By By Shaun R. Killroy
It’s hard to describe the magic and history of a band like Guided By Voices. It can only be witnessed and there is no better chance than on the DVD The Electrifying Conclusion. According to Robert Pollard, lead singer and songwriter of Guided By Voices, his dad asked him 21 years ago what he had to offer rock and roll. Pollard’s answer came in the form of Guided By Voices-one of the most beloved and prolific indie rock bands of all time. The band made a career on writing one and a half to two-minute pop songs. Along the way, they released 15 full-length albums, including the indie rock landmark record Bee Thousand.
Filmed between the late hours of Dec. 31, 2004 and the early hours of Jan. 1, 2005, The Electrifying Conclusion opens with a mock slideshow featuring pictures of the band at various points throughout their career. The slideshow winds to a surprisingly poignant end, when it is set to “Window At My World,” a single off the last Guided By Voices record, Half Smiles of the Decomposed. Immediately after the slide show, the band’s signature neon sign reading “The Club Is Open” (the chorus from one of Guided By Voices more popular songs “A Salty Salute”) clicks on, followed by a roar of the crowd. From here on out Pollard slurs and stumbles his way through the set, aided by family members and former band mates including Tobin Sprout, on the song “14 Cheerleader Coldfront.” Sprout was a founding member of the band whose departure was highly publicized due to rumors of animosity towards Pollard.
Pollard is a captivating and magnetic presence on stage. Throughout the set, he drunkenly waxes nostalgic about the trials and tribulations that accompanied the early years of Guided By Voices. Pollard becomes vitriolic on the topic of the other major bands recognized as influential in the indie scene, “Sebadoh was jealous, and then Pavement was jealous, and then The Flaming Lips got jealous, and Bright Eyes is jealous right now.” Quotes such as these abound on The Electrifying Conclusion.
The concert is Guided By Voices at their peak, a rare occasion for a band with such an incredible longevity. Pollard exudes energy through the whole set and consumes an inhuman amount of alcohol. During and after the song “Buzzards and Dreadful Crows,” the band’s altered state becomes apparent, as the chords become sloppier and the words become far more slurred. Through it all, Pollard is defiant and coy with the crowd. “It’s hard to go away,” Pollard mockingly says. “Did I say this was Guided By Voices’ last show, I meant this was [drummer] Jim McPherson’s last show?” However, at the end of the show his bravado wears off. Pollard is even moved to tears during the final song, “Don’t Stop Now,” the self proclaimed Ballad of Guided By Voices, with ex-band members and family at his side. This seems a fitting end for one of the great front men and bands in rock and roll history.
Some viewers, especially the uninitiated, might balk at the idea of a four-hour concert. However, given the fact that you’d need a bookshelf encyclopedia Britannica (they have written roughly 1063 songs over their career) to fit the entire catalogue of Guided By Voices work, the concert serves as a good display of the bands enduring favorites. This concert DVD might be helpful for those who wanted to get more familiar with a band whose music has been considered fairly inaccessible.
As far as special features go, The Electrifying Conclusion contains footage of Pollard recording demos for a few songs off the final album and concert footage from 1994. Both will probably only appeal to hardcore fans, but they are good quality and certainly give a different impression of the band than the main set featured on the DVD.
The Electrifying Conclusion should be considered an essential concert DVD for both fans and non-fans alike. The film and sound qualities are great, as are the shots of the band and the crowd. The DVD gives the average viewer a chance to experience the final show and animated antics of one of indie rock’s most underappreciated and insanely prolific bands.
The Electrifying Conclusion is a fitting and poignant end to a longtime career of innovation and devotion. After 21 years “The Club” has finally closed. The Electrifying Conclusion gives you a front row seat to indie rock history.
Final Grade: A