← 40 years ago this month
'Working Class Dog' in Phoenix →
Although I purchased the 40th anniversary CD/DVD set of "Working Class Dog" when it initially came out in June, I finally got around to watching the DVD of RS and the band performing the album in his living room. Not because I didn't want to earlier, but because none of our devices have disk drives anymore and we don't have a DVD player set up so I needed some technical assistance to make it happen.
Now that we're just about to get started on a really busy time because school has started, I decided today's the day. I had to watch it in the office/recording studio because that's where the XBox is and that's the only device that we have left that plays DVDs.
The XBox setting on the TV is what I use when I use the TV as a monitor for my Mac-Mini when I record my songs. So before I started watching, I needed to find the remote for the TV and the small remote for the device that switches the TV connection between the Mac-Mini and the XBox.
Next I took out the Plants vs. Zombies DVD that was in the XBox, inserted the "Working Class Dog" DVD and was ready for an afternoon living room concert.
However, nothing happened when I used the remote to hit play and learned that I actually needed the XBox controller to watch it. Ugh! Where is the XBox controller?! My 12-year-old said he had one in his room and benevolently ran to his room to retrieve it and even plugged the USB into the console for me. Finally, three remotes and an XBox controller later, I was ready to watch it!
All that rambling is a way to explain that it was well worth the effort.
Random thoughts while watching:
This film really captures the time period so well – with RS and the band members greeting each other after not seeing each other for 13 months due to the pandemic. You really get a sense that in addition to enjoying playing music together, they also genuinely enjoy spending time together.
Since it was filmed in his home, you get to see parts of his house, which was cool.
There were shots of his wife, Barbara, watching the band play, which were really sweet. Especially when you think of their history together – that she was actually working at Studio City when he originally recorded the album there, before they started dating.
The DVD not only shows RS and the band performing "Working Class Dog" in the order the songs appear on the album, there are also shots showing conversations with RS and band members and some interview clips of RS (including one where RS says this is the first time he's played all the songs from the album since 1981 when he recorded it.)
The band also had a toast before playing "I've Done Everything For You," so he was able to get a product placement in for Beach Bar Rum (the company he owns with Sammy Hagar, who wrote that song). (The toast was "To dogs," which I'm sure my dogs appreciated, as they were in the room with me while I watched it.)
Kudos to the band for doing such a great job learning and playing all the songs and to RS for remembering all of them after so many years {since he hadn't played so many of them for decades) and for sounding so good!! The singers sounded great, too.
While I have heard some of the songs live in past concerts, there were some I hadn't heard before and it was especially cool to hear "Red, Hot and Blue Love." The performance of "Inside Sylvia" was beautiful, too. (I had heard it live in the solo acoustic show, but that was on a guitar app so it had a different feel.)
RS and the band looked like they were having so much fun performing together – as they do in the live shows. Also included were performances of hits after "Working Class Dog," too, which are typically included in live shows.
Watching it is also a reminder of the time lost after everything shut down and that feeling of not knowing how long it would last. The last show they played together before filming this was March 7, 2020 (coincidentally exactly 5 years – to the day- after I met him during a meet-and-greet after a concert, which was the first time I had seen him after a 15-year hiatus.) The WCD concert was filmed in RS's living room in April 2021.
It's such a relief to know that we are all able to come together again at concerts and it makes me even more excited to see them live in concert later this month!
Posted in Rick Springfield
Tagged 40th anniversary, Working Class Dog
2 thoughts on "Time for the living room jam"
Wow, you really had to overcome obstacles to watch this! Great review! Now I hope he will do this also for the anniversaries of the following albums. But first: the new album, please. And the second Red Locusts!
leisahw
LOL, yes the technology struggles are real! Glad you enjoyed the review. I agree, I cannot wait to hear what new songs he's been working on!!