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The Dollyrots - Family Vacation: Live in Los Angeles
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This Dollyrots live concert film has been a long time coming but now after a successful crowd-funding campaign to finance the making of Family Vacation the band can finally give their fans the DVD they've been clamoring for. The film does a good job of imparting the fun that comes along with a Dollyrots show and here the band runs through a selection of bubblegum punk favorites like "My Best Friend's Hot," "Get Weird" and "Twist Me to the Left." Bassist and singer Kelly Ogden is clearly having a ball, grinning from ear to ear when she's not singing and hamming it up on a cover of the old Melanie hit "Brand New Key." The band begins the Melanie cut in a mellow vein, as the original is all the way through, but the song soon explodes with a punk rock fury. Other highlights include the grunge-tinted "Satellite" and closing number "Because I'm Awesome" where Dollyrots guitarist Luis Cabeza gets a turn on vocals. The band is rounded out by drummer Rikki Styxx and she keeps the driving beat going throughout. The film also includes a few chapters of extras and viewing these snippets of rehearsal, life on the road (and in the air) as well as many candid moments explains why the film is titled as it is; the band, with Styxx, Ogden's and Cabeza's son River (amusingly known as "the Dollytot") and a couple of others truly does function as a family. The end result is, that between the on stage and off stage footage, fans can see that these fun-loving musicians are not so different from themselves. Family Vacation was something to look forward to for the longest time; now it's a great memento to cherish until the next "trip." Package also includes the concert on CD.
