Bonfire - 'Double Vision' (DVD)
Released through LZ Records in 2007
www.bonfire.de
THE BAND:
Claus Lessmann - vocals
Hans Ziller - guitars
Uwe Köhler - bass
Jürgen “Bam Bam” Wiehler - drums & percussion
Chris "Yps" Limburg - guitars
I.) Set List:
Live at "Firefest III" from Nottingham's Rock City
1.) "Day 911"
2.) "But We Sill Rock"
3.) "Never Mind"
4.) "Under Blue Skies"
5.) "Hot To Rock"
6.) "Don't Touch The Light"
7.) "Tony's Roulette"
8.) "Give It A Try"
9.) "American Nights"
10.) "Hard On Me"
11.) "Sweet Obsession"
12.) "Ready 4 Reaction"
13.) "Bang Down The Door"
II.) Bonus Features:
1.) 'The Videos'
a.) "Starin' Eyes"
b.) "Sweet Obsession"
c.) "Sleeping All Alone"
d.) "Hard On Me"
e.) "Sword And Stone"
2) 'Bonus Live Footage'
a.) "Under Blue Skies"
b.) "Sweet Home Alabama"
c.) "Proud Of My Country"
3.) 'Behind The Scenes Footage'
From Cacumen to Bonfire:
Around 1972 in the West German town of Ingolstadt teenage
guitarists Hans & Karl Ziller formed the rock band Cacumen. The two brothers
recruited several friends to round out the band. The name Cacumen came from a
test Hans had taken in school and when translated from Latin it means, ‘the
top of the mountain’. For the next six years, Cacumen playing at local
small venues gaining a fan base especially in their hometown. Han asked Claus
Lessman, who was already well known for his melodic vocal lines to join the band
in 1983. The band asked Hanns Schmidt Theissen, who played on the band’s
“Riding Away” single, if they could use his home recording studio to record
their first full length album. After recording the album ‘Bad Widow’ Hanns
tried to help the band obtain a record contract, however he was unsuccessful.
After updating the band’s image to the then eighties hard rock look, the record
company RCA offers the band a recording contract. The label tells the boys that
the band name Cacumen was too difficult for your average rock fan to pronounce
and they should change it. What emerged after a brain storming session in 1986
was Bonfire. June of that same year Bonfire release their first ever worldwide
release titled, “Don’t Touch The Light” (“Which, is a essential hard rock
classic that every hard rock fan must own!”) Bonfire’s follow-up album
titled, ‘Fireworks’ consisted of the single, “I’m Sleeping All Alone” which, was
rotated on MTV’s ‘Headbanger’s Ball’. This will be the last album the band
releases commercially within he United States. As the band began, working on
what would become their third release, founding member Hans Ziller started to
have problems with the record label. Against Bonfire’s better judgment, the
band decides to fire founding member Hans Ziller. Never getting over the firing
of Hans along with the compounded feeling of failure due to the lack of success
in North America after four albums, Claus will leave the band in September of
’92. Bonfire hired lead vocalist Michael Bormann of Jaded Heart to replace
Claus. However, despite the hiring, the record label refused to release any new
material that did not have Claus, and shelved the CD. So instead the band
released a live CD consisted of live material recorded while the band was on the
‘Point Break Tour’ that featured Claus on vocals. In June of ’94, the band
decided to call it quits and split up. Meanwhile, Claus reunited with Hans and
formed Lessmann/Ziller. Together the two recorded one EP titled, ‘Glaub Dran’
released in 1993. Just like in the late seventies Claus & Hans started to gain
a small following, when it dawned on them they needed to be Bonfire once more!
The duo started legal proceedings to get the rights to the Bonfire name as well
as the music the band recorded from 1986 to 1992 which, consisted of the albums;
‘Don’t Touch The Light’, ‘Fireworks’, ‘Point Blank’ and ‘Knockout’. After a
successful legal battle, Lessmann/Ziller changed their name to Bonfire and since
1996 the band has released at least one CD per year surpassing their 1980’s
popularity.
Bonfire - 'Double Vision Live'
Saturday October 28th 2006 on the main day at
Nottingham, England’s Rock City’s ‘Firefest III’ is when and were this DVD was
filmed. Usually at festivals such as ‘Firefest’ artists have to cut setlists
down do to time restraints, but this is not the case with this Bonfire DVD. The
band chose a well-rounded thirteen-song setlist that spans their twenty-year
career, which includes thirteen studio releases. In fact unlike most artists
who revolve their setlist around their latest release, Bonfire only perform two
songs of their latest studio release titled, ‘Double X’ which, was released on
May 26, 2006. The fact that this is the first live DVD the band has ever
released maybe the reason the band picked this setlist. Either way I have no
complaints outside of the fact I would have loved to see and hear the song, I’m
Sleeping All Alone” off of Bonfire’s 1988 release titled, ‘Fireworks’. Never
the less being a longtime Bonfire fan I am not going to complain about the
setlist. Even though this was the first time I have ever had the chance to see
the band live, I am familiar enough with their music to say they were dead on
the money that night, never missing a note! Vocally Claus is in his prime and
this live performance really displays his vocal strength. Bonus features
included within the DVD is five music videos, and three bonus live songs, plus
behind the scenes footage of the band backstage. If you are a fan of Bonfire’s
then DVD is an absolute must have, especially, if you live outside of Germany.
This is my one and only complaint. Manufactured in the PAL format (PAL,
short for Phase Alternating Line, is a
colour encoding
system used in
broadcast television systems
in large parts of the world.) the DVD will not play
in many DVD players. I was lucky enough that one of the DVD players in my home
plays this type of format. So please before you purchase this DVD make sure you
DVD player will play it. I will be the first to admit this is a huge complaint
that MTM should rectify escpecially with the power of the Internet these days.
However, is this complaint big enough to keep you from buying the DVD. Well,
not if you are a Bonfire fan!