[quote]You'll need the little coupon that comes with the upcoming album (likely to be released in March). Just keep the postcard for now. I'm gonna make a special thread will complete instructions for the campaign soon.[/quote]

Awesome, I appreciate it! I thought there was going to be some sticker or something in the case, but when I saw only the postcard, I was a bit confused. Let's hop we can get whatever this special item is stateside then.

Hey peeps! Hype me up with some noteworthy moments from the new DVD! Gonna get it eventually; just been dropping my spare cash on other Japanese bands lately. How's Arie on the bass and vox (esp. compared to Jun)? Do they still do the thing on "Calvero" with their guitars? How do the backing vocals work live for "Radio Telegraphy"? Any particularly epic performances that blow the studio versions outta the water (other than the aforementioned "Blagodarnost")? "Locomotion" and "Eliot" sound thrilling from the trailer. How would you rank this DVD outta all their others? Gimme your thoughts!

OK, just seen [i]Stroll and Roll Band[/i], and it's beautiful. Such a change up from the last few DVDs because I think the performances on this one sound way way way way more fun, happy, and laid back. This is partly reflective of the sound of the [i]Stroll and Roll[/i] album, which is a lot more upbeat and less serious than previous Pillows albums, and also of the song choices from their [i]Stroll and Roll[/i] tour set, which is dominated by fun tracks from their entire catalogue ("Kim deal", "Air Resistor", "Come on, ghost", pretty much the entire [i]Stroll and Roll[/i] album; even "Poison Rock'n'Roll" is back). The result is an atmosphere of relatively light and blissful rock rather than the intense, emotional rock of previous DVDs. In fact, the live versions of most of these songs sound subtly but significantly more laid back than even their studio counterparts (partly due to the band's playing, partly due to the sound production of this DVD), esp. the [i]Stroll and Roll[/i]-era songs like "Eternal Treasure" and "Radio Telegraphy". "Kim Deal", esp., sounds a lot less forceful than both the [i]Happy Bivouac[/i] recording and past live clips of the song.

Seeing the setlist previously, I was sorta disappointed as it's mostly made up of cuts that aren't my absolute favourites from the pillows, but watching this DVD, you really have to admire how their back catalogue picks fit perfectly with the tracks on show from [i]Stroll and Roll[/i]. "Wake up! dodo", "Orange Film Garden", "Ride on shooting star" and "Poison Rock'n'Roll" are prime examples; super fun tracks that aren't too fast or heavy to disrupt the happy-go-lucky feel of this show.

Despite all this talk of a more chilled performance on [i]Stroll and Roll Band[/i], the band still rocks hard when they need to. "Rock'n'Roll Sinners", "Locomotion, more! more!" and "Ready Steady Go!" are about as fast and energetic as they've always been, although Sawao disappointingly doesn't murder his voice on the latter.

Arie really entered the band at the right time because although I adore Jun's really intent, driving rock style (full power-stance with fast and powerful picking), Arie's carefree and effortless playing on this DVD really fits in with the overall feel of the show and the material that the band has selected for their set. Check the intro to "Come on, ghost" and you will instantly recognise what Arie brings to the table, esp. compared to Jun.

imo there is a distinct melancholy to DVDs like [i]Don't Forget Today[/i] and [i]Moondust Light for You[/i] right down to the colours selected for lighting, and Sawao is at his best during those shows when reaching for the most painful notes with the full force of his lungs on songs like "Kono Yo no Hate Made" and "Moondust". On the contrary, the band on [i]Stroll and Roll Band[/i] inspires awe from completely jovial, blissful songs played at the same high level of instrumental prowess as on previous recent tours. It is so heartwarming when the band hits a stride and really locks in with each other, at which point the songs are able to convey that they're having the time of their life playing them, without the intense soul-bearing of Pillows' more melancholy songs. Furthermore, as a result of the generally joyful, light-hearted atmosphere of the set, the few chill songs or heartbreaking Pillows-trademark ballads that are thrown in (namely "Subtropical Fantasy", "Blagodarnost" and "Cuckoo") add a real sense of variety to the show.

Miscellaneous stuff that I noted:
- The use of echo on Sawao's vocals is sort of haphazardly done, but this is a minor issue.
- The band really got the energy right this time around on "About a Rock'n'Roll Band". imo they sorta screwed this aspect of the song up on the [i]Moondust Light for You[/i] DVD, while they killed it at the [i]Don't Forget Today[/i] show.
- Arie's a fairly capable backing vocalist. He's not as good as Jun on this DVD, but I think that's just a matter of him being unfamiliar with the material and the band and therefore less able to determine when he needs to add another layer to a vocal line. Related: Manabe's backing vocals have gotten so good over the years; he's on point so often.
- Catch Sawao's dancing on the last chorus of "Terminal Heaven's Rock".
- Watch for EPIC Satou fills or cymbal crashes. There's a few in there that will get you.
- I mentioned before that "Kim deal" is a little bit toned down compared to past versions of the song, but this is sorta true of most of the old songs on this set. Check "Advice" and "Ride on shooting star", too; both are definitely slower than previous.

[quote="dimsim3478"]Check "Advice" and "Ride on shooting star", too; both are definitely slower than previous.[/quote]

Sato is getting too old for them high-intensity rock sets all day erryday. This is why no recent American tours, I bet.

[quote="Marekenshin"]Sato is getting too old for them high-intensity rock sets all day erryday. This is why no recent American tours, I bet. [/quote]
It could be that he literally can't play at that intensity "everyday"--that is, perhaps he has better days--or that he just got fatigued mid-set. As I said before, "Locomotion, more! more!" and "Ready Steady Go!" are pretty much as energetic as they always have been. "Rock'n'Roll Sinners" is too, although you'll notice that Satou holds back on the tempo with his opening roll a little, and they get more into it later in the song. Hence, the fact that some songs are a little bit slowed down is weird to me, because others rock as hard as we've come to expect from the band.

This definitely isn't a perfect show where the band is constantly hitting the right notes; they really got lucky with [i]Moondust Light for You[/i], being that that final show of the tour happened to be amazingly performed. On this DVD, however, you can definitely see Sawao struggling through a few notes, and of course as I mentioned, the tempo and dynamics can be slightly lacking at times (although this is rarely a bad thing, as I discussed at length in my last post). Still, I think this is the pillows at the peak of their lives as performers, so the show is still usually incredible, even though this mightn't have been the best one of the tour.

God damn, the Kim Deal rendition on that DVD is PERFECT. The tempo is really great for milking the tenderness of the lyrics, and Manabe's solo sounds the best I've heard on a live recording for that song. Nice.

I gotta say my favourite rendition is on [i]Parts of OOParts[/i], but I can see how we differ: I look at "Kim Deal" as more of a driving, sentimental rocker than a tender track. That said, the [i]Stroll and Roll Band[/i] version is indeed phenomenal; I'll admit I'm almost always inclined towards [i]Parts of OOParts[/i] because I love the sound production on that DVD.