"New" Weather Report DVD

[We No Speak]

Santa finally arrived and I watched the "new" Weather Report DVD "Young and Fine"

IT IS A BOOTLEG!!!!!!!!!

It's stock number is: "Pavy-91888" , supposedly copyrighted by "BS Music Productions" and Manufactured by "Buena Suerta Industrias Musicales, Inc." and made in "EC".

It was produced by "Guido Hieronymus" who appears to be a real person and musician, however, I couldn't find anything that connected the musician to the producer of this DVD.

About the DVD:

The covers front, back, and inside look very nice and it should be noted that the clarity of the pictures from the concert are much better on the covers than the acutal video footage.

The opening menu is obviously from a consumer DVD burning program and only has one tab option. There is no standard menu (set up, languages, features, etc.) There is no scene or chapter menu, it's just one long video. However, if during the concert you push the "next" button on your remote, the video will move forward to another location on the disk that doesn't necessarily coincide with the actual beginning or ending of a song.

The audio quality is clearly a typical B+ bootleg level and the video is clearly dubbed from one of the many VHS tapes that's been around for years. I guess I should give them credit for at least having a decent copy of the tape - there's very little "noise", however the picture is at least second generation, if not later.

Now comes the juicy part. IF YOU'RE A WEATHER REPORT FAN - YOU HAVE TO GET A COPY!!! It's a great show and enjoyable to watch once your accustomed to accepting the bootleg nature of the source. The concert is just over 2 hours long and it seems to go by in 5 minutes.

If you're a Jaco fan, you can't pass this up, he's phenomenal! But for me, the real story here is watching Zawinul work his magic. For those that never saw him play - you'll quickly find out why Zawinul is Zawinul and one of world's greatest ever keyboard players, a Jazz Rock founding father, and a musical force that belongs in any musical Hall Of Fame.

Overall, a big disappointment, but die hard fans shouldn't pass it up.

A quick note about boots, I don't believe in copying legitimate material and "stealing" music. But in this case, it's pretty obvious that after 25 years, if a record company thought there was any money to be made releasing it, they would have. They didn't, someone else did, big deal!

Rick
www.wenospeak.com

[Jazzooo]

Rick, that's a drag. I'm still waiting for mine and I'm sure I'll love whatever I get, but still--$54 is a lot of money for a bootleg that doesn't look or sound great.

[Gentle Giant]

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

Rick, that's a drag. I'm still waiting for mine and I'm sure I'll love whatever I get, but still--$54 is a lot of money for a bootleg that doesn't look or sound great.

Since it's not legit, there's no sense letting the bootleggers make a buck of it. You guys should burn copies for everyone here.

And we appreciate your sacrifice.

[VIBEr]

I just ordered it on ebay from someone in England under the title "Live at Rockpalast." Same concert, but only 19 bucks plus shipping. I'll post a report (no pun intended) when it arrives next week.

[Nefertiti]

That Rockpalast 1978 concert is also circulating in bootleg traders circles and filesharing networks.

The Rockpalast shows (mainly rock acts, as the name suggests) were aired on german public TV at that time. These 2 hour long broadcasts were always a major event here. Some of them were shown again later, when VCRs were available, so a lot of people taped them and later made digital copies from the videotapes. That's probably also the source of this DVD.

Some more info on that concert:

http://www.rockpalastarchiv.de/concert/weather.html

[We No Speak]

Originally Posted by Gentle Giant

Since it's not legit, there's no sense letting the bootleggers make a buck of it. You guys should burn copies for everyone here.

And we appreciate your sacrifice.

Live and learn!!

The one consolation for buying it is that Audiophile Imports gets a piece of the action. Mark and the boys have kept the flame of Jazz Rock alive since 1986 and they deserve to be supported. www.audiophileimports.com

Rick
www.wenospeak.com

[Jazzooo]

"The one consolation for buying it is that Audiophile Imports gets a piece of the action. "

Hmm--that's bullshit imo. If they are really selling a mediocre quality bootleg for $54, that's ridiculous. If they want a donation for keeping the flame alive, they should just ask for one. I buy product from them, and I expect them to at least be competitive.

Is anyone certain that this is the same concert as the Rockpalast video?
I will be sending mine back to Audiophile Imports if this turns out to be the case, and since I spread the word on other BBS about the DVD, I will also spread the word that they are ripping people off.

If this is a bootleg, then it's likely that none of the $ will go to the band iether--right? How can AI justify marking something up that high and not even giving the band a taste of it? A band that frankly helped make the concept of selling 'fusion' music possible in the first place?

[Nefertiti]

The importer should also be aware that he can be sued for copyright infringement just like the maker of the DVDs.

[Ron Thorne]

What Jazzooo and Nefertiti said!

[VIBEr]

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

Is anyone certain that this is the same concert as the Rockpalast video?
I will be sending mine back to Audiophile Imports if this turns out to be the case...

I'm pretty sure it is the same concert - the song orders are identical and they are both from 1978. On ebay there is another one floating around from 1976 with Pastorius. Also, could someone let me know where I can score the Tony Williams Lifetime DVD - I know it's probably a boot as well, but if the price is right I'm willing to gamble on one.

[We No Speak]

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

"The one consolation for buying it is that Audiophile Imports gets a piece of the action. "

Hmm--that's bullshit imo. If they are really selling a mediocre quality bootleg for $54, that's ridiculous. If they want a donation for keeping the flame alive, they should just ask for one. I buy product from them, and I expect them to at least be competitive.

Is anyone certain that this is the same concert as the Rockpalast video?
I will be sending mine back to Audiophile Imports if this turns out to be the case, and since I spread the word on other BBS about the DVD, I will also spread the word that they are ripping people off.

If this is a bootleg, then it's likely that none of the $ will go to the band iether--right? How can AI justify marking something up that high and not even giving the band a taste of it? A band that frankly helped make the concept of selling 'fusion' music possible in the first place?

Hmmmm, sorry folks, didn't mean to stir the pot THAT much. However, boots ARE everywhere and I wouldn't pick on AI, if so, then might as well pick on Tower, Amoeba, Rasputins, and every other retailer that's sold a boot here and there for a higher than standard price. I don't recommend "stealing" music, but there are exceptions. Most boots are in fact copies of stuff just sitting in some record companies vaults that they won't release because they don't think they can swindle enough money from the public to justify releasing it, so someone else does. So what. No one's forcing you to buy it.

I didn't start the thread to get into a beef about boots. I would rather talk about the music, not the music business. We're talking about a 25 year old Weather Report concert, who really cares about it anyway? Only die hard fans that are few and far between, and those few fans probably already know that record companies only release what they think will sell and the good stuff stays in the vaults.

I for one am not naive enough to believe the Mahavishnu "Trident Sessions" was ever "lost"...