A little confusion on the exact performance being presented with this DVD but recommended in any case. What that means is this, the 4Reel Productions information and title indicate a March 10th, 1973 performance and outline on the back cover notes how the band filled in for Roxy Music when they had a member fall ill and couldn't perform. The Voorburg show described here was "part of the Grand Gala du Pop which was organized by the Dutch Broadcasting Association VARA at sporting hall De Vliegermolen in Voorburg, near The Hague". However, as a member cited back in November in the News here at HotWacks On-line - The Official Who video compilation "30 Years Of Maximum R&B" includes the clip of "My Generation" from this exact same video document and credits the performance as being from Amsterdam 1972. And as I look into it just a bit, I tend to lean towards the official date stamp. One of the supporting facts for this being circa '72 instead of the 1973 date is the fact that Pete is playing the White Gibson SG guitar - also a fact cited by our helpful member a few months back. By 1973 Pete was pretty much a Gibson Les Paul player.
In any case it's an enjoyable video to watch and is probably a third or fourth generation from the master tape used for broadcast on Dutch Television. There is a timer block throughout at the top center of the video and this time, it gets fairly annoying. It's probably just as well this is a relatively short clip, and likely not the complete performance that night anyway. It clocks in at just under 50 minutes indicating it was edited down for an hour broadcast but that's just my own speculation. The other fact that would support this is that the video opens with "Pinball Wizard" which is highly unlikely and seems we are missing at least the first half hour of the actual performance. The audio is pretty good but again the choice to program this decent stereo broadcast into a faked 5.1 Surround track is a mistake in my opinion and would better serve collectors with a PCM Stereo Audio track or at least a straightforward Dolby Digital Stereo option.
Now all of this doesn't negate that it's a solid DVD release as we find the band in very good spirits and eager to perform. Very enjoyable and a good score for bootleg release by 4Reel. What supplements the feature show are the fun choices of bonus videos the label decided to include here to add value. The Top Of The Pops 1973 clips are great, until you get to "Long Live Rock" and we get Roger Daltry lip synching to Pete's studio vocals!!!..."The Seeker" promo is fun too. The one programming fault I'll file here is that the bonus clips don't play through with one click. They play individually and you have to select and play each one individually, now THAT is irritating. It's an easy programmable correction for future releases and I hope 4Reel continues to source these gems and include them. The label is typically very good with the details and I'm sure this one just escaped them on the production end.
