooming in on gurning members of the audience, pretty girls chewing gum, sets of mystical eyes and a rioting mosh-pit may appeal to the director or editor, but the constant cutaways render most of Live at Brixton Academy unwatchable to the casual viewer.
Though the musical content of the DVD is mostly solid (though MC Jakes is entirely ill-disposed as an MC and should retire immediately), with the absence of the thrilling ‘Axle Grinder‘ most notable, extras include fervently disagreeable fan cams agonisingly postulating and spreading their stupidity over the screen; ‘fag-break’ inserts (where you can interrupt the concert and watch some people outside the gig smoking); a ‘band-cam’ (to watch the band arrive on-stage) and a camera that focuses on the embarrassment that is the mosh-pit.
A trip to see the band would be far more entertaining, as you would get to see first-hand just how little actual stage presence they have. Which probably goes some way to explain why the camera never stays on stage for long.
Pendulum – Live at Brixton Academy is released on June 15th (Warner Bros)
| 1. Intro |
| 2. Showdown |
| 3. Fasten Your Seatbelts |
| 4. Another Planet |
| 5. Voodoo People (Pendulum remix) |
| 6. Propane Nightmares |
| 7. 9,000 Miles |
| 8. Midnight Runner |
| 9. Mutiny |
| 10. Blood Sugar |
| 11. The Other Side |
| 12. Different |
| 13. Master Of Puppets |
| 14. Slam |
| 15. Hold Your Colour |
| 16. Tarantula |
| 17. Granite |
| 18. The Tempest |
| 19. Credits |