Atomic Kitten - Right Here, Right Now - Live [2002] [DVD]

Recorded in Belfast, we get all of the tracks from the “Right Now” album, and a few extras including the first single from their new one “It’s Ok”. Both the audio and pictures are beautifully done, however there are a few cuts throughout the show where some of the clothe changing breaks have been removed, and it somehow feels a bit strange when watching. This also results in the quite short playing time of 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The actual gig isn’t the biggest show in town, but unlike many huge setups it isn’t planned and polished to the death, and I find it very charming to spot quite a few unplanned events, some might call them mistakes, happening during the show. One thing I did notice though was the audience appearing to be stuck at their seats rather than dancing all over the place, I don’t know if this is something special for Belfast, the UK in general or perhaps it’s encouraged for security reasons because the average age among the crowd is quite young.

The DVD also contains a “behind the scenes” documentary, but unlike the nice, plain, ordinary 20 minute one seen on many other discs this one is a massive 47 minutes, and the bulk of the recordings are actually made by the girls with a small camera. I find the documentary alone would have been worth the full price of the DVD, because you really get the feeling of being backstage during the preparations and the actual tour. The recordings spans from some very emotional moments and thoughts, through the cute “Let’s all embarrass the life out of Jen on stage because it’s her birthday” to some completely off the wall takes like “Tickling the bass player”. The girls also reveal who the biggest loony is among them, and they are not afraid to admit that they were proven wrong when they first thought it would have been easier to just put on a tape rather than a real live band. Overall, this feels like a very honest documentary.

I have been fighting to think of something negative to say about this DVD, but nothing serious really shows up. It would have been nice with subtitles on the documentary though, I know it’s unfair to expect Danish ones, so just an English set would have been great as it can sometimes be a bit hard to hear and understand all the words. But of course if you miss some parts you’ve got the perfect excuse for watching a few more times.

Now who might buy this DVD then?
If you are a real Atomic Kitten fan you’ve properly already bought it. If you dislike the Kittens and consider them a designer-band who can’t sing, then you shouldn’t buy it unless you don’t mind being proved wrong. But if you, like me, likes easygoing pop music, and a live show that somehow feels intimate rather than huge, this is definitely for you. Also in case you don’t know much about the Kittens, and wish to find out what they’re all about, this disc is a perfect place to start, only problem is that it won’t be long before you are searching amazon for anything else kitten on the virtual shelves.