A Plea

Today the mailperson brought me an Amazon package with last year's concert DVD by The Tangent, one of my favorite prog bands of the new century. Called Going Off On One, it was recorded in 2006 in a small club after their third album, A Place in the Queue was released. It's a very good performance (although Andy Tillison can't quite pull off the vocal duties convincingly while thrashing the keyboards in the live setting), but plagued with a common affliction for modern concert DVDs - unnecessary visual effects.

I understand that the directors/editors/whatevers who work on these DVDs are artists too and need to express themselves in some way. But please, as someone who will in all likelihood never get a chance to see The Tangent or Porcupine Tree or [insert another obscure band name you've never heard of before here] live in the flesh, what I want from a live DVD is (a) a great musical experience that is (b) cleanly presented. Gods forbid, I want to see instruments being played! At least with the keyboard player plonked up front it's hard to overlook his ivory tinkling.

Is that too much to ask?