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As you read last week, New York-based pop band Fountains of Wayne begins a two-night acoustic stand at Largo tonight. LAist recently got its hands on a review copy of the quartet’s first DVD No Better Place - Live in Chicago slated for release in March. The music by Chris Collingwood (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Adam Schlesinger (Bass, Vocals), Jody Porter (Guitar, Vocals) and Brian Young (Drums, Percussion) isn’t flashy, isn’t complicated - it’s just straightforward power pop. And that’s exactly what you’ll get in this DVD, which showcases the music, but not much else.
No Better Place - Live In Chicago features a good sampling of the band’s hits, especially from their 2003 Gold album Welcome Interstate Managers from 2003. Songs include “Mexican Wine,” “Hey Julie,” “Bright Future In Sales,” “No Better Place” “Valley Winter Song,” “All Kinds of Time” and, of course, the homage to teen boy fantasies, “Stacy’s Mom.”
There aren’t many extras to this concert DVD -- which was filmed in 2005, btw. No interviews with the band, no outtakes, no tour of the fountain store where the name was birthed. Nada. The only “extra” includes an acoustic studio mini-set filmed this past December. Now while we know that we’re not going to get a Flaming Lips show with FoW, but couldn't Collingwood and crew even muster onstage banter or a back-and-forth with the L.L. Bean-, J. Crew-wearing audience for the cameras?
So unless you’re a total Fountains of Wayne freak, might be a better bet to stick to the music -- and to the acoustic sets at Largo.
