Jo is here from the States this week and - bless her - she's brought me presents. Most of the presents are things that I've ordered from Amazon or such and had shipped to her, including the DVD and soundtrack for TLG's "Rock and Roll Band," the concert film that Justin Kreutzmann made of the boys at the Fox Theater in Boulder earlier this year.

I have been waiting for this set for a while and I can say unequivocally that it's worth the wait. But not for the reasons I thought it would be, however. The music is excellent - it's as good a show as anything I've heard them play this year, the jams are interesting and the songs are strong. Trevor and Josh are both becoming more refined, picking their moments and playing to their strengths. Ben's equally more creative and expressive, stamping around the stage like a fool in love with the groove. And Scotty is Scotty...understated and lovin' it (though I did think he got ahead of himself in places). The CD sounds wonderful, too. It's always great to get a CD-quality soundboard recording, especially when the show behind it is so good. And there's a Jezebel, which is always always welcome.

The DVD...well...Justin's dad may be a genius, but the DVD leaves a lot to be desired. It's a solid concert movie: the band's only demand was that the DVD leave the full jams intact - no cutting in and out just when the music's going somewhere - and that makes for a satisfying listening experience. But sadly, while there's so much exploration in the music the exploration of what makes TLG tick is stunningly anemic.

I've never ever thought that these guys don't have a lot to say - I wouldn't be listening to them if that were the case. I guarantee you that's why I woke up the morning after the first show of theirs I saw - a disastrous night for reasons I won't go into here - humming their music despite having left the concert early. What they're writing and singing about may not be the most original concepts but how they express them is certainly unique. Trevor has a way with words and with lyrics that he himself admits is born out of immersion in the "old" San Francisco sound: Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, the Dead, etc. etc. Josh admits that he's "a pretty big fan of the psychedelic jam." Scotty chokes up a bit explaining what headlining the Fillmore meant to them. Ben grooves his way down Haight St. with just the right amount of respect and goofy self-awareness. They have a lot of thoughts collectively on what makes music such a vital part of San Francisco and there's a lot to be said about what makes them such a vital part of San Francisco music...but Kreutzmann allows them to say very little and says nothing else himself.

Maybe he's trying to strip it back and let the audience draw their own conclusions, but I think it just feels unfinished. I've done a lot of thinking about the "new San Francisco sound" this year and I think there's really something there - something interesting and true and worth exploring. And I thought this would be a great vehicle in which to explore it. When the son of the drummer for the Grateful Dead makes a concert film about a young San Francisco band just starting to come into their own you expect great things from both the band and the filmmaker. I'm still just as impressed with the band as I ever was, but the filmmaker leaves me cold.

I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who wants to hear truly excellent music. But put the DVD on in the background and just listen to the music. Go to a show if you want to see for yourself what TLG really has to say.