DVD: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live DVD compilation packs a mini-history of music on nine discs with select moments from the annual ceremonies of the last 25 years. Rehearsal footage plus extras that include unedited and complete speeches from recipients, some of which last nearly half an hour, make this a rock collectors treasure trove. Initially the box set can only be purchased online in the nine DVD configuration or a 3 DVD edition available at places like Amazon.
It’s the personal moments, the heartfelt and longish speeches and backstage banter, that bring out the true soul of the musicians on display here. I like the extra features backstage and b-roll even better than the main selections. Although it’s better to see one’s heroes in action from afar than to know too much about their personal life. Just a day after I watched the disc that had the Mamas and the Papas induction and subsequent performance of “California Dreamin’” I was hearing you-know-who did you-know what.
The main part of each disc contains induction speeches and classic performances and the special features that go behind-the-scenes. Eight of the discs have close to three hours of material each while the ninth disc clocks in at an hour and concentrates on the stadium concert that took place in 1995 in Cleveland when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually opened.
The musician’s comments divulge a wealth of information and never shy away from four-letter words. The Sex Pistols not only didn't show up, the sent a letter telling everyone to bugger off. Jann Wenner reads the letter and they are inducted regardless. It would be refreshing if the spate of current movie and television awards were as unguarded. Most of the ceremonies took place at the Waldorf in Gotham but a few were at different locales like Cleveland or L.A.
Watching the entire series raises more questions than it answers. Like why does Fleetwood Mac include Peter Green yet ignore Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch? Also Green who wrote “Black Magic Woman” plays that song with Santana yet doesn’t perform with Fleetwood Mac. Neil Young is perhaps not so mysteriously absent when the Buffalo Springfield are inducted but later recants and appears many times throughout the subsequent years either on stage with other bands or inducting artists like The Pretenders. Whether it’s Young briefly railing about the then upcoming war at the 2003 dinner or a knockout version of your favorite song every disc has keeper moments.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live set is presented in stream of consciousness style rather than chronological. Certainly a set covering all the ceremonies from the last 25 years would be exhaustive. Still, it seems to me the best parts are the speeches that go on for over 20 minutes, just one example of which would be Tom Hanks humorously introducing the Dave Clark Five and then that groups collective speeches.