Artist: HieroglyphicsTitle: Full Circle Tour (DVD)Rating: 3 1/2 StarsReviewed by: N. Context
Embark on a journey with the Hieroglyphics on their 2 month tour around the US and Canada. While watching Full Circle Tour (Hiero Imperium) follow the whole crew, along with Little Brother, Encore and Z Man, everywhere from chillin’ on the tour bus, kicking it with fans signing autographs, interviews, sight seeing and, of course, rocking the crowd. After taking the tour you can keep rocking with the Hiero Live CD which has 14 songs from different tour performances and 2 bonus studio tracks.
The Full Circle Tour DVD has a distinct backstage feel to it. The majority of the film is spent following the group on their downtime, interacting with fans and traveling venue to venue, which gives Hiero fans a chance to get to know them on a more personal level. They also added a “Bonus Clips” feature, which lets you follow around, individually, all the members of the tour. With all this you really get to see the camaraderie that has kept them together for a dozen plus years. Then when you see the love they receive from their extremely loyal fan base (devotees show up to concerts with the Full Circle symbol and/or Third Eye Vision logo tattoos) it’s easy to see why they stay together and stay indie.
While getting such a good look at what goes on outside the limelight of the touring process, the DVD feels incomplete. I was looking forward to seeing at least a 15 minute set from Hiero so I could actually see all of them rock on tour at once. You do get to see them perform but it’s split up throughout the DVD and it’s one song at most or a couple verses normally just focusing on just one or two artist. I wanted to see if the crew chemistry they had on the Full Circle album was evident in their stage performance. Regardless of my dismay at this, the DVD made me more of a Hiero fan than I was before. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.