Union - "Do Your Own Thing Live!" (DVD)
                                                                                                Released through www.kulick.net in 2005

THE BAND:
John Corabi - vocals & guitar
Bruce Kulick - guitars & vocals
Jamie Hunting - bass
Brent Fitz - drums


A brief history:    
    In 1984, Bruce Kulick received a call from the legendary band Kiss.  The job offer was to replace then Kiss lead guitarist Mark St. John while on tour for Kiss's 1984 "Animalized" release.  I am sure during this tour no one even considered that Bruce would be such a fixture for the band.  For the next twelve years Bruce wrote and recorded songs on three platinum and seven gold records for the band.  In 1996 Kiss took part in MTV's television show "Unplugged'.  Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the two original members of Kiss have always tried to give the millions of Kiss fans world-wide something special.  This performance would be no exception.  For the first time since 1978, the original members of Kiss will be on the same stage.  This one performance will ignite the four original members of Kiss to once again dawn their seventies alter-egos and leave Bruce without a job.  Who really can speculate what Bruce and Kiss would have accomplished if this performance had not have taken place.  But that's another story.
    Sometime after the tour for Mötley Crüe's most successful release, "Dr. Feelgood". The guys in Mötley Crüe along with vocalist Vince Neil made the decision to part ways.  This would be the first time in Mötley history they would be left without a vocalist.  But much like the legendary band Kiss, Mötley bassist and founder Nikki Sixx loves to shock his fans.  In 1994 Mötley along with new vocalist John Carabi, formally of the band The Scream released Mötley's self-titled CD "Mötley Crüe".  Even though this self-titled release will be Mötley's heaviest album to date, and in my opinion some of the best songwriting the band has done.  The CD left longtime Mötley Crüe fans very confused and in 1997 John was ask to leave the band.
    Sometime around 1998 Bruce Kulick, John Carabi  along with bassist Jamie Huntings and drummer Brent Fitz formed the band Union .  After releasing two studio releases and one live CD the guys in the band decided it was time to release a DVD. 
The Review:
    This first ever DVD release from Union titled, "Do Your Own Thing Live!" as two segments.  The first being a fourteen track live concert that was taped on October 21 at Paladino's in Canoga Park, California and The Shack in Fullerton, California.  The set list the guys chose included; nine Union songs, two Kiss songs, one Mötley Crüe song, one Scream song, plus Bruce's version of the "Star Spangled Banner" by Frances Scott Key.  It is fairly obvious that the guys in Union covered all their bases in the decision of the set list.  It appeared that the two clubs the band where performing at that night were fairly small.  That combined with the way the concert footage was filmed gives you a very personal feeling with the band.  Basically, it looked like there where three or maybe four people in the crowd that had over-the-counter camcorders taping.  I really liked this effect because you get the view from a fans perspective instead of what a normal film crew would have done.  Union was dead on that night musically with only a very few sound problems with the backing vocals.  But you know what that's what getting back to basics mean. 
    The second segment of the DVD consists of the bonus material.  For me this is where the DVD is worth the price of $20.00 plus shipping and handling.  The bonus material opens with a second concert that was filmed at the Musicians Institute after NAMM.  The set list for this performance consisted of the following songs [("Do Your Own Thing", "Love (I Don't Need It Anymore", "Hypnotized", "Jungle", "Old Man Wise", "Heavy D", "Who Do You Think You Are", "Everything's Alright", "Dead", "Power To The Music", "I Walk Alone" (lead vocals by Bruce)].  Because the band performed this after the long day at NAMM you can tell at time the guys are a little fatigued.  But do not let that fool you the guys put on one hell of a performance, and this will be one of the few times fans who are not that familiar with John's humor will get to see it.  At times, John had me cracking up so bad I sure do not see how the guys in the band could keep a straight face.  Especially the comment about the magazines making sure they get his name spelled right when they write a bad review. Also included in the bonus features is a very comprehensive photo gallery, a behind the scenes movie that consists of segments from interviews the band has had from the beginning of Union with interviewers from all around the world, a promotional commercial for the bands' latest release "Blue Room", and a bonus unreleased audio track for the song, "Walking In your Sleep".
    You may purchase this DVD at Bruce Kulick's website www.kulick.net for $23.00 total.  That is $20.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling.  At that price alone with what you are getting in return is a steal.  There is no reason why every concert DVD doesn't have this much information included.  "Do Your Own Thing Live!"  will make a great addition to any Bruce Kulick or John Carabi fans collection and is an absolute must have for those fans.  But even if you not a big fan of the two musicians the DVD is still worth buying.