You Am I - Who Are They These Rock Stars? (DVD)

You Am I are a band who rarely disappoint, in any way, shape or form. The records are magnificent, the live shows are spectacular and the rock'n'roll antics of front man Tim Rogers are, at this point, nothing short of legendary (Missy Higgins incident at Falls, anyone?). Let's face it, they are one of the greatest rock bands that Australia has ever seen, and whilst there have been bits and pieces of live You Am I footage recorded for various television specials and documentaries over the years, it isn't until now that fans have been treated to a proper live DVD release.

“Who are they, these rock stars?” was filmed to coincide with the release of their seventh studio album Convicts. So it is fitting that they chose to film the show at historic Sydney site The Mint. It is also fitting that they had 'Governor' Tex Perkins (who has recently been collaborating with Rogers on their 'T'N'T' project) complete with colonial costume, introduce the band. A little cheesy perhaps, but definitely fitting. The invite-only audience was small but it was nice to see that some people had gotten into the spirit of the night and also dressed up like convicts.

You Am I are marched onto the stage by drumming soldiers and waste no time starting the show. Opening with one of the stand out tracks from the Convicts album, 'Gunslingers' instantly sets the mood and gives you that tingly little feeling that you are in for a night of fierce rock and roll. The second song for the night (and the second single from the new album) 'Friends like you' carries on in the same vein, before they slow it down with yet another Convicts track 'The Sweet Life'. In fact, almost half of the set is new material, but it is always refreshing to see a band who understand that their audience wants to hear older tunes, and You Am I are always happy to deliver.
Crowd favourites like 'Mr. Milk', 'Berlin Chair' and 'How much is enough' get big cheers, as does the first single from Convicts, 'It ain't funny how we don't talk anymore'.

You would think that being a You Am I fan at this fairly exclusive show would be enough to whip you into a dancing, moshing frenzy, but sadly, I think that I rocked out more watching this DVD in my bedroom than the entire audience did for this recording. This is probably my biggest criticism of this release. I have been to countless You Am I shows over the years and know just how much the crowd can go off, so it is a shame that when the band are immortalized on film, this crowd weren't as enthusiastic as I would have expected them to be.
On the flipside, it warms my fangirl heart that even despite the rather subdued audience, the band still give an outstanding performance, pulling out all the rock moves and encouraging the crowd to sing along.

Overall this is a great show from one of the greatest bands this country has seen. I've watched it, on average, twice a day since I got it and am not yet bored of it (although, I'm the obsessive fangirl type, so a twice daily viewing probably isn't for everyone).
The bonus material on the DVD includes the music videos for the first two singles from Convicts and a great interview with the entire band that was filmed on location for one of the music video shoots.

Stand out moment is definitely the short, loud and feedback-drenched 'Thank god I've hit the bottom'. Don't get me wrong, the entire band are brilliant, but I challenge anyone to watch that song and then try and argue the fact that Tim Rogers isn't just a great musician and performer, he is a Fucking God.

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