Live on Saturdays: Video Reviews and Summaries

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by riskylogic, Feb 15, 2020.

  1. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Reach For It

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    Live Performance by Edgar Winter
    Released September 1, 2009
    Recorded May 2004
    Venue Royal Albert Hall, London
    Genre Rock, Blues
    Length 69 minutes (concert), 122 minutes (including interviews)
    Label Charly

    In this memorable concert filmed at London's famous Royal Albert Hall in May 2004, Edgar Winter performs highlights from his long and distinguished career.

    Personnel
    Edgar Winter – Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Sax and Timbales
    Chris Frazier – Drums
    Mark Meadows – Bass
    Doug Rappaport – Guitar

    Track Listing
    1. Keep Playing that Rock'n’Roll
    2. Turn on Your Love Light
    3. New Orleans
    4. Texas
    5. Dying to Live
    6. Show Your Love
    7. Free Ride
    8. Frankenstein
    9. Tobacco Road

    Version Control
    There is no discogs entry for this video, but I think there is only one version of this – the DVD released in 2009. It is still available cheap - Amazon has it for $8. I got from importcds for $6 plus shipping, which is less if you are adding it to an existing order.

    The Concert
    It’s widescreen DVD video. The lighting is a bit dark, and it’s Dolby Digital in spite of the 5.1 mix there’s no surround to speak of. They never show much of the crowd, but I’d guess it’s half full – I don’t think there’s anybody in the balconies. It’s a pretty spartan stage – lots of room for just four guys. Also, it's another fraudulent cover; Edgar is older at the concert than the cover picture appears, and he is wearing different clothes.

    “Keep Playing that Rock'n’Roll”
    From Edgar Winter's White Trash. Johnny played the blues, and so did Edgar when he was in his band. But when he struck out on his own, Edgar started to boogie – keyboards and vocals on this one.

    “Turn on Your Love Light”
    Bobby Bland song covered on Roadwork. Edgar trades his keyboards for a sax – long impressive sax solo. Edgar coaches his band and then the crowd.

    “New Orleans”
    From Winter Blues. The original album title was Nu’orlins. Boogie blues, sounds like Doobie Brothers.

    “Texas”
    From Winter Blues. This sounds like something Johnny would do. Song concludes with guitar solo; this is also where we find out that Rappaport is real good. This would probably be my third choice, but it’s the only video I could find (just the guitar solo, not the whole song):



    “Dying to Live”
    From Edgar Winter's White Trash. Slow song that Edgar mainly plays solo (keyboards and vocals), the rest of the band comes in at the end.

    “Show Your Love”
    From Winter Blues. Gospel song that ends with a bass solo from Meadows that is pretty much just as amazing as the Rappaport solo.

    “Free Ride”
    From They Only Come Out at Night. This is where Meadows and Rappaport prove they can sing too.

    “Frankenstein”
    From They Only Come Out at Night. This one features Edgar with a synth draped around his neck (looks silly), sax, and timbales. Finishes with a too-long drum solo from Frazier.

    “Tobacco Road”
    JD Loudermilk song covered on Entrance. Edgar also sung this with his brother at Woodstock, and at Albert Hall in 1969, and there’s a long version on Roadwork. Those renditions were all better, but Edgar does give his sax another nice workout here, and he still has a healthy pair of lungs.
    _______

    I’d much rather hear Entrance played in it’s entirety live, but given the unlikelihood of that ever happening, I can’t complain about the set list. Not only are all the albums of his that I have represented on the set list, there aren’t any on there that I don’t have. So, it’s a nice short compilation. I got my money’s worth on this one.

    Music – 2
    Sound quality – 2
    Video presentation – 2
    Video quality – 2
    Surround – 1
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2020
    Guy Smiley likes this.
  2. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The Grateful Dead Movie

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    Concert Documentary by The Grateful Dead
    Recording Date Oct 16-20, 1974
    Release date June 1, 1977
    Directed by Jerry Garcia, Leon Gast
    Produced by Edward Washington, Ron Rakow
    Cinematography Stephen Lighthill, David Myers, Robert Primes
    Edited by Susan R. Crutcher, Lisa Fruchtman, Jerry Garcia, John Nutt
    Running time 132 minutes
    Country United States
    Language English
    Budget $600,000

    The Grateful Dead Movie, released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures live performances from rock band the Grateful Dead during an October 1974 five-night run at Winterland in San Francisco. These concerts marked the beginning of a hiatus, with the October 20, 1974, show billed as "The Last One". The band would return to touring in 1976. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974. The movie also portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. Two albums have been released in conjunction with the film and the concert run: Steal Your Face and The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack.

    "There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert" was a fan epithet, coined by Dead family member and building manager Willy Legate. In performance, the Dead emphasized musical improvisation and jamming, varying their set lists nightly. To Deadheads, their music was best appreciated in person, at live concerts. Furthermore, Dead shows were known for their positive, exuberant and celebratory atmosphere as the band and the audience interacted, fostering a special environment of musical celebration. Capturing this phenomenon on film was the paradoxical goal of The Grateful Dead Movie.

    To document the Grateful Dead experience, the film showcases the fans more than was usual in a concert movie at the time. They are shown enjoying the show, discussing the music and the band, and what it was like to be a Deadhead in the mid-1970s. The film also includes interviews with members of the Dead and vintage footage from their colorful history and early days in the band. The film opens with a uniquely Grateful Dead animated sequence, featuring the "Uncle Sam skeleton". The psychedelic animation was created by Gary Gutierrez, using techniques that he developed specifically for the project.

