"Anyone who has caught [Marah] on tour knows that theyâ€"clichés be damnedâ€"leave it all out on the stage. And now, thanks to the Marah: Sooner Or Later in Spain concert DVD, we’ve got the video to prove it to any doubters who aren’t hip to Marah and their all-out live shows.

There’s funny stage banter (Dave says that If You Didn’t Laugh was garnering eight-star reviews), and heartfelt confessions (Serge talks about air turbulence and mortality at the end of 'For the Price of a Song' and about missing his wife before launching into 'The Apartment') and tons of great songs. Seriously, it’s an embarrassment of riches here, as the band hits every album (save their Christmas album) from their discography. If you’re looking for specifics, here’s one man’s opinions of the highlights: the extended jam on 'Sooner or Later'; the doo-woppy 'Pizzeria' segueing into the punky 'Head On'; 'Freedom Park' (which loses nothing despite the absence of 'Shimmy-shimmy-coco-bop'); and their cover of Willie Nelson’s 'On the Road Again', which Serge calls 'the greatest song he ever heard in his life'. It’s no mystery why he would love that ode to life on tour, given how much fun the band is clearly having on stage (with each other, with themselves, with the audience) and how much passion they’re pouring outâ€"Serge ends up on the ground at the end of the first encore, 'Reservation Girl', squeezing every last bit of soul out of his axe.

There’s also a few bonus performances on the discâ€"if you like Marah’s slower songs, be sure to check out 'Long Hot Summer' and 'Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft', which were recorded live in Pittsburgh and Chicago, respectively. They’re solid, if unspectacular performances. Two other bonuses, though, are almost worth the cost of this set alone, and considering they’re not part of the concert proper, that’s really saying something. First up is the first-ever live performance of 'Fat Boy', where Dave begins by reading the song as a poem; with the switched-up phrasing, it’s a completely different piece of art. Even more awesome is Marah’s pair-up with writer Nick Hornby, from a performance in London. Hornby reads a very funny piece about how important the Faces were to him and his friends growing, and when he’s done, Marah launches into a fantastic version of the Faces’ 'Debris'. Really, it’s a perfect fitâ€"the Faces and Marah may be separated by one ocean and 30 years, but they both sing modest songs about real young mens’ lives. And in a world of artifice and boastfulness, it’s the rare truths that Marah capturesâ€"and are captured in this DVDâ€"that make them one of America’s best bands."
-Stephen Haag