The 3 OGWT DVDs (and the 9 unofficial OGWT DVDs) are always good for post-pub entertainment.

The Classic Albums DVD series
Urgh! A music war
Neil Young - Live Rust
Floyd - Live at Pompeii
Clash - Westway to the world
Led Zeppelin - DVD
The Last Waltz
Monterey Pop
Rolling Stones 25x5

Personal selection:

Concerts
Floyd - live in pompeii,Led Zep - DVD, Prince - Sign O The Times, Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense, The Band etc - The Last Waltz

Great Video/TV clip Compilations
Complete Jam
Smiths - The Complete Picture
Best of Bowie (though way too much 80s on the second disc)
The Who - The Kids are Alright
New Order - A Collection

Fantastic live footage in a bad film award - Rudeboy

The documentary to which all other music documentaries should aspire to award - No Direction Home

But I'd still recommend the entertaining if ropey socially conscious plotline. I've got lots of affection for bands trying to act in movies. They never said anything about learning lines when I answered the ad in the back of the NME....

but The Wedding Present's '*PUNK' was a really good film - there's not that many decent concert films around from the Golden Age Of Indie.

REM's Tourfilm captures them when they just made the cross from 'pretty big' to 'Cor - they're going to be MASSIVE'

"L'il Beethoven live in Stockholm" & "DeeVeeDee live at the Forum" are absolutely brilliant, especially the latter as you get a set of "old" played by a full band.
The visuals and humour aswell as the sheer excellence of their music and performance comes across perfectly on these DVDs.

Other favourites in the collection:

"Dig!" eye-opening documentary surrounding two bands Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols. Packed full of drug abuse, clashing egos and violence, be it band vs audience or inter band punch-ups.
The BJM implode trying to "keep it real" while the far less talented Dandy Warhols make it huge by "kissing the record company's ass" and stealing all the BJM's ideas and wasted glamour.

Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense", maybe a bit dated now but a masterpiece of live concert video.

The Jam "Complete Jam" - stuffed full of everything TV apperances, video and live, beautifully packaged.

The Who "Kids Are Alright", stunning live performances and hilarious antics on various TV shows.

Wilco "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", intimate and moving film about an artist struggling against his record company - and winning!

I think I like to watch festival-type, multi-artist affairs best: Monterey Pop, The Last Waltz, Isle of Wight, even Woodstock - there's the whole entertainment of audience goings on, behind the scenes stuff, chat from bands. It's less controlled than when all one act. Plus those festivals were a new thing then - all more interesting than film of a modern festival would be. I prefer those kind of films to ones that are just a one band show, where it's more like what you'd get on a CD anyway - e.g. Neil Young 'Weld', best heard rather than seen.

is right up there with 'The last Waltz', and if you are of a certain age I'd recommend 'The Concert For George' as a superbly filmed and sequenced record of what was probably the last great hurrah of that sixties generation of musicians.

One I always keep going back to. The most recent release features another filmed version of the same gig called 'A Second Look'. Filmed in a completely unauthorised fashion by a then young film student. Apparently he simply set up on the stage next to Billy Cox unchallenged. Everyone thought he was with someone else.

It's black and white, worn, intermittent footage and gives an almost static view of Hendrix apart from a handful of slow sweeps at the crowd and the rest of the stage. It's interesting in that it shows up how ultimately pointless the rest of Hendrix's musical entourage effectively was. The multiple percussionists and Larry Lee on guitar. They may aswell not have been involved in anything at all. Hendrix was the focal point whether he wanted to be or not. He may have wanted to expand his sound in his last couple of years but bringing in ineffectual conga players and another guitarist to simply play inaudible rhythm seemed a half-hearted way of achieving it.

Doesn't bear repeating viewings but worth seeing to see Hendrix perform sans the usual annoyingly ill-focussed, drifting camera work then in vogue with directors.

Would have to agree that 'Stop Making Sense' is outrageously good. As well as being great to watch it shows just how funky they were as a unit. Brilliant.

..Jazzin' for Blue Jean?

I'll get me coat.

It's from the reunion a few years back so pot-bellys and signs of balding are all on display. Thje rapor the band members have with each other, and the audience, is really playful and they seem to be massively enjoying themselves. The songs really benefit from the stripped down acoustic treatment as well. There's a brilliant moment where Frank starts to play one song and the rest of the band launch into another. The band grinds to a hault and Frank addresses the jazz/ folk audience with the line 'we were jamming'.

Whatever you may think of the band, this is a very funny and enjoyable document of a band at the peak of their fame, losing it, drinking heavily and then getting it back together again. Worth it if only for the tour bus singalalongs and the footage of Glastonbury where Damon breaks his ankle after the PA falls onto it and Graham gets lost

I think the Who attempted to play it on a few dates of the accompanying tour, but quickly abandoned it and never played it live again.

a nick cave video collection
a radiohead video collection
an rem video collection
punk by the Wedding Present
an rem live show (tourfilm?)
but i don't think i watched any of them more than 2 or 3 times

Fancy several hours of Valhalla-endorsed majesty from Percy and pals? Then this is for you...

Simply sublime. I love pretty much everything about it; the camera work, the structure of the show (starts with Byrne alone on the stage with a tape player and acoustic guitar, ends with 9 other members playing their hearts out), the lively performances, and of course the music (big Heads fan me).

Top notch.

Radiohead - Metting People Is Easy - makes me glad I'm not in the most critically acclaimed band in the world.

Scott Walker - 30 Century Man - A brilliant doc that reveals a lot about the man.

Joy Division - Joy Division - Probably the best rock doc I have ever seen.

Talk Talk - Live at Montreaux - recently acquired from Play for just 8 quid. Truly stunning. It's a crime that this band were so underrated. I really wish they'd get back together.

The Monkees - Head - If this one can count. It's like an extended weird psychedelic promo video.

Frank Zappa - 200 Motels - Just plain bizarre.

The Band, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin and The Grateful Dead drinking and playing their way across Canada by train.

Imagine pitching that today.

is one I've revisited a few times (love the original album). See
Amelia

and Pat (Metheny's) Solo

for the flavour-if you don't like these you probably won't like the rest ...

Thanks for gentle hint ... will look back. It was this film, shown in an OGWT special week in Autumn 1980 that introduced me to Metheny, and spurred my interest in JM. A great week as I recall.

..doesn't really work that well for me. I have quite a few but rarely watch them, eg Neil Young's Heart Of Gold - I haven't even got to the end, but it was only £5. The better ones include Bruce Springsteen Live In New York, Symphonic Yes and Genesis Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

really enjoyed Sylvia Paterson's interview in the magazine. Anyone know of any books written about/by Chrissie and/or The Pretenders? Google search came up empty handed. Just with such a history and varied line up within the band I thought someone would have got it all down on paper by now.