Pistol Grip

Live at the Glasshouse DVD (2003)

Scott Heisel

Another month, another "The Show Must Go Off!" DVD released. This installment features BYO Records upstarts Pistol Grip at their record release show for Another Round in their hometown of Pomona, California. A sold out crowd of over 600 is documented in this DVD, the seventh in the series.

As was the case with the Guttermouth DVD I reviewed, I must look at this from purely a filmmaking aspect, as I'm really not a fan of Pistol Grip. That is not to say that I didn't find myself enjoying some of their 18 song set, however: this band is chock-full of energy, and while the crowd does seem a bit quiet at points, the band more than makes up for it with street-punk anthem after street-punk anthem.

The band's set is divided rather equally between their 2 full lengths. Another Round is represented with 8 songs, 9 tracks from The Shots From Calico Rose make it into the set, and the remaining song, "Viva La Revolution," is the band covering The Adicts classic [a move that seems to get the most cheers of the night, it seemed]. The audio [prasies as being 24 track digital] of the show is very clean and clear, although the bass seems to be insanely low in the mix.

The video production for this installment is the best I've seen thus far, with every angle being shot on digital cameras, and the editing being virtually flawless [meaning the video and the audio never get out of sync]. Shots of the crowd are rather minimal until the last few songs, probably disappointing some liberty-spiked dude who was positive that he and his threads would get documented. Alas.

The band commentary consists of the singer and the rhythm guitarist [I think - it may be the bassist] making fun of everyone else in the band, for the most part. Lots of eerie silences occur in the hour long commentary, with Joe Escalante once again prodding band members to talk more [I think I'll start calling this "Alkaline Trio Syndrome," or ATS for short]. It's kind of creepy, how Escalante more or less is making them talk. Other extras on here are minimal - the usual "quint split" feature of a song, as well as some "bonus footage," this time from the show's afterparty. It's rather boring, and it seems like the camera wasn't even miced, as you can barely make out any of the dialogue going on as people are talking directly into the camera.

If you're a fan of Pistol Grip, you'll probably be happy with this DVD. I still question just why a band this young would be documented opposed to a band with a longer history/bigger fanbase/larger back catalog, but for what it is, it is a very solid concert experience on film, easily the best I have seen out of this hit-and-miss series.