Five men (the two of them being friends/partners for countless years) more than twenty years of German hard 'n' heavy rockin' music, non-stop high energy and no single album reviewed as 'bad'. BONFIRE is the flag of honesty in music, like it (the music) or not. This year's Double X Vision DVD/CD release - the DVD format will be reviewed here - confirms all of the above, for one more time.
This DVD pumped outta nowhere, note more than a couple of years after the 'obscure' - to obtain - One Acoustic Night double DVD issue. The feeling, though, is rather different this time. The German veteran hard rockers did come up with (another) notable album, Double X, in mid-2006 plus the succeeding European tour did make quite an impression. Named as The Double X Anniversary Tour, the celebration for twenty tears of good BONFIRE music seemed rather essential; and the fans at all venues the band played had the same thoughts. It's rather awkward someone being a Melodic Hard Rock fan and not having witnessed Claus Lessmann and Co. onstage; talkin' bout pure good mood all the way! And - thankfully - this atmosphere is well-captured on camera in this Double X Vision DVD.
The main dish of this DVD comes off the band's appearance in England, during the Firefest festival in Nottingham (November 2006). Bearing in mind the fest organizers' magazine itself was baptized after BONFIRE's second album (Fireworks - 1988) you can feel the impact of these fine Germans' music in the whole (as named) Melodic Rock scene running today (mainly) in Europe. So...let it be! In an enthusiastic mood, BONFIRE did perform a 'best of' selection of songs, starting off with a the most outstanding songs from their latest Double X album. Then, it was time for the oldies: amongst them, a rough diamond names as Tony's Roulette was quite a surprise plus the re-function of the Ready 4 Reaction classic brought eough of smiling to the participants. A rather active band, in front of not-that-warm (in general) crowd...
The cameras are working fine. The sound is brilliant; so is Clauss! A charismatic frontman at our disposal. The overall BONFIRE performance is very good, indeed. And when it comes to the DVD bonus 'goodies', the show goes on: five promo videos from some of the band's most successful singles in their first four albums' career is a good gift. Still, all of 'em were also featured in the Golden Bullets DVD release in 2001, thus can't see a particular reason for this re-listing. Added, too, are three tunes from the band's 2002 (previously unreleased) appearance in the concert Rock gegen Rechts, filmed by the WDR (Rockpalast). A good one, note how Clauss sings in Sweet Home Alabama prior to its first couple...
For BONFIRE fans this DVD is a must-have! Apart from this, you'll have a good time viewing a (professionally playing) honest band providing us with what's worth for: fine melodic Hard Rock music. I guess the CD issue will carry a relative atmosphere!