Psych Rock Legends Electric Prunes Get Rewired On DVD

Artist: Electric Prunes
Title: Rewired-Live In Concert
Format: DVD
Genre: Rock, Acid, Garage, Psychedelic, Blues
Label: Snapper

Unbelievably this is the only live footage of the legendary rock-psychedelic band the Electric Prunes since their inception. Their recorded history is a long stretch back to 1967 when they had the big hit "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)." Rewired is a documentation of this bands incredible wherewithal and ongoing importance to rock music and its development.

Shot at the Concorde in Brighton Beach England in October 2002, the DVD captures the band performing many songs from their solid recording of 2002 Artifact and many other select psych-rock gems.

James Lowe, the fiery leader and a front man of the band, came up with some wild ‘60s style LSD tripped out colors and lights for their stage show, in fact, it gets to be a bit much for these eyes. Many people will love the visual trips they take you on. This is all possible without the enhancements of mind-altering chemicals mind you. Whatever floats your boat, the choice is yours, know one thing though, the music is quite enough to go along with all the colors and images that lay over the film while the band is playing each song to get you all trippy and freaky.

This band of seasoned veterans really is a unit that is hitting on all their cylinders musically and visually. I cannot think of too many bands that have their act together like this that started back in the ‘60s, or that are even alive for that matter! They have all the experience and a multitude of maturity that enables them to be a step ahead of their contemporaries, even if they did have a layoff that lasted over 30 years, they still can kick some major ass.

There is also some great bonus features such as Mark Tulin walking you through each song on the set giving you his own personal review of each track, great footage from concerts at other venues in Great Britain, sound checks, interviews, and some video by James as they were traveling through the country. This is most certainly the kind of all around musical experience that gets you inside the music and the people that make it. Make sure you watch for the giant magic mushrooms as they come alive with their neon colors, which are all part of the "Making of Artifact" segment. The graphic rendering is superb when they make the cover of Artifact come alive with the huge transformers conducting electricity to make those prunes ‘electric.’ The only complaint I have is a technical one. It would been much more appealing visually if they had segued right into the next track without the pause of a blacked out screen between each song (this is normal for any film, it’s just a personal preference).

Whether you can remember this band when they first started or you are just discovering them, this is something that is completely enjoyable for all music fans. The Electric Prunes are one of the granddaddies of garage rock and it is nice to see that they have reformed to reaffirm their position as (active) rock roll legends.

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
May, 2, 2004

Rating- 9/10

The Lineup Today:

James Lowe-vocals, guitar, harmonica
Mark Tulin-bass guitar
Ken Williams-lead guitar
Joe Dooley-drums
Mark Moulin-rhythm/lead guitar
Cameron Lowe-keyboards

Tracks:

1. Lost Dream
2. You Never Had it Better
3. The Great Banana Hoax
4. Ain't It Hard
5. I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)
6. I Happen To Love You / Got My Mojo Workin'
7. Little Olive
8. Long Days Flight (till tomorrow)
9. Devils Candy
10. Bullet Thru The Backseat
11. Hideaway
12. Castaway
13. Get Me To The World On Time

DVD Extras:
Behind the scenes footage of the 2002 REWIRED tour stops: Canterbury Fayre Festival, Bristol, Southampton, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton, London, Athens. The making of ARTIFACT: The first recording sessions of the group in 34 years! VOX Fest III excerpts, 3D mushroom animation ....plus surprises