Flipper – Live Target Video 1980-81 DVD review

When listening to Flipper, one can only imagine what types of circumstances and conditions prompted the sound of Flipper, and what types of performances were carried out during their showcase. Flipper Live is not your traditional live DVD, but rather a short collection of Flipper's performances in San Francisco during the early 1980s. Shows recorded at Berkeley Square, Kezar Stadium, and a display for San Fran's Channel 25 are all found in the DVD.

Each live show begins with a brief introduction that informs you about the setting and place, and what to expect from the speculation. The Berkeley Square performance resembles a band practice session; there are only a few people present to watch, it is situated in a small area, and the band members seem to be messing around more than they are trying to impress those who are present. However, it is this quality that makes the Berkeley Square showcase interesting to watch, because the spontaneous acts throughout the set are pretty entertaining.

Unlike the Berkeley Square performance, the showcase at the Kezar Stadium is more of the type of show you would expect from a band like Flipper, notorious for the type of peculiar and mesmerizing music they play. The brief introduction displayed prior to the show informs you that you should expect vocalist/bassist Will Shatter to appear calm and collected on stage, with the exception of a wine bottle he's drinking throughout the set. The setting of the show suits Flipper's music perfectly: it's dark inside, there's a few dim and strange glowing lights that occasionally surround the band members, and the frenzy of the music is clearly demonstrated in the behavior and mannerisms of each band member while they play. The performance is classic Flipper; chaos and mayhem on stage, noise produced that is somehow transformed into hypnotizing music, and a guitar smashed on stage that was bound to happen either way.

Among the bonus features is the song "Sex Bomb" which was performed for San Francisco's Channel 25. The Ch 25 performance will blow you away not just because of the performance of the song, but because Flipper seems to have cleaned up for it! Each member acts appropriately, the song sounds less disorganized than what Flipper fans are used to, and it seems as though the band members actually took the time to prepare for it. If that isn't enough to impress you, some cool and cheesy 80s effects are present and imposed onto the show, making it seem like a retro 80s music video for MTV. It actually makes the show that much more enjoyable.

If you've ever wondered what a genuine live Flipper experience would be like, then the Flipper Live DVD is probably the closest thing you'll come to it. The DVD demonstrates 3 different examples of it, all of which reassure our expectations of what a Flipper show might have been like. It is a DVD that would be good for your collection, seeing as how you get more than 1 live performance, raw music that crawls into your skin and takes your body over, and Flipper in their prime and hectic time.

Out now on MVD Visual
 

-Stephanie M.-