    By 1974, lead guitarist Jerry Garcia wanted to stop touring and take a break from performing with the Grateful Dead. Before beginning a hiatus of uncertain length, a five-show farewell run was set for October 16-20, 1974 at Winterland in San Francisco. An idea developed to film the shows and then send the movie out on tour as a substitute. (The Band would film their farewell concert at the same venue two years later.) Manager Ron Rakow also sold the idea for a soundtrack album to United Artists Records.

    The movie was premiered June 1, 1977, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. After an initial multi-city tour, prints were made and the film occasionally appeared in theaters as a midnight movie. Because the Grateful Dead had returned to touring by the time the film was released, its original purpose had been lost. Not all band members were fond of the film as the cost and debt were a sticking point, and it didn't represent their current incarnation; by 1977, the Dead had stopped performing with Ned Lagin, regained their second drummer, built a scaled-down sound system, and were performing two new albums' worth of songs.

    Drummer Bill Kreutzmann had a more positive reaction, saying "Producing that thing really consumed Jerry’s time, on a day-to-day basis, throughout the hiatus. ... What are you going to do in that situation? Say, 'Okay, you can only have this much money and if the thing’s not complete, who cares, wrap it up?' Or are you going to find more money for it and let it become a really worthy project that your band leader and good friend really believes in?... as Jerry had known all along, it captured and defined our identity, since it had the visual element to go along with the music, the animation to go along with the interviews, and the B-roll that really showed viewers with their own eyes the circus that was a Grateful Dead show in San Francisco circa 1974. ... the part of the movie that ate up the biggest slice of the budget and took the most amount of work – the animated sequence in the beginning – is my favorite part. Back then, animation was all done by hand, frame by frame.

    Personnel
    The Grateful Dead

    Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
    Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
    Keith Godchaux – keyboards, vocals
    Bill Kreutzmann – drums
    Phil Lesh – bass guitar
    Bob Weir – guitar, vocals

    Additional musicians
    Ned Lagin – electric piano and synthesizers
    Mickey Hart – drums

    Track Listing
    The Grateful Dead Movie contains full or partial performances of the following songs:

    1. "U.S. Blues" October 18 & 19, 1974
    2. "One More Saturday Night" October 19, 1974
    3. "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" October 18, 1974
    4. "Truckin'" October 19, 1974
    5. "Eyes of the World" October 19, 1974
    6. "Sugar Magnolia" October 17 & 19, 1974
    7. "Playing in the Band" October 16, 1974
    8. "Stella Blue" October 17, 1974
    9. "Casey Jones" October 17, 1974
    10. "He's Gone jam" October 17, 1974
    11. "Morning Dew" October 18, 1974
    12. "Johnny B. Goode" October 20,1974

    The DVD bonus disc includes the following full performances:

    13. "Uncle John's Band" October 19, 1974 8:48
    14. "Sugaree" October 18, 1974 7:37
    15. "The Other One" / "Spanish Jam" / "Mind Left Body Jam", October 17, 1974 16:40
    16. "Scarlet Begonias" October 19, 1974 13:45
    17. "China Cat Sunflower" / "I Know You Rider" October 17, 1974 17:01
    18. "Dark Star" October 18, 1974 16:40
    19. "Weather Report Suite" October 18, 1974 17:39

    Version Control
    The Grateful Dead Movie was released on VHS in 1981. This edition was made from a video copy of the film, and the sound and visual quality were not of high standard. It was released in the UK as a double video CD, in 1995.

    A two-disc DVD of The Grateful Dead Movie was released on November 9, 2004. The movie was carefully restored from the film negative and the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 preserved. It features three audio options: the original multi-channel theatrical mix, a new 5.1 multi-channel mix, or a new stereo mix. The first disc is the original film. The second disc contains bonus tracks from the concerts and several featurettes about the making of both the movie and the DVD, including then-recent interviews with Grateful Dead members. The DVD was certified Double Platinum (200,000 units) on February 21, 2005, in the Video Longform category. The DVD is what I have.

    On November 1, 2011, the restored movie was released on Blu-ray, with lossless audio. Extras include a commentary on the Blu-ray disc production, plus a DVD with 95 minutes of extra songs and featurettes on the making of the movie.

    The Grateful Dead Movie is part of the All the Years Combine video box set, released April 17, 2012

    In addition, The Grateful Dead Movie can be streamed from Amazon Prime, which I would presume to have bluray audio quality. However, the stream doesn’t include the bonus tracks, and there won't be a choice of 5.1 audio mixes.

    All of the versions are out of print, and used copies are a little pricey, but the DVD isn't too bad. Discogs.

    The Concert
    We’ve got DVD quality video, not exactly top notch, but still great for a 70’s concert. There are two different 5.1 mixes, but neither one avoids interrupting the music with documentary noises. I compared the two mixes for the first two songs only, and didn’t find any significant differences.

    "U.S. Blues"
    From the Mars Hotel. Rude Interruption #1. The movie starts off with an animation that has it’s own audtio. The song starts up in middle of the animation, so we’re listening to both. I think the band is playing in stereo, while the animation uses the center channel and the rears. But eventually the music breaks through to all five speakers, and the animation ends.

    Which leads a large indoor concert with open area in front of the stage, and we see more of the crowd than the band. That’s OK, we see enough the band to know that it’s Garcia with lead vocals.

