Toyah - Wild Essence: Live in the 21st Century (DVD, 2005)

I've Been Waiting Years For Any Toyah Musical Footage To Be Released In The USA,Especially On DVD. Previous To This Release,You Could Find A Live Version Of "Danced" In The "Urrg!A Music War" Movie,But That's About All. The "Good Morning Universe" Live Concert Wasn't Issued Here,And Should've Been. This "Wild Essence" DVD Is A Real Treat For Many Reasons. It's A Relatively Current Show From A Club In The UK (Robin 2 R&B Club,Wolverhampton 9-16-05). She's Got A 7-Piece Band (None Of Which I've Heard Of)Which Includes 3 Horn Players,Eliminating The Need For A Synthesizer Player. This Arrangement Greatly Enhances The Performances,As Far As I'm Concerned. Others May Disagree,And I'd Certainly Understand. Personally,I'm Not A Synth Fan To Begin With,So I'm Practically In Heaven At Toyah's Decision To Use Real Horn Players. A Real Good Call. Also,Her Choice Of Material Couldn't Possibly Be Better,Or More Attuned To Her Musical History. Stretching Back To Her 1979 Debut LP,"Sheep Farming In Barnet",We Have 4 Songs Represented ("Race Through Space","Neon Womb","Our Movie" And "Danced").From The 1980 "Blue Meaning" Album,There's A Much-Appreciated Version Of "Ieya". 1981's Famous "Anthem" LP Isn't Forgotten Either,With Another 4 Songs ("Obsolete","Jungles Of Jupiter","It's A Mystery" And The Encore "I Want To Be Free"). There's Another 3 Vintage Toyah Numbers ("Thunder In The Mountains","I Explode" And "Echo Beach")Plus One That I Hadn't Heard Before Called "Little Tears Of Love". The Real Surprises Here Are The 3 Excellent Cover Tunes,Which Are "Sweet Child 'O Mine" (Guns 'N Roses),"She Sells Sanctuary" (The Cult)And "Till Victory" (Patti Smith). I Can Deal With The Cult Song,But Would Have Rather Heard Something Else Other Than A G'N'R Cover ,Such As "Angel & Me","Dawn Chorus" Or Anything Else From "The Changling" LP,For That Matter. Nevertheless,It's Well Executed And A Good Version. Of The Covers,The Patti Smith Song Is By Far The Best One Performed. It's Extremely Heartfelt,It Shows That She's A Big Fan (I Had No Idea Of This Previously). For Some Reason,Toyah Isn't Wearing A Dress For This Concert. If You've Ever Wondered What She Looks Like Not All Covered Up,You Now Have Your Chance. I'd Like To Know What Took Her So Long To Show A Little Flesh (Thankfully For All Of Us,She Still Looks Good!). This Marvelous DVD Also Contains The USA Debut Of 4 Of Toyah's Original Promo Videos ("I Want To Be Free","Thunder In The Mountains","Brave New World" And "Rebel Run"). There's An Interview With Her From Last Year,As Well As A Discography And Photo Gallery. An Entire Recent Concert With Toyah In Fine Form Plus Darling Extras Make This A Superb DVD Release. Well Worth The Inexpensive Price Tag. Now,Where's The Rest Of Her Europe-Only Footage On DVD? Time Will Tell.