Live on the Pacific Ocean
By Michelle Brose

I knew that my favorite band would be on vacation for the next few months, so in preparation for months of enforced abstinence, I stocked up on a couple of older CDs I didn't already have, and the "Live on the Pacific Ocean" video. I discovered the video was a throwback to the olden days, all the way back in 1997, when Mr. Rock was still Zhenya Kolykhanov, Igor sported an unruly mop of curly hair, Avi had a platinum blonde buzz cut, and Oleg... looked like Oleg.

The picture quality on this video wasn't the greatest, but I've seen much worse. (Zhenya's hair glowed eerily bright throughout, but that could have just been my TV.) There was the occasional dizzying pan from the ocean or the Ferris wheel in the background to the Elvises, as if the camera operator had been caught unawares. The continuity on this video, also, left a little something to be desired. Abrupt switches from the Twilight Dance Series stage to shots of the Elvises performing on city streets, and then back again, were the most common and bothersome problems; it got annoying when they were playing something catchy on the street. I would start to get into the tune, and wham, we were back at the stage, starting up a different one.

Despite these minor annoyances, however, the video did a great job of capturing the energy and pizazz of a Red Elvises show live. There's some wonderful footage of the sort of good-natured mayhem that goes on at their shows. Not only do we get to see Oleg dancing like a Cossack, but Igor is immortalized in the act of peeling off his jacket and shirt, buttons ricocheting everywhere, and climbing the scaffolding around the stage. There are also a few shots destined to become quintessential Red Elvises classics; good close-ups of Zhenya fingering, a peek at the Redmobile, the band posing with an Elvis impersonator, and even a short clip of Avi "translating" for Oleg.

Even though it wasn't live (it was Memorex), the Red Elvises still had the power to get their audience involved. As aging hippies and young hipsters grooved to the Moscow beat onscreen, I and my small cadre of Red Elvises admirers sang along throughout. I didn't see the end of the video very clearly; by then they had started dancing, shaking the floor and obscuring my field of vision. Heh. Just like a live show.

My conclusion? Well, it's not better then sex. But it's better then months of abstinence!