Rage Against the Machine: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (2003)

Simply A Masterpiece

Really Surprised!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Wow. I miss this band! Audioslave is 'almost there', ya know? I have a friend who plays this DVD but on his ipod. I didn't know that it was a different sound mix than the one on the cd. Can you say OUCH for the cd mix? What happened? I bought the DVD recently and I'm holding onto it. The concert is awesome and I am rocking to it right now. I don't have a surround speaker system but my buddy does and I could trip within the mix when I'm over there. Great job. The video is a little grainy here and there...but I'm sure that's on purpose? The movements and frequency of the edits keep me moving and I don't get bored. Keep up the good work. I want RATM back!

Rage Against The Machine are destined to go down in history as probably the only band who got the whole rap-metal crossover thing exactly right. In 1999 a lot of people thought Limp Bizkit had it right, however looking back on the 'Bizkit's album catalogue now, one can only wonder how they ever thought that 'Nookie' was a good song... (Other than saying defensively - "I was only fifteen!!"). Rage Against The Machine did not feed off the media like Limp Bizkit or others like them and they rarely interacted with the crowd at their shows. Usually the show would begin with "Good evening, we're Rage Against The Machine from Los Angeles, California" and then they'd just play track after track until the set was complete. Then they'd leave the stage. No encore or anything. Rage weren't about encores...Perhaps that's what makes Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium such an exceptional DVD. Unlike most other Rage concerts, this live performance* contained props (The massive red star banner being dropped on the intro of 'Bulls On Parade'), guest stars (Sen Dogg and B- Real from Cypress Hill), updated lyrics ('Killing In The Name') and Zack De La Rocha even gives a small speech about police brutality.But it's not just these factors that make this concert* so special.The energy of the crowd, the lighting and camera work make this concert not only interesting to watch but perhaps showcases how future Rage concerts would have been constructed - had Zack De La Rocha stayed with the band. Tracks such as 'I'm Housin' and 'How I Could Just Kill A Man' from their last studio album, Renegades are included in this line up.DVD bonus features include a career highlights montage video for Cypress Hill's cover of 'How I Could Just Kill A Man' and a (badly chopped together) shortened version of the 2000 Democratic National Convention protest concert. The 'Bombtrack' video clip that missed the bandwagon for their 1997 home video finally makes an appearance too.Unfortunately, it's not all good news. The DVD is victim to the doctoring of Rick 'make that guitar sound fatter' Ruben. As the producer of Renegades and the first Audioslave record, Rick Rubin is notorious for over-producing. While the concert plays through as one, you are actually viewing two concerts edited together in such a fashion that it is totally unnoticeable to the eye. Even the sound of the live audience doesn't alter as the footage switches from both concerts. The only visible thing that gives the edited footage away is bassist Tim Commerford's switching wardrobe. The first concert was recorded at the Grand Olympic Auditorium on the 12th of September (2000) and the second the following night on the 13th. It is this show, on the 13th, that is advertised on the back of the DVD.There is also problems with the packaging of the DVD. On the back cover, the letter 'L' in the world "Olympic" is in lower case, while the rest of the title is in capitals. Also, inside the DVD case, under the 'Action' section, the word "International" doesn't have the letter 'I' in front of it! Obviously this cover was just a cut-and-paste job...Another thing that irritates me about the blatant doctoring is how on the crummy intro, the track used is a live version of Rage's cover of Devo's 'Beautiful World'. They use footage of the song being performed at the Grand Olympic Auditorium - however, this track isn't included in the concert! Doh! What an error. I have heard that 'Beautiful World' does appear on the Japanese version of this DVD.Word of advice, if you're marketing a product as a whole concert, don't montage the intro without that track in the concert. It's so obvious it's insulting.So... is it a good DVD? Yes, it is a good DVD. Is it worth buying? Yes. But not for its presentation, layout, "bonus features" or any of that additional rubbish. It's buy able because it's a Rage Against The Machine concert. I give this DVD a 7/10 - and it could have been a 10.