Review by Doug Kennedy:
The DVD is GREAT. The show (which I have to admit, I've owned a crummy third generation VHS copy of for many years) is fantastic.

Whoever did that pre-release review saying that the guy's voices were shot is a SHMUCK! The guys are in fine voice. In fact, I think their voices and performances are BETTER than the famous MCA "Evening With Utopia"* video from the same tour.

(* An Evening With Utopia was a VHS/Beta release from 1983 that I watched roughly 9,324 times when I was in high school. Thank you.)

I also think the SOUND & MIX are BETTER on this DVD. It does have a bit of a close-up and immediate soundboard quality to it, but I like that.

The guy's vocals are really mixed hot and up front. In fact, the guitar, bass, and synthesizer are all right upfront as well. I always thought there were some mix-issues on the "Evening With Utopia" video. Like Roger's keyboards were way under-mixed at times. Not here, You can hear every note.

I think most fans thought that if the DVD had contained the exact same setlist as the Evening With Utopia video, it wouldn't have been worth owning. Well, rest assured diehards, this DVD has a few songs that "Evening With" didn't, but it's also missing a couple of numbers as well. Here's the breakdown:

On "Evening With" we got "Love Alone" and "Love Is The Answer". On the Boston DVD, we don't get those two songs, but we do get "Burn Three Times", "Swing To The Right", "There Goes My Inspiration", "Back On The Street", and "Forgotten But Not Gone". I'd say that alone makes this DVD worth picking up!

THE INTERVIEWS: This to me was worth the price of admission. Seperate interviews (done this past winter?) with each of the four Utopia members. All told, we get about 90 minutes of chatter from the fellas.

One amusing moment: Todd gives Kasim props for writting Utopia's biggest and most successful radio hit, then names the song as "Love Alone". Poor Todd, his memory ain't what it used to be. Of course any Kasim fan will tell you that the correct song title is "Set Me Free". That's OK, we still love ya TR-I.

Sanctuary Records had solicited fans to provide questions for the guys to answer. I sent in several for each guy, and ONE of them got answered...

My question was for Kasim and it was something like:
"How uncomfortable was it when you told the guys you were leaving the group to pursue your solo career and how did you go about getting BACK into the band?"

I'm sure someone else may have sent in that question, but that's the one I submitted that got an answer. Ironic, as I probably could have just called Kasim and asked him that! Hahaha (Yeah, like he takes my calls)....

So that's it. The DVD is AWESOME and everybody should pick it up (along with a fresh copy of Quid Pro Quo of course).

Review by SueW:
A review of this DVD is difficult for me as I never saw Utopia play live.

I've seen over 50 Todd gigs now (all with a band) but that's not the same as seeing Utopia and certainly not the same as seeing the band as they were 23 years ago now. Of course I've seen videos of the band and heard all their albums, plus I know the Redux video almost off by heart (!) so that's the basis of this review.

The actual DVD itself was disappointing to me. There is one photo of the band on the cover and then identical but larger shots from the photo are dotted around the main photo. I was hoping for some detailed liner notes (like there is in the Oblivion / POV and Some Trivia CD) but all there was in my copy was a music DVD catalogue of other artists. Thankfully at least they spell Kasim's name correctly on the cover (once on the sleeve, once on the back and once actually on the DVD).

I wasn't strong enough to watch the concert first as, of course, I went straight to Kasim's interview! For me those 23:41 minutes are worth the price alone! He comes across as very charming, brutally honest and exactly as he does if you are ever lucky enough to get to meet him!

Kasim does look slightly nervous (he constantly fiddles with his glasses!) especially compared to Roger Powell who looks so laid back that he could fall asleep! Kasim also looks a bit "bundled up" as he's wearing a thick jumper and jacket but his facial expressions when he's talking distract from all that!

The questions they put to Kasim are very good and each one neatly leads onto the next. I'm not sure whether Kasim had advance notice of what he would be asked or not, but each of his answers are well thought out and delivered in honest, self-depreciating style. There can be few musicians who would openly admit (and even stress) that they themselves asked to come back to the band they had only left a few months previously!

The interviews with Todd, Roger and Willie all filled my perceptions of them and provide a fascinating post script of a band that I've heard so much about. Things like Todd not being overly bothered about commercial success for the band were reinstated to me by him not remembering the name of their biggest single correctly! And the can of lager in-shot! The only thing I would wish for in the interview section would be a fifth interview with all the band in the one room.

I then moved onto the concert section and that was fascinating to watch! Obviously I watched Kasim more than the others and it was very obvious that, even when he had been in the band for 6 years by the time of this recording, that he constantly watches what the others (especially Todd) are doing! Nowadays on stage he'll watch other musicians on stage but that seems to be more to check that they are playing correctly but on this DVD he looks as though he needs reassurance! He also doesn't make as much eye contact with the audience as he will on stage now.

Overall Kasim's voice sounds brilliant to me and his bass playing is impeccable - goodness knows what that so called professional reviewer was talking about!

The photography of the concert is adequate - there are times when they have the camera on the wrong person (for example at the beginning of Set Me Free they zoom in on Todd instead of Kasim) but I just marvel that concerts from 23 years ago are available now for us to purchase!

As for the set list, the DVD contains most of my favourite Utopia songs - I'm actually amazed at how long the concert section is too!

Overall it's definitely a DVD that I'll be recommending to my friends - both those who know who Utopia is and those who don't!

Comments by fans about this DVD taken from various websites and mailing lists include:
"I thought that the sound and the picture was really good, I dont know what the hell that one reviewer was talking about."

"WOOHOO! It was fabulous!"

"Kasim talks about his solo career and departure from and re-entry in Utopia."

"As funny as it was to see the band all so young and crap (Kas you still look the same) what was REALLY funny were looking at the peeps in the audience, Good Lord...did I ever look anything like that?!"

"Highly recommend this dvd..I know it will be watched several times in this house!"

"The interviews were great to see, too - over an hour it seemed, with all four band members as they are today."

"I think I like 'Live in Boston' even better than 'An Evening With Utopia'. It makes me wish I could've been around to see Utopia for real. It was great to see Kasim and Todd sing "Forgotten But Not Gone" because it's a cool song and I've never seen it on any other video or dvd."

"The guys are in fine voice. In fact, I think their voices and performances are BETTER than the famous MCA "Evening With Utopia"* video from the same tour."

"I like when Kasim answers that question about returning to the band...he says, it was clearly me who asked to come back, I wasn't asked...I was shocked as the way Roger looked...NEVER expected the long hair thing that he has got going on...Kasim looked very handsome..so all you peeps out there who want Kasim in your living room for a good 25 min...get this dvd!"

"The interviews are definitely a blast - thankfully they do all still respect one another even if it's unlikely that they'll ever reunite."

"Loved loved Loved Swing to The Right...There Goes My Inspiration...Todd was Fab in Only Human."

"The interviews are excellent and extensive. I was surprised to see Roger Powell's appearance. Willie looked like he was about 30 years old. The interviews alone are worth the price of admission."

"I'm very glad I bought it. Even though it's so close to "An Evening with Utopia", Boston '82 has a different look and feel. I love it. The band played and sang great. It's funny, with each dvd or cd version of "Just One Victory", I always wonder how Todd will sing the "we've been waiting so long" intro part. It always makes me giggle as he finds yet another way to sing it...I particularly like his Boston version...lol. I love the addition of some of the other Network Utopia songs too...a nice treat!"

"I wished Kasim put his glasses on or throw then away instead of playing with them."