The Names - Nightshift : Live At Plan K 15/12/2007 Mp3

A nice reunion concert. If you weren't aware of their work from the original releases, you wouldn't guess the music was that old, it still sounds relevant and stands on its own merits. It's interesting to see these middle age guys playing this kind of material, but if anything they seem more comfortable with themselves than they did in the older videos, and their stage presence is as good as any of their contemporaries. Let's face it, we're not talking about mainstream pop, here, there won't be dancing girls and costumes. Production quality of the video is professional, nothing fancy, but nothing annoying as is often the case. The closer, Magazine's "The Light Pours out of Me", was very good, they really rocked out on that one.

The four original videos included here are interesting, more for fans to see, but they're low budget affairs, of course, and won't win any awards. Still, if you're new to the band, this DVD wouldn't be the worst introduction, and these old clips would let you hear their original studio sound, which was very "Factory", if you will. As a whole, I think their repertoire is among the strongest of the 2nd tier 1980+/- Factory and Crepuscule stables -- not quite in Joy Division territory (well, how many others come close) -- but nevertheless a very good addition to a collection of post punk / cold wave music, with a strong emphasis on melodies, and a personal favorite.

Rounding out the playlist is a short, private, basement (as in: downstairs) set that will mainly be of interest to core fans and collectors, as it was privately video'd without plans for release, and is included to show the apparent germination of their subsequent reunion. Among the few covers here is an upbeat rendition of "New Dawn Fades" (speaking of Joy Division), but again the production quality of the picture is purely home video, albeit with surprisingly good audio, sounding like a direct board feed rather than a cheap camera mike.

Four of the main concert tracks also feature on the compilation DVD "A Factory Night (Once Again)".