10

A DVD stocked to the gills with videos

Live, from the Brixton Academy, we have Bullet for my Valentine; Roadrunner's new ponies. I can remember seeing this band in Osaka about 2 years ago, when they were still Welsh. It seems their popularity has grown exponentially. I am one of the few people who probably still likes Bullet for my Valentine. They seem to be garnering a lot of disrespect from areas of the music industry but this DVD might help put them in a different light, especially with the rather honest backstage interview clips.

The DVD begins in sepia, covering the band's move from the dressing room to the stage, and the reactions of the various fans in the queue and what not. The camera work isn't too bad considering what the film crew must have had to work with. As the band open up to "Her voice resides" the style of the DVD becomes apparent. Lots of interesting camera angles, some of them smoothly done, others a little bit too erratic.

Their performance at Brixton covers pretty much all their new album, each one played rather well. The DVD certainly gives a good impression of the obvious intensity of the gig and will no doubt please anyone who was actually there. There are plenty of crowd shots, fret-board pans and views of several circle pits.

The gunshot noise every-time I click on a menu option gets very old very quickly. That is perhaps the most annoying feature of this DVD. The extras on the DVD are quite good though. We are treated to all the music videos, a "Behind the Scenes at Brixton Academy", a set of photo, a video documentary and something called Bullet TV.

The behind the scenes video is rather amusing. The Welsh accents are back and we are treated to a lot of interesting banter about how each member started their musical career and lots of screaming teenage girls saying how much they love the band. But it's not all that bad. Being guided around the tour bus was somewhat amusing.

The video documentary is quite interesting, following the band around the various venues they've played this year, culminating with the Download festival. There are plenty of random, backstage clips as well as the onstage antics and the Download signing session, although sadly, the soundtrack consists mainly of BFMVs music, not the actual talking.

Bullet TV is another sepia induced, candid set of videos consisting mostly of the BFMV boys getting wasted in various bars. It reminds me somewhat of Clerks the movie. Again, sadly, the actual soundtrack consists mainly of BFMVs actual tracks and none of the, probably very funny, actual banter.

This DVD is chocked full of videos which will please any BFMV fan. Sure, it's not the most slickly produced DVD but the variety is quite good. It'll be interesting to see how much this DVD actually retails for.