Live In London

The first in a series of retrospective DVDs capturing the greatest video highlights of Conflict's two decades-and-counting career, Live in London (as its title implies) rounds up a series of performances in and around the British capital, beginning with a short, four-song performance at the Electric Ballroom in 1986. It is a tragic historical truth that, prior to the present century, too little of rock's heritage was actually caught on film -- if a band wasn't making regular appearances on TV, chances are that there's not going to be much documentation of their stage show. Certainly that's the case with Conflict. Arguably, the band was at its most crucial throughout its first three or four years, with the 1986 footage falling at the tail-end of that. But the bulk of material spread across these two discs hails from the 2000s -- that is, a seemingly complete concert from the Mean Fiddler in June 2003, shorter bursts from the 2002 and 2003 Gathering of the Thousands festivals, and three songs from the memorial concert staged following the death of Icons of Filth's Stig. But there's some excellent coverage of the 1987 Brixton gig that spawned the Turning Rebellion into Money live album (shot, curiously, the night before the LP was taped), Conflict's contributions to the long deleted Force of Service video, and a couple of early-'90s clips to maintain continuity -- and, besides, Conflict have remained so true to both their roots and their virtues that chronology does not really impact upon their virtues. Across four hours of seething live footage, the sheer magnificence of the band is never less than in-your-face and, if the sound quality occasionally belies the force of the music, then that's the price you pay for reality. ~ Dave Thompson