Denali
Issue #26
Pinnacle (Lovitt)
By Amber Drea
Published: December 1st, 2005 | 4:42pm
A year and a half after the band started by Maura Davis and her brother Keeley called it quits, a DVD of live performances, behind-the-scenes tour footage, and music videos emerges. Denali only put out two full-length albums and was best experienced in concert, though it’s likely that only fans will be interested in Pinnacle.
Recorded at five different shows using multiple angles, deft direction, and editing by Rex M. Teese, the live portion of this disc recreates the quartet’s stage presence with accuracy. A greatest-hits of sorts, it features nine songs representing a typical set from Denali’s late 2003 tours. The audio isn’t the best, but it’s a huge improvement on Devil In the Wood’s Builder 5.0 (the fifth in the label’s series of rare and live recordings), which was bootlegged via mini-disc. The lighting is a little too dark, often leaving Keeley and guitarist Cam DiNunzio in the shadows, but for “Run Through,” the camera stays focused on Maura’s face, which is fitting since her voice sounds superb. Highlights include “Normal Days,” a fast-paced number that ends with a perfectly timed shot of drummer Jonathan Fuller hitting the side of his snare, and “Do Something,” in which Maura actually smiles.
As far as the extras go, there are grainy music videos for “Relief” and “Hold Your Breath,” the latter of which features the band in a forest with a freaky, black, bubbly worm creature. And one can watch “Normal Days” in the alternate angle — a nice close-up view of Fuller’s crotch.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more