Over the past several years, bands have increasingly relied on pre-recorded tracks, loops, etc to reproduce live what they did on the studio recording. While that's helped many bands keep their CD sound live or stay in sync with their video displays or whatever their reason for using prerecorded music may be; it's also taken a lot of the out of "magic" out of concert performances. And by "magic" I mean that amazement that you get when you see a phenomenal show that really makes you say, "WOW."

Whenever I've listened to a David Crowder Band album - especially last year's Remedy - I've often thought, "that sounds great, but how are they going to pull that off live?" I was definitely skeptical about just how much of their performance would be live, and how much would be pre-recorded. So naturally, the first thing that stuck out to me was seeing that practically every band member had a MacBook out and in use. Whether they were running loops, effects, or virtual instruments - the computers weren't completely running the show, they were an instrument in it. Did I mention that David Crowder used a Guitar Hero controller re-wired as a MIDI instrument controller? Remember that "WOW factor" I mentioned earlier? They've got it. By the end of the DVD, I went from being a skeptic to being genuinely impressed.

Having a live audio disc bundled with a concert DVD is always a bonus for the fan that wants to take the live experience with them wherever they go. With the Remedy Club Tour CD, the audio mix is polished and perfected. Apart from the crowd reaction at the beginning and end of each song, sometimes it can be hard to tell you're listening to a live CD and not the studio album.

With that said, the Remedy Club Tour DVD does exactly what any good concert DVD should do: it makes me want to see the band live.

- Review date: 8/18/08, written by David Taylor