Concert: The Bangles: Return to Bangleonia is a 71:45 minute long concert taken all from a single show. I know that it is increasingly popular to take a few songs from various venues on a tour, trying to get the best sounding versions or add more interest due to the improvised versions that occur on tours but I can't stress enough that such manipulation tends to perceptibly alter the chemistry and energy of the end result. Bangleonia was therefore a special effort, giving each of the gals a chance to shine with songs that catered to each of them as individuals as well as the group hits everyone wanted to hear. The addition of Greg Hilfman on keyboards was the only semi-noticeable irritant, Debbi picking up her guitar to play up front for a few songs (most notably for Going Down To Liverpool), and the others looking great as they sang & played in the comfortable venue (compared to the arenas they had once played, it sounded a lot better too).

1. Hazy Shade Of Winter
2. Live BANGLES
3. If She Knew What She Wants
4. Between The Two
5. The Rain Song
6. Manic Monday
7. Here Right Now
8. September Gurls
9. Going Down To Liverpool
10. I Will Take Care Of You
11. Get The Girl
12. In Your Room
13. Stealing Rosemary
14. Angels Don't Fall In Love
15. Hero Takes A Fall
16. Walk Like An Egyptian
17. Pushin' Too Hard
18. Eternal Flame
19. Manic Monday (acoustic version in the extras section)
20. Ride The Ride (acoustic version in the extras section)

Picture: The Bangles: Return to Bangleonia was presented in a letterboxed color offering by director Kerry Asmussen, edited by Paul Hendrix, and produced by Katie McNeil (with the DVD handled by Shawn Amos). The ending credits mentioned a lot about it being shot in HD so I was a bit disappointed that it was not in anamorphic widescreen but perhaps they are saving that for a future release in Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. The colors were accurate, there was no edge enhancement, and the clarity was substantially better than many concerts I've seen shot over the years; the ladies looking just fine as the heat of the moment had them sweating real sweat and looking the part.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of tracks including a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround in 448 Kbps or a standardized DD 2.0 in 224 Kbps. The concert venue was acoustically fair and most of the songs sounded good, though not studio perfect (as some people complain about). There was some minor distortion in one of the channels during a few sounds but the remixed 5.1 tracks actually had a lot of head space and separation; making it the clear winner for me to listen to this time. The clarity of the vocals was handled nicely and the balance between the instruments and vocals among the best I've heard from an 80's band in concert. I noticed no lip synching going on as newer bands are known for in concert and I hope they recorded other concerts using the same crew given the results here.

Extras: The best extra in many ways was the audio commentary by the three remaining band members from the recording line up (Susanna Hoffs and the Peterson sisters), recorded more recently than the concert itself. They went into a lot of detail about the band's history, where they are going now, and even made some comments about their interesting gig in Houston (where they were brought in to commission a freeway overpass to adoring fans, despite structural problems that almost ended their collective careers). It lasted the entire length of the concert and added some solid value for this fan. Along the same lines was a 16:21 minute long interview by Susanna Hoffs and the Peterson sisters on a couch. There was some material repeated from the commentary but most of it was not talked about on the track so it proved to add value as well. Fans will also like the inclusion of two "sort of" acoustic versions of Manic Monday and Ride The Ride; I say sort of because the gear was all plugged in and Susanna made it clear that she greatly prefers electric guitar for the driving power and liberated feeling it gives her. Lastly, there was a photogallery included and a paper insert complimenting the double sided DVD cover.

Final Thoughts: The Bangles: Return to Bangleonia was a nice bit of nostalgia but it served notice that the Bangles are not through yet, a recent tour well underway even if they are skipping most of the country this time (many 80's bands seem content to play in limited concerts on "Nostalgia Tours" with contemporaries that provide shorter sets; something the group claimed they did not want to do). If you're a fan of the ladies, you'll undoubtedly know that their official website goes into great detail about their projects, biographies, and history so check it out at The Bangles Official Website for more information on the band. As far as The Bangles: Return to Bangleonia is concerned then, the audio, video, and extras all made this affordable DVD concert a winner in my book; making me wonder if they will ever release a complete set of their recordings from when they were called The Bangs up until their recently recorded stuff, maybe even some of the reported jam sessions that proved they could wing it with the best in the industry. Until then, this one should tide us all over a spell so check it out.