v/a "Skate & Surf Fest" compilation DVD
[High Roller]
This collection is dubbed the "official documentary" of the 2004 Skate & Surf fest in Asbury Park, NJ, where apparently a shitload of bands played over the course of a few days, and 13 of ‘em are included herein.  Most of the groups selected for the DVD are of the emo/screamo and pop-punk styled varieties, and few of them are bands that I'm a fan of, so I'll go ahead and mention early on that that does play a role in my overall opinion of the DVD, which has otherwise been handled with the same quality as other High Roller Studios outings.  It's basically set up band by band with a song/interview/song format, where the songs are credited as to title, album on which they appear, and label responsible - always a nice touch.  Most of the sound quality is decent, but in general the guitars could stand to be louder, and the footage is shot in color from multiple angles and looks pretty tight.  The dude doing the interviews seems like a good guy, but the interviews aren't as natural or conversational as they could be, so the bands often seem disinterested.  A lot of the interview segments are very "promo" sounding as well, so it can be hard to tell how sincere the interviewer may or may not be.  Going down the line in order of appearance: On record Midtown is a damn solid band, but they seem 50/50 in the live setting.  The vocals and drums are too loud, and the performance on the newer track is far stronger.  Hot Rod Circuit is among the only bands herein of which I'm a big fan, but here their lead vocals are entirely too loud and the guitarist's overdramatic hipster stage antics are quite annoying as well.  Piebald is a tighter and more efficient live act than a lot of these bands, but their also rather "hip" brand of indie rock doesn't really do much for me.  Andrew WK?  I love this dude, I'll admit it.  He's hyper and fun, so fuck it, good stuff.  By far one of the worst bands included is Slightly Stoopid (as the name suggests), so it's no wonder they only get one song.  The interview makes ‘em seem like fine guys, but the frat dude 311/Sublime "ska" bullshit of their lame weed song is something that I refuse to stomach.  Churning out the good, wholesome, christian pop-punk, MXPX is sort of silly, though they are a decent live act, I will say.  Senses Fail starts off with totally weak emo that's ultra sappy, complete with super obnoxious and overzealous crowd sing-alongs (apparently the girls love ‘em), but their second track is a faster and more energetic screamo jaunt that I can almost hang with.  That sappy junk has gotta go, though.  Another pass for me is The Early November's rather blah emo.  The vocals are significantly off, and these kids just seem a little young to really hack it just yet.  The Starting Line offers more of the same: Silly emo - for kids, by kids.  They're a little better as writers and performers, but inexcusably bad lyrics and a weak vocal performance aren't doing them any favors.  Finally, another band that I really like, Armor for Sleep may not be as strong live as they are on record, but they're still infinitely more talented than most of the bands documented on this DVD.  For as young as they are it blows me away how strong their songs are, and for my money they're one of the best bands out there right now for this style.  I never cared for Boys Night Out on record, but their lone track here is a decent cut of punchy emo/screamo standards.  Scene veterans The Bouncing Souls were quite possibly the oldest people in the building during this entire fest (Did I mention that the crowd shots look like a junior high school assembly or something?), and even though I've never been a particular fan of their music, I respect what they do more than any other act on this DVD, hands down.  Closing it out is one number from Coheed and Cambria (the only band that doesn't include any interview footage) - an odd selection that misrepresents their sound to appear a little more stripped down than it actually is.  Oddly enough the vocals aren't as unusual in the live setting either.  Oh well.  The extras?  Now, I have to say, in my opinion, the extras are all a complete waste of time.  The interview outtakes are the only segments I enjoyed, with Andrew WK and Midtown stealing the show as the funniest by far.  I wish they had included more of these random tidbits, though (you'll get less than five minutes).  Instead, you get crap like "A Day at the Beach", which is basically a bunch of idiotic "punk" kids moshing in the sand.  "For the Kids" comes in a close second on the "Dumbest Shit Ever" scale, just showing random little kids being lame on camera.  And then there's a quick minute or so of the people filming the DVD harassing kids who are talking on cell phones - mildly amusing, but still boring.  There are really only a total of about eight minutes of extras as well, which ain't much.  Hell, the trailers for the other High Roller Studios DVD's were way cooler than the extras!  (I've gotta check out that Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza DVD!)  I don't care for the packaging on this thing either, but I don't know if that ties in with the fest's own visual aesthetic or not.  In the end, this isn't High Roller Studios' best, but I fault the actual fest for that.  The way this thing's put together is perfectly effective, and if you're a fan of most of these bands you might dig it, but... if a band's not very good live, they can't be saved by clear footage, slick editing, or a well documented DVD presentation, you know what I mean? (5/10)
Running time - 1:55:00 (approximately), Tracks: 23
[Notable tracks: Midtown, Andrew WK, Armor for Sleep, Coheed and Cambria]
High Roller Studios - http://www.highrollerstudios.com

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