    "One More Saturday Night"
    First appeared on Europe ’72. Weir lead vocals, and I still think we’re getting more crowd than band. But again, they are probably more entertaining. It seems that most of the camera angles are from the sides of the stage. So, we get lots of closeups of Garcia who is on the left side, and Donna Godchaux who is on the right side when she is singing (she also roams the stage when she is not singing). Keith Godchaux and his piano are parked right in front of the right-side camera, so when we see him it is often from behind. Everyone is double-miced; one is hooked to the concert speaker system while the other is fed to recording tape.

    "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad"
    Woody Guthrie cover. Rude Interruption #2: Bill Graham introduces the road crew, but it doesn’t seem to impact the song itself. Garcia is singing lead, but we don’t get very far into it before Rude Interuption #3 hits, the trucks delivering the equipment roll in with their own soundtrack.

    "Truckin'"
    From American Beauty. Interruption #4, equipment setup video. Some of the band crew are Hell’s Angels members, and Lesh has his bass wired so each string will some from a different speaker. We get to hear a coupls minutes of the song before Rude Interruption #5 that shows the ticket holders lined up to get in; wouldn’t be bad at all if they didn’t have to include the audio too.

    "Eyes of the World"
    From Wake of the Flood. There’s some extra video at the start of this one, but no extra audio – we get hear then for several minutes straight, with Garcia lead vocals in center channel. Does Lesh have his strings coming out of different speakers? I don’t think so, but he is coming out of both the front speakers and the left rear. But then it fades into rude interruption #6: Audience interviews, and then we get back to another few minutes of performance before it stops suddenly. Best trck so far.

    "Sugar Magnolia"
    From American Beauty. One of the fans is upset that he is being exploited by being filmed, which is hilarious. The songs starts up and we’re still watching the crowd. Weir lead vocals, and we finally get see the whole band along with a young lady dancing on the stage directly in front of the right-side camera. Just about everyone out on the floor is dancing too. Sugar Magnolia segues into Sunshine Daydream without interruption.



    "Playing in the Band"
    ver, first appeared on Grateful Dead ’71. Interruption #7 presents some Grateful Dead history with a soundtrack from past live performances. Then we get an intermission, then a little more animation, and after about ten minutes since the last one we finally another song. They are all wearing different clothes, so it’s a different night. First long slow jam; don’t think at least some crowd members can’t dance to it. Unfortunately we get interruption #8 in the middle; Jerry Garcia interview. Back to the song, then #9: More band member interviews. How bloody annoying. Back to the song; guitars are mixed partially to the rears. Mostly right side camera so we see lots of Donna. Kreutzmann plays a drum with his elbow, WTF.

    "Stella Blue"
    From Wake of the Flood. #10: Vignettes of people without tickets trying to get in. Another slow song with tasty guitar and Garcia vocals. Mostly left side camera which features Jerry. Little girl comes up on stage to give Garcia flowers.

    "Casey Jones"
    From Workingman's Dead. #11: Concessionaire interview before songs starts. We’re sort of rocking again, with Garcia hogging the vocals and the left side camera. #12: Gratuitous fan interview in middle of song.

    "He's Gone jam"
    First appeared on Europe ’72. #13: Crowds sings Home on the Range, Bill Graham pours champagne, the very slow jam starts with drums and guitar, and I’m pretty sure more than a few audience members are tripping. Guitars mixed partially to back – it’s surroundy.

    "Morning Dew"
    Cover that appeared on the debut album. The jam segues straight into this song with Garcia vocals. Lot’s of Garcia from the left side and Kreutzman from the right side. Pretty crazy that Weir and Lesh are front and center, but you see less of them than just about anybody. The song starts out slow, speeds up into almost rock, then slows down again, then speeds up for the finale. The crowd loves it, but there’s a little too much noodling for my tastes.

    "Johnny B. Goode"
    Cover, first appeared on Grateful Dead ’71. Interruption #14: A buffet for the band. So that’s where they go between the regular set and the encore. Anyway, the Dead prove they can play rock if they want to. Weir lead vocals, Garcia lead guitar.

    The DVD bonus disc:

    "Uncle John's Band"
    From Workingman's Dead. Not only is there no documentary, they are using a camera from the back of the audience that they never used to from the movie. Weir is indeed in the middle, but still more Garcia from the left side camera. Very nice guitars partially mixed to the rears (Garcia left and Weir right). Bass drums and piano all in front, vocals in center.

    "Sugaree"
    From Garcia solo album. Garcia lead guitar and vocals, there’s a front view at one point, but mostly from the left. Weir and Lesh from the right, plus more from the audience camera, including front close-ups of both Weir and Lesh. The surround mix sounds great.

    "The Other One"
    A famous slow jam always performed live, and we get 16:40’s worth without interruption. Yay. The surround mix just sounds better on this disc, maybe I didn’t listen to enough of the studio mix on the movie disc. Seems like Garcia generally gets more play in the back than Weir does. They are also showing far less of the crowd so far on the bonus disc.

    "Scarlet Begonias"

    From the Mars Hotel. A real nice song, wish they could have done more from this album. After playing the basic song as it appears on the album (Garcia lead vocals and guitar), we get another 9 minute jam session, so it doesn’t end until after 13:45.

    "China Cat Sunflower” / "I Know You Rider"
    From Aoxomoxoa and the debut album. There’s a couple of songs in there, but it’s one 17 minute jam. Many shots from the audience view camera, but it doesn’t always seem like it’s in focus.

    "Dark Star"
    First appeared as single, but it’s another classic Dead jam found on Live/Dead, which is the only Dead live album I have, and I have listened to it many times. This is probably the highlight of the release for me. It clocks in at only 16:40, which makes it a bit shorter than the almost 24 minute Live/Dead version. There’s a right of the right camera that often shows the whole stage from the right side, including the other camera that is right next to the piano.

    "Weather Report Suite"
    From Wake of the Flood. The album version of this song is over 12 minutes, so even though this is the longest track at 17:39, it doesn’t have that much in the way of additional jamming. Weir lead vocals, backing vocals from Donna, Garcia lead guitar with some slide work.
    _______

    My favorite two Grateful Dead albums are the run from From the Mars Hotel and Blues for Allah. This concert did come on the heels of the former, but there are only two songs from it, and neither of them are “China Doll”, “Unbroken Chain, or “Ship of Fools” – the three fantastic songs on the album. At least we get three songs from Wake of the Flood. A 1977 concert is probably what I really want. The crowd puts on a great show on the movie disc, but if you just want to watch and listen to the Dead play the bonus disc is far superior. In particular, there are three of the long slow jams that live Dead performances are famous for.

    The animations have some discrete mixing to the back, but the concert does not. The center channel is used for vocals and guitars are often mixed partially to the back. I don’t think any of Lesh’s strings ever make it to the back speakers.

    Seems like any Dead fan needs to have this, I guess that’s why used copies are so expensive.

    Music – 2 (not the right mix of songs to get a 3 from me)
    Sound quality – 2 (DVD), 3 (Bluray)
    Video presentation – 3 (the crowd put on a great show)
    Video quality – 2
    Surround – 2
     
  3. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Terrific movie, terrific music, animation, and, yes, the crowd. Every Dead fan should have this, and anyone who’s curious about the band and the whole phenomenon should check it out too. More thoughts later.
     
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  4. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Incidentally, while there isn’t a 1977 show available on video, there is The Closing of Winterland (Again, same venue as The GD movie) from New Year’s Eve 1978. It’s the complete, epic show, with some great bonus features.

    The video is certainly not motion picture quality, as it’s on videotape (The show was televised live on public television). But if you make that concession it’s highly watchable and the music’s fantastic. I find the sound pretty great, considering the source, but I’d be very interested in hearing your thoughts.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  5. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Looks like that one can be streamed from Amazon too. I'll check it out.
     
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  6. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Beware that... It’s a much shorter, butchered-up version on Amazon Prime, made into more a documentary with a song, then interviews, another song, etc. I think it was made, sometime after the DVD/BR release, to show on PBS in that truncated, documentary format. They took the bonus interviews and stuck them in between songs, basically.

    The DVD or BR is worth checking out although it too may be out of print. Looks the DVD can be bought off Amazon (U.S.) for $30. It’s worth it, and perhaps the best GD live video release. It’s an epic, three set show that’s just the concert, no Rude Interruptions.

    Also worth it is Sunshine Daydream, from the famous August ‘72 performance in Oregon. To get the movie, you have to get the 3CD set too, but it’s one of the all time great shows. Worth it for the “Dark Star” alone. If you do check it out, just be ready for “Naked Pole Guy.” :sigh:
     
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  7. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    OK, I ordered a used copy of the DVD for $20 shipped.
     
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  8. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    I hope you enjoy it (And that you write it up here)!
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  9. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Haven’t watched The GD Movie in quite some time (Ironically, it was streamed free on You Tube a few weeks back as part of the band’s “Shakedown Stream” series (Every Friday night, indefintely) while live concerts aren’t happening as we continue to quarantine. Missed that, but your review is a great excuse to bust my DVD out.

    The opening animation is stunning. Gary Gutierrez has had quite a career in animation, graphic arts, visual effects, etc. He did great, trippy animated segments for both Sesame Street and The Electric Company in the early 70s, later went on to direct the Dead’s classic “Touch of Grey” video in 1986. He’s still active in visual effects in the movie business.

    Here’s the opening animation, set to some spacey, instrumental weirdness from Jerry Garcia’s first solo album, and “U.S. Blues” (with a little “Beat it on Down the Line” thrown in):



    From there, yeah, the film often seems to show more of the fans than the actual band. But do we get some interesting moments from Garcia, Weir, and Lesh. The songs are great, and while they’re Rudely Interrupted throughout the film the music remains and the jams are lengthy enough we still get a healthy, er, dose of all the songs.

    The movie is a love letter to the Deadheads, no doubt. The band supposedly didn’t know if their hiatus would be temporary or permanent (I don’t know that I believe that) but the movie would’ve made a fitting postscript to the band’s Not-so long, strange trip even if they hadn’t reunited less than two years later (It should be noted the band released the magnificent Blues For Allah album in 1975, and also played four shows that year, mostly benefits and at least one was billed as “Jerry Garcia & Friends”).

    Drummer Mickey Hart, who’d taken a hiatus from the band in 1971 came back for the final night of the run, at the end of the show to play on a couple of songs, and rejoined the band (So, two drummers in the group) for the rest of their time together (1975-1995).

    Some wonderful fan moments throughout the film, but the vest, and funniest, is the guy who’s all upset about the band “selling out” with the movie. The exchange about “Don’t you want see yourself in this, 10 years later?” “Man, I don’t know if I’ll be alive in ten years!” is hilarious. Also great is the happy, happy fan dancing and singing to every song in the front row. The Sha-Na-Na loving concession vendor is funny too.

    The DVD (and BR) was long overdue when it finally happened. Having a bunch of uninterrupted songs was a definite treat. I never thought of “The Other One” as a “slow jam.” To me, that’s a psychedelic freight train of a jam! Regardless, it’s all rock and roll to me. :)

    FYI - “Unbroken Chain,” from the then-recently released From the Mars Hotel album was never performed by the band until 1994. In its studio version, it’s a really cool sounding track with interesting, trippy effects.

    My guess is that it was too difficult to recreate live at the time. Honestly, the band (Well, Garcia) was in decline by ‘94 and it never quite took off as live song (Lesh’s vocals onstage are a bit frightful too).

    OK, sorry for rambling about as long as some Dead songs last. :D Looking forward to watching this again soon. It really does capture the traveling circus that was the Grateful Dead!
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2020
  10. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Oh, and since I mentioned it here’s the “Touch of Grey” video Gutierrez directed. Still good fun after all these years:

     
  11. weekendtoy

    weekendtoy Rejecting your reality and substituting my own.

    Location:
    Northern MN
    I have 360 At The Rose Bowl on DVD in the sexy super jewel case. Anyway, I did an A/B between PCM sterero and DTS 5.1 and I found the bass rather anemic on both with perhaps the 5.1 being a little better. A good selection of new and old but it's hard to top that 80's to early 90's U2.

    I paid $4 in the bargin bins and that seems 'bout right.
     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Oh for sure.
    The Joshua Tree deluxe dvd is excellent, and Under a Blood Red Sky is a long time favourite.
    360 is good. Just disappointing they failed with the sound for the 5.1. The stereo on the bluray, is nice, full range.
     
  13. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The Monterey Pop Festival

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    Live Performance by Various Artists
    Released 1968 (Theatrical Release); 2002 (DVD)
    Recorded June 16–18, 1967
    Location Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey, California
    Genre Rock, pop and folk, including blues rock, folk rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock styles
    Length 79 min (movie only)

    The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Who and Ravi Shankar, the first large-scale public performance of Janis Joplin and the introduction of Otis Redding to a mass American audience.

    The Monterey Pop Festival embodied the theme of California as a focal point for the counterculture and generally is regarded as one of the beginnings of the "Summer of Love" in 1967; the first rock festival had been held just one week earlier at Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California, the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival. Because Monterey was widely promoted and heavily attended, featured historic performances, and was the subject of a popular theatrical documentary film, it became an inspiration and a template for future music festivals, including the Woodstock Festival two years later. Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner said "Monterey was the nexus – it sprang from what the Beatles began, and from it sprang what followed.

    The festival was the subject of a documentary movie titled Monterey Pop by noted documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker's team used recently developed portable 16mm crystal-sync motion picture cameras that stayed synchronized with double-system sound-recording systems. The film stock was Eastman Kodak's recently released "high-speed" 16mm Ektachrome 100 ASA color reversal motion picture stock, without which the nighttime shows would have been virtually impossible to shoot in color. Sound was captured by Wally Heider's mobile studio on a then state-of-the art eight-channel recorder, with one track used for the crystal-sync tone, to synchronize it with the film cameras. The Grateful Dead believed that the film was too commercial and refused permission for their performance to be shown. The screening of the film in theaters nationwide helped raise the festival to mythic status, rapidly swelled the ranks of festival-goers looking for the next festival, and inspired new entrepreneurs to stage more such festivals around the country. Adler said the cameramen were instructed to capture at least two complete songs for most of the acts, but for certain others, particularly the Who and Hendrix, to film as much of the sets as possible. As a result, only one song was not captured in part at least from both act's performances.

    Big Brother's scheduled set was not filmed because of a disagreement. However, due to the huge reaction the band got, they were asked to return to play two songs on Sunday, to be filmed specifically for the movie.

    Performers
    Friday, June 16 (evening)

    The Association
    The Paupers
    Lou Rawls
    Beverley
    Johnny Rivers
    Eric Burdon and The Animals
    Simon & Garfunkel

    Saturday, June 17
    Canned Heat
    Big Brother and the Holding Company
    Country Joe and the Fish
    Al Kooper
    The Butterfield Blues Band
    Quicksilver Messenger Service
    The Electric Flag
    Steve Miller Band
    Moby Grape
    Hugh Masekela
    The Byrds
    Laura Nyro
    Jefferson Airplane
    Booker T. & the M.G.'s
    The Mar-Keys
    Otis Redding

    Sunday, June 18
    Ravi Shankar
    The Blues Project
    Big Brother and the Holding Company
    The Group With No Name
    Buffalo Springfield
    The Who
    Grateful Dead
    The Jimi Hendrix Experience
    The Mamas & the Papas
    Scott McKenzie

    Version Control
    Criterion has released the movie in two configurations: A one disc release with just the original theatrical release and a multidisc release called the The Complete Monterey Music Festival with much more of the concert that was recorded on film. The initial releases in 2002 were on DVD – I have the three disc complete version that Amazon says I bought in 2004. A 2 disc bluray version was issued in 2009. In addition, 50th anniversary versions (both DVD and Bluray) that have two extra songs (Moby Grape and Grateful Dead) were issued in 2017 and that’s what’s for sale now. Amazon.

    The Concert
    I’m going to break up my review into two parts; I’ll save the second disc that has the entire Hendrix and Redding sets and everything else. Besides just wanting to break it up, there’s enough material to justify giving Hendrix his own entry, and you can buy the second disc seperately. I’ll do the film plus the third disc first. In addition, as is my wont, I‘m going to go through the concert in order of performance, mixing material that is on the original theatrical release and the two bonus discs. Since Hendrix was one of the last performances at the festival, it all makes sense.

    On the movie disc, there’s a DTS option for surround, so that’s what I’m going with. The video quality is 4:3 and little grainy; I’d call better it than average VHS – which is fantastic for a 1967 video. As for surround, there isn’t much. The center channel is used, but I wouldn’t say the vocals are discrete and there is only a smidge of reverb in the back.

    The outtake disc (disc #3) only has stereo for most of the performances, but there are two exceptions. Unlike the movie, the songs are arranged in order of appearance. Like the movie,, there are plenty of crowd shots interspersed with the musicians playing – especially during the afternoon sessions. In addition to the festival itself, there are also four Tiny Tim songs played indoors at the end, which I'm not going to cover.

    The Association
    This was the first band to play at the festival, and they played three songs. On chapter 1 of the Outtake disc, the band gets introduced. They are clearly a precursor of Man or Astro-Man? They play “Along Comes Mary”, which was the second song they played. Yes, I think they are clearly an early example of the surf genre.

    Eric Burdon and The Animals
    On chapter 12 of the movie, one of the Animals starts up the song with a violin solo, after a couple of minutes Burdon sings the song. There’s a projections screen showing psychedelic images behind the stage that often shows up at night.

    Simon & Garfunkel
    On Chapter 8 of the movie, we get the last show of Friday night, and it’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin Groovy”. It’s just the two of them, Simon has an acoustic guitar. On the Outtake disc, they are introduced by John Phillips, and they play “Homeward Bound” (chapter 3) and “Sounds of Silence” (chapter 3). The second track is awesome.

    Canned Heat
    On chapter 7 of the movie, we get the Saturday afternoon opening band playing “Rollin and Tumblin”. They’ve got mighty short haircuts, I think they could pass for 50’s rock stars.

    Big Brother and the Holding Company
    During the opening credits, “Combination of the Two” plays with audio only. I presume that’s from their Friday night appearance.

    Country Joe and the Fish
    On chapter 14 of the movie, the Fish along with Joe play the instrumental “Section 43”, and they are way more impressive than at Woodstock, where we pretty much just saw Country Joe. However, on chapter 4 of the outtakes, Country Joe sings “No-So-Sweet Martha Lorraine” with his band backing.

    Al Kooper
    On chapter 5 of the Outtakes disc, Al sings “(I Heard Her Say) Wake Me, Shake Me.” and plays organ too. He gets into the blues boogie enough to lose his glasses.

    The Butterfield Blues Band
    On chapter 6 of the outtake disc, we get some more basic blues. Butterfield sings and plays harmonica (“Driftin’ Blues”) with horns backing him up.

    Quicksilver Messenger Service
    On Chapter 7 of the outtake disc, QMS plays “All I Ever Wanted to Do”. Just rock with not much in the way of blues.

    The Electric Flag
    On Chapter 8 of the Outtake disc, Electric Flag continues the run of blues songs. With “Drinkin’ Wine”. Lots of horns in this one too.

    Hugh Masekela
    It’s Saturday evening now, and on chapter 9 of the movie, we get “Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song)”. A Jazz piece, and if the vocals are lyrics they aren’t in English.

    The Byrds
    Nothing in the movie, but there are three songs on the outtake disc starting on chapter 10. The first one is “Chimes of Freedom” sung by McGuinn and Crosby. The second song also on chapter 10 is “He Was a Friend of Mine” that was written by Dylan about a friend of his who died. However, McGuinn rewrote the lyrics to make the song about the JFK assassination. Crosby introduces the song with the claim of a multishooter conspiracy theory and government coverup, and “I’m sure they’ll edit this out”. He said the same thing with CSN at Woodstock. They didn’t edit it out there either. McGuinn and Crosby sing it together, sharing a microphone. After the first two folk songs, they play a rock song; “Hey Joe” on chapter 11.

    Laura Nyro
    There are two songs on the outtake disc starting on chapter 12. The video quality seems to have taken a turn for the worse for some reason. We get part of the Wedding Bell Blues – it seems to start in the middle of the song and doesn’t last very long. “Poverty Train” follows. Just close ups of Laura, never see the other musicians. There are back-up vocals on the first song and piano on the second.

    Jefferson Airplane

    On Chapter 10, the Airplane play “High Flyin’ Bird” that features Balin and Slick. They have a small video screen behind them in front of the projection screen that is there all the time. Looks like what must have been huge tube TV at the time. They don’t seem to be nearly as rugged or ragged as they seemed to be at 6:00 am in the morning at Woodstock. They follow up the first one with “Today”, which has Slick and Kantner as the lead vocals, but just the video is all just a closeup of Slick’s face. On chapter 14 of the outtake disc we get “Somebody to Love”, The video screen seen on first song is off. I guess it’s my favorite thing on here:



    Otis Redding
    Chapters 15 and 16 of the movie have Otis, but the entire performance is on disc 2, so let’s skip it.

    Ravi Shankar
    On chapter 19 of the movie, we hear the first performance on Sunday, which is Shankar playing his sitar (“Raga Bhimpalasi”) while the camera shows the crowd both inside and outside the venue. After at least five minutes, we finally get to see Shankar and his band. This is the longest track in the film by far at over 18 minutes, but it’s still missing almost 10 minutes of the actual 28 minute performance. Even though it started things off on Sunday, it was the grand finale for the movie.

    The Blues Project
    On chapter 15 of the outtake disc, Tom Smothers introduces Paul Simon who introduces the group called The Blues Project. But I’d call it improvisational jazz – they play the instrumental “Flute Thing”, and yes the lead instrument is a flute. It’s pretty long, maybe 10 minutes I’d guess.

    Big Brother and the Holding Company
    Their second set was comprised of two songs. The first one “Combination of the Two” is on chapter 16 of the outtake disc. Sam Andrew is the lead vocalist, sort of. In any case, it’s a band effort. There is a 5.1 mix for the song – you have to play the track individually from the top menu. Seems pretty pointless – there’s no discrete use of the center channel and just a tiny bit of reverb in the back. On chapter 12 of the movie, Big Brother and Janis perform in front of the camera with “Ball and Chain”. The band starts it off, but after that it’s pretty much all Joplin. Cass thinks she’s pretty good.

    Buffalo Springfield
    If we’re only going to get one song from them, then at least let it be “For What It’s Worth”. It’s on Chapter 17 of the Outtake disc with an introduction by Peter Tork. But unfortunately Neil Young isn’t here – he quit. David Crosby takes his place, but it’s not the same. However, it is two thirds of CSN.

    The Who
    There are three songs starting on chapter 18 of the outtake disc. The first one is “Substitute” and the psychedelia on the back screen is in fine form. Next up is “Summertime Blues”, Moon is a wild man – one of his drums goes flying, but he gets it back for the next song, which is a Quick One While He’s Away”. It’s a relatively long performance that illustrates the band’s predilection with rock opera. There is 5.1 mix that does seem to emphasize lead vocals in the center channel, and maybe there a bit more of backing vocals in the rear, but not much. I’m not enthused. On chapter 13 of the movie, we get the Who playing “My Generation”. Entwhistle with the best bass riffs of the entire festival, I’m guessing. At the end, Townsend spends far more effort destroying his guitar than he did at Woodstock. Security rushes on the stage to rescue the microphones.

    The Jimi Hendrix Experience
    Chapter 17 of the movie has Jimi Hendrix playing “Wild Thing”, but the entire set is on disc 2, so let’s just mention that he does a somersault while playing on this song. Also, he joins in the guitar destruction festivities by setting his guitar on fire – good thing it was the last song. Unlike Woodstock, there’s no reverb in the back to speak of.

    The Mamas & the Papas
    According to the wiki entry, only Hendrix and The Who were going to have their entire set filmed. But the whole set from the Mamas and the Papas is on here – more than The Who. On chapter 21 of the Outtake disc, we start off with “Straight Shooter”, which feature John Phillips on lead. I have to say that I’ve always thought of them as a mostly acapella folk-rock group, but this is a rock song with drums, bass and two guitars, one of which is played by John Phillips. The Mamas are on the left and the Papas right, but there’s a whole band behind them. Could almost be Jefferson Airplane. Next up on chapter 22 is “Somebody Groovy”, which has Michelle Phillips singing lead. This song has lots more vocals, but the band still gets to rock out. On chapter 18 of the movie, we get “Got a Feelin”, but there’s more daytime shots of the crowd outside the venue than there is of the band. The next song on the set list is the first song of the movie (chapter 5); it’s “California Dreamin”. It is one of the better tracks from the festival, so it was a good one to lead off the movie with even if it did happen near the very end. This one is very heavy on vocals, with Denny Doherty lead -they don’t show very much of the backing band, but the guitar player comes forward for a solo. Next, on chapter 23 of the outtake disc is “I Call Your Name” which is introduced by Cass Eliot, and she sings lead. Next, on chapter 24 is “Monday, Monday”, and it’s another reason why I pegged the Ms&P’s as a folk-rock vocal group. OK, that concludes their regular set, but wait there’s more.

    On track 25 of the outtake disc, Cass introduces Scott MacKenzie who sings “San Francisco”, with the Ms&Ps band backing, and John Phillips playing guitar. This also plays on chapter 2 of the movie showing the stage being set up, audio only. They show some footage of MacKenzie singing, but they also splice in a bunch of daytime crowds shots. They might be covering for the film damage that has been evident for the last few tracks. MacKenzie stays on the stage while the Ms&Ps come forward again, and they sing the closer “Dancing in the Street”, with Cass singing lead. Mackenzie has some marimbas. That’s the end.

    On chapter 4 of the movie, “Creeque Alley” plays while the crowd comes in, audio only – it is an a Ms&Ps song, but it’s not from the festival.
    _______

    The Woodstock Festival was designed to replicate Monterey Pop. As an overall cultural overview of 60’s music, the Woodstock movie is undoubtedly better. But in terms of historical documentation on 60’s music itself in the U.S., Monterey pop is probably the better of the two – at least if you consider the full set. However, let’s keep in mind that I have yet to cover the Hendrix set for either one. Like Woodstock, there are what seem to be some glaring omissions; no Steve Miller Band, no Grateful Dead (well, there is on the 2017 version). Perhaps neither of them were as well regarded as they are now. Another difference is that the audio track of the movie is almost entirely devoted to music. While the video does often stray from the stage, the audio does not. If you need your music video collection to go back as far as 1967, there’s no better choice.

    Music – 3
    Sound quality – 3
    Video presentation – 3
    Video quality – 1
    Surround – 1
     
  14. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Eyes Wide Open, Part 1

    [​IMG]

    Live Performance by King Crimson
    Released 2003
    Recorded 3 July 2000
    Venue Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, England
    Genre Progressive rock
    Filming BootlegTV
    Label Discipline Global Mobile

    Eyes Wide Open is a live 2-DVD set by the British progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 2003. It presents two concerts filmed in the early 2000s, the band lineup featuring Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto.

    This review will cover the earlier concert (on DVD2), which was filmed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, on 3 July 2000, the final night of the band's European summer tour for the construKction of light. It is presented in 1.33:1 format. The footage is divided in sections, and the disc is programmed to randomly insert improvisations, filmed on various shows during the tour, in between them. The improvisations can also be accessed separately, as an extra feature.

    Personnel
    Robert Fripp – guitar
    Adrian Belew – guitar, vocals
    Trey Gunn – Warr guitar
    Pat Mastelotto – acoustic/electronic drums & percussion, drum programming

    Track Listing
    1. "Into the Frying Pan"
    2. "the construKction of light"
    3. "VROOOM" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Gunn, Levin, Mastelotto)
    4. "One Time" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Gunn, Levin, Mastelotto)
    5. "London Improv 1: Blasticus SS Blastica"
    6. "Dinosaur" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Gunn, Levin, Mastelotto)
    7. "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum"
    8. "London Improv 2: C Blasticum"
    9. "Cage" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Gunn, Levin, Mastelotto)
    10. "ProzaKc Blues"
    11. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic: Part IV"
    12. "Three of a Perfect Pair" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin)
    13. "The Deception of the Thrush" (Belew, Fripp, Gunn)
    14. "Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Gunn, Levin, Mastelotto)
    15. " "Heroes" " (Bowie, Eno)

    Version Control
    I don’t think this concert appears anywhere else except on Eyes Wide Open. However, the live album Heavy Construction is comprised of recordings from the same tour, including one song ("The Deception of the Thrush") that is taken from the London concert. Some of the random improvs may be on there too. There are several different releases, all of which are on DVD. I have the 2009 DGM Live version, which is still available new. Amazon.

    The Concert
    It’s got a 4:3 aspect ratio, but it’s better resolution than VHS I think, so let’s call it low end DVD quality video. Even though the outside label says there is Dolby Digital surround, that must be for the other concert because this one is Dolby Digital stereo only. I am not going to try to review all the random improvs – I’ll just stick to the main titles.

    “Into the Frying Pan"
    From The Construkction of Light. So we’ve got Mastoletto in the back, and Gunn, Belew, and Fripp in the front. Fripp is mostly in the dark, as usual. Gunn is playing a Warr guitar, which is basically a twelve string electric guitar with lots of bass strings. Not only is Belew singing lead vocals, I’m not sure anyone else has a microphone. The first song is an exercise in highly coordinated dissonance.

    "The ConstruKction of light"
    From The Construkction of Light. Gunn leads it off, and this one is spacey and all instrumental until near the end. Way too much guitar to be called ambient though.

    "VROOOM"
    From Thrak. Back to dissonance with lot’s of reverb, but we’ve got peaceful interludes this time.

    "One Time"
    From Thrak. Now they demonstrate that they can play a pretty song even though they would probably rather not. This performance has more bass drum than usual. Long passage with nothing but soundscape.

    "London Improv 1: Blasticus SS Blastica"
    There’s an improv inserted here, and I think the disc is programmed to play a different one every time. The lights are turned down so you can barely the musicians, perhaps so you can’t tell that sometimes they aren’t in London anymore. Anyway, I don’t know exactly what I’m listening to, but it’s some nasty instrumental business – gotta love it.

    "Dinosaur"
    From Thrak. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Starts out in the dark, but the lights come on, and Belew is singing again.

    "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum"
    From The Construkction of Light. Fripp gets lit up while Belew pontificates some more.

    "London Improv 2: C Blasticum"
    OK, we’ve got another improv spot, and the one I’m watching anyway is very Fripp heavy and there’s a soundscape running. It’s dark, but you can see the musicians clearly. Seems to be London. Not too shabby.

    "Cage"
    Live song, not found on studio album. Seems rather improvish, but there are vocals and lyrics -“Living in a cage in the USA” is the primary refrain. Belew has an acoustic guitar. Meh, not a great song.

    "ProzaKc Blues"
    From The Construkction of Light. This song was good enough to make the last album, and it is a bit better. Still not a toe-tapper though. Gunn’s bass line is the best part.

    "Larks' Tongues in Aspic: Part IV"
    From The Construkction of Light. OK, this is more like it. Now we’re flailing wildly, in a tightly controlled way of course. The refrain does sound familiar, but then why wouldn’t it. Parts I and II are found on the Wetton-era album of the same name, while part III is on Three of a Perfect Pair. End of regular set.

    "Three of a Perfect Pair"
    From Three of a Perfect Pair. Belew plays this solo with an acoustic guitar, the crowd sings the backing vocals.

    "The Deception of the Thrush"
    Found on a compilation with the same title. This seems to be another improv spot where they are playing in the near dark, but I presume I’m getting the London version. There’s a soundscape with treated vocals that must be preprogrammed. Mastoletto seems to be adding the most with some electronic percussion, but Fripp chimes in too, and so does Gunn at the end, playing the guitar strings.

    "Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream"

    From Thrak. Belew is back with an electric guitar, and we’ve got another semi-normal rock song. The lights come back on midway, even on Fripp. Fripp and Belew put on a guitar clinic.

    "Heroes"
    David Bowie cover, and it’s the only one I could find a video for:


    _______

    Unless you count Lark’s Tongue IV, this concert is comprised entirely of recent (at the time) material from the Belew era. Most of it is from Thrak and the The Construktion of Light, with just one song from the colored albums. It’s all good stuff, but not what I would call classic King Crimson. However, even though I’m pretty sure it’s the undercard of the two disc set (I haven’t watched the other one yet), it’s a thoroughly enjoyable representation of the Construktion tour.

    Music – 2
    Sound quality – 2
    Video presentation – 2
    Video quality – 2
    Surround – 1
     
  15. albertop

    albertop Forum Resident

    The other concert has a surround track. This one is in stereo only. There