The Seekers

There's something of a Seekers' revival going on in the group's native Australia, due in part to the quartet's renewed concertizing and recording since 1999, and one result is the release of The Seekers At Home and Down Under, an EMI Australia DVD. As of early 2004, it's available exclusively in Australia, in a Region 4 PAL-format edition that is playable in the U.S. on multi-region DVD machines or on properly setup computers -- and the effort will be worth it for fans. At Home was a 1966 television documentary presenting the group on their first visit home to Australia after achieving success in England -- shot in black-and-white, it presents the group variously performing live (and occasionally lip-syncing to) some 16 songs, in a proper stage setting, at a live outdoor concert, and also aboard a train called "Puffing Billy" (the latter scene surrounded by lots of children and at least one big dog). It's all nice and informal and will be informative about some aspects of Australian history for some viewers, and the song mix includes their early, pre-stardom repertory, such as "Sinner Man," "Open Up Them Pearly Gates," and "We Shall Not Be Moved," as well as a performance of "I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago" (set to the tune of "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain"), featuring the three male members of the group singing and playing live. The footage is rather grainy and shows considerable wear, as well as some damage in spots, but it's mostly a pleasure to watch, and so totally unexpected as to be beyond criticism on that level. The Seekers Down Under was made a year later, in color, following the group on a singing travelog of Australia, and it has been much better-preserved, both in visual and sound content, although there are some visibly damaged frames. It's also a lot more stagy and stiff, as well as extremely contrived, and apart from the last seven minutes, is more about Australia than about the group's music. It's also very funny to watch this documentary for the distinctly Eurocentric vision that Australians had of themselves at the time -- in the decades since, despite some political squabbling over the issue, the country has become far more comfortable being part of the Pacific rim, as opposed to being a distant European cultural outpost. At 40 minutes in, we finally get some actual live concert footage of the group, accompanied by a small orchestra, at Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl in front of 200,000 people -- they do three songs, ending with a live rendition of "Georgy Girl." The disc is well produced within the limitations of the source materials, with a healthy volume level and each song getting a chapter-marker -- the disc opens to a simple menu that offers the two films as a selection, and with each movie, two-part menus breaking the films down by song. There are no extras or bonus materials. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide