From the moment the band formed in the mid 1960s, The Velvet Underground was the very embodiment of dichotomy. At once a commercial disaster and an artistic triumph, musically accomplished but sweetly naive, defiant of convention yet skilled at leveraging the language of pop to craft unforgettable tunes, VU was simultaneously on the outside looking in and on the inside looking out. The tensions created by these wildly varying aspects of their music and personalities gave rise to the genius we remember them for today.

Active from 1964 through 1973, The Velvet Underground was responsible for a host of songs that were instantly emblematic of the psychosexual revolution. Lou Reed's fearless lyrics addressed topics like love, sex and drug addiction with a rawness and honesty that was far beyond anything his contemporaries were attempting. And, when paired with John Cale's sculpted, impressionistic viola, Sterling Morrison's droning bass and Maureen Tucker's dry, thudding drums, the result was greater than the sum of its parts.

To understand The Velvet Underground one has to come to terms not with structure or theory, but with the nature of the now. Everything these musicians did was intensely focused on the moment of creation. Reed and Cale were uninterested in the kind of studio tricks and production office calculations that have become the stock in trade of the modern music industry. They were fascinated with the instantaneous, visceral experience of expressing emotion as sonic waves that ebbed and flowed dynamically and immediately. They never played a song the same way twice and viewed studio work as supplementary to the live performance.

Ultimately it was their embrace of discord that led to the dissolution of the band in 1973. That this mercurial collection of individuals was able to stay together for so long is a testament to their artistic commitment and it's probably fair to say that their fans were comforted in knowing that VU wouldn't go on to become a morbid, aging parody of themselves in the mold of The Rolling Stones or The Who. But The Velvet Underground didn't go quietly into the night. Cale, Reed, Morrison and Sterling continued to create influential music separately after the band broke up. Reed and Cale in particular had very successful solo careers.

In 1993, the original Velvet Underground lineup reunited for a European tour that was to have led to a series of American shows. This DVD is a documentation of one of the performances on that tour and the usual dichotomy is firmly in place. On the one hand, VU seems restrained and rote in their approach to the songs. They perform a standard 'best-of' set that includes standards like White Light/White Heat, Waiting for the Man, Heroin and Venus in Furs, and features very little of the kinetic improvisation that made them famous. But on the other hand, there are moments of pure brilliance sprinkled throughout the set. Though they seem to lack the luster of youth, VU is still clearly interested in creating unique moments that try to articulate both the physicality and the mentality of on the spot artistry. In the end, these shining moments are outnumbered by their less sparkling counterparts, but the overall experience is well worth the price of admission for VU fans.

Details
Rhino's release of Velvet Redux Live MCMXCIII features a crisp and clean non-anamorphic widescreen transfer that shows excellent color saturation, deep blacks, pure whites and exemplary shadow detail. Several cameras cover the action on stage and the footage is cut together tastefully to give an intimate portrayal of the band that’s reminiscent of Jonathan Demme's seminal Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense. The 16 bit PCM stereo track is rich and clean and expertly mixed. Audiophiles won't be disappointed by the quality of the sound.

Extras
There are no supplemental features on the disc.

Overall
Though the heyday of The Velvet Underground had long since passed by the time they got together for this final (ultimately abortive) reunion tour, there's still a lot to like about this footage. The band shows incredible mastery of all the disparate elements that made them legends and, though much of the fire has gone out of their performance, this disc should still delight the band's fans and even casual viewers who want to get to know The Velvet Underground.