The story of Dutch rock band Taxe is quit extraordinary to say the least. No record deal, no album released and no major company to promote the band, these youngsters managed to play themselves in the picture with the US press by playing the club scene in the states. The video label Inspire Music signed the band recently and the decision was made to make the first official release by the band a live DVD, recorded in the Seattle late 2003. This company took the promotion of this disc most seriously: I received two or three, two-minute promo DVD’s before they send out the actual full length disc. This seemed to be a prime example of good promotion since the snippets I saw on these teasers looked most promising and therefore created high expectations. Watching the entire DVD was somewhat a disappointment. On the one hand the rough and unpolished footage (pictures as well as the music) seems to suit the band in a strange kind of way, on the other you might expect that the sound and the entire atmosphere of the disc to be more professional.

Occasionally you get the feeling that this thing could have been recorded in your own basement. The fact that the six members of the band are clearly impressed by the camera’s doesn’t help eighter. The well acclaimed spicy stage performance of the band turns into a somewhat forced and at over-arranged presentation. Understandable, but very unfortunate since the main effort of the band lies in the uninhibited performance on stage. The music itself is enjoyable, but not very original. Therefor I’ve got the impression that the band is primarily aiming for the younger rock fans. The foremost female teenagers for whom the appearance of the band members is at least as important as the music played. In this case the reference with Bon Jovi is even more obvious than in the music. Let’s be honest, there’s nothing wrong with that.