Search - Run-D.M.C. :: Live at Montreux 2001

The "only" Run DMC live concert captured on film!

Hype Currie | Detroit, Michigan United States | 04/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Artist: Run DMC

DVD: Live at Montreux, 2001

Label: Eagle Vision

Sound options: PCM Stereo; Dolby Digital 5.1; DTS Surround Sound.

Note: There is a separate audio CD now available.



The latest in a series of DVDs capturing performances from throughout the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival, this captures what was apparently the only performance of Run-DMC at the festival in 2001. Darryl Mac, Reverend Run and Jam Master Jay perform their hits to a capacity club crowd. For the uninitiated, Run-DMC were one of the key acts to prove that hip-hop could be a viable performance art and served as defacto ambassadors for rap music to international audiences. Here in Switzerland, the ambassadors have returned.



Pros:

Jam Master Jay warms up the crowd with his expert turntable skills before the group's signature MC's take the stage. Dressed in black with their fedora hats and Adidas shirts, the group's energy doesn't seem to have dampened from their heyday, delivering enthusiastic renditions of their classic material. Track for track, there are four cuts from Run DMC ("It's Like That, Rock Box/Sucker MC's/Here We Go (medley)", three from Raising Hell ("It's Tricky", "Walk this Way", "Peter Piper"), "King of Rock", "Down with the King", "It's Over" and "School of Old (a cappella)" from Crown Royal, with some freestyles and ad-libs interspersed.



The stage show is unadorned; only one assistant occasionally comes out to help JMJ sort his dub plates during the set. No 50+ homies crowding the stage and no confusion on who the stars are tonight. The end of the concert is particularly bittersweet, as Run switches place with Jay and the latter gives a brief exit monologue, exhorting everybody to throw up the peace sign.



Cons: The set is just a little over an hour - maybe enough for casual fans but short enough to leave die-hard fans begging for more (my beloved "Beats to the Rhyme" is reduced to part of a medley). Also, as of 2001, DMC's voicebox problems were clearly audible- he makes the best of it, though, with Run & Jay (and his own original recorded voice) at the assist. Run does quite a bit of cursing for an ordained minister ("just throw your go*damn hands in the air!" uh, alright, rev..) lending some unintentionally humorous subtext to the proceedings. There is also no bonus material (i.e., discography, interviews, etc.)



No, this isn't Run-DMC at their "prime", but hit-for-hit and for stage charisma, they blow away most of today's performers. Curiously, this is the only all-Run-DMC concert film released (the 1995 performance documentary "The Show" featured them in one segment). Unfortunately, Jay's untimely demise means there will be no more Run DMC performances with the original trio intact. Whoever has footage of the Fresh Fest, Raising Hell or Tougher than Leather tours is sitting on gold; if there's any justice in the world, it will be on shelves someday.



Grade: A-"