With vintage concert documentaries like Woodstock or Gimme Shelter, viewers are given a sense of both the music performed and the chaos unfolding backstage. For those of us who weren't alive during the formative days of sprawling music festivals, it's a fascinating insight into these often historic gatherings of talent. The Knebworth festival, which began in 1974 in the small English village, often gets overlooked, next to Glastonbury, T in the Park or the Isle of Wight festivals (although to be fair, Knebworth isn't a yearly occurrence).

When English pop-prog rock group Genesis headlined Knebworth in 1978, they were fresh off "... And Then There Were Three ...," an album recorded after the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett. Phil Collins had moved solidly into the position of frontman; the group was starting to break away a bit from its more experimental roots and toward a cleaner, more pop-oriented style. (This would be a good time to point out that this short film has been released previously, on the Rhino box set "Genesis 1976-82"; it's unclear why it's being re-released separately.)

The 23 minute, 31 second short film that leads off this disc feels like an expanded news report or a piece of record company promotional material. In addition to featuring the band performing two songs -- "The Lady Lies" (performed during the concert) and "Many Too Many" (performed during soundcheck), both from " Three..." -- there are interviews with the band, as well as festival promoters.

The whole film is amusing, since the person narrating and appearing on camera has a slightly bumfuzzled air about the enormity of a music festival such as Knebworth -- at one point, the interlocutor seems flatly astonished that fans would travel from France to England to see Genesis perform. Aside from showcasing Genesis (which, in truth, takes up maybe 10-12 minutes of the whole feature), the film -- which has no titles or credits, not even identification of those being interviewed -- explores the machinations of the festival, from erecting fences to keep out deadbeats and setting up phone booths to the massive number of concession items and wrangling security.

In view of traveling behemoth festivals and multi-day events so commonplace in the States and Europe now, the quaint images of teams of kids tossing sodas into concession stands seems very genteel. While none of the other bands that performed in 1978 are featured, there are glimpses of aerial footage that will take your breath away -- hundreds of thousands of attendees sprawled out all over the English countryside (in the rain, natch).

The vintage short film ends quickly and abruptly, but another, slightly longer film picks up immediately afterward: "Looking Back at Knebworth '78 with Freddy Bannister and Jon Kirkman in 2007." It runs for 29 minutes, 26 seconds and is essentially two men talking on a couch -- Kirkman prodding memories out of Bannister, who oversaw the fourth annual Knebworth festival some 30 years ago. There aren't any startling revelations here, merely incidental thoughts and stories that will probably only interest rock historians or die-hard music fans.

The Video:

The visual presentation is a very mixed bag -- the actual archival footage from 1978 is offered in a 1.33:1 fullscreen transfer that looks like someone aimed a camera at a television while a VHS tape was playing. Consistent flicker, print damage (scratches and such) and washed out colors plagues the entire 23-minute short film. While you'd think elements filmed more recently (say, in 2007) would fare better, that's not necessarily the case: The "remembrance" portion of the disc is offered in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, but it's incredibly soft and has harsh digital noise around the edges. Overall, don't pick this up expecting anything close to great quality. The Audio:

The soundtrack fares a bit better than the images, although the Dolby 2.0 stereo track is marred by a few pops and dropped words here and there. Most of the audio was recorded on location at the Knebworth festival -- surprisingly, both songs performed by Genesis sound better than the interviews -- and the 2007 look back sounds perfectly adequate, with dialogue conveyed clearly. The English accents never muddle the conversation, although some optional subtitles would've been a nice touch.

Supplements are a bit sparse (unless you count the 2007 interview as a bonus itself): The disc contains five photo galleries, shot by Alun Reece, of bands Brand X, Genesis, Jefferson Starship, Tom Petty and various other artists that performed at Knebworth 1978. The booklet -- a 28-page reproduction of the program offered on June 24, 1978 -- is an extra unto itself. Brief bios about each band are included as are some seriously trippy period ads: Laserium's Laserock, anyone?

English pop-prog rock group Genesis headlined Knebworth in 1978 -- they were fresh off "... And Then There Were Three ...," an album recorded after the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett. This brief (23-minute) film gives some flavor of the festival and a chance to hear a couple Genesis tracks from the band in its prime. Although the film was previously released on a Rhino box set, it's being made available here separately. Only die-hard fans -- who somehow don't own the box set -- or music history buffs will probably want to seek this out; the visual presentation isn't great and the number of supplements is slim. Rent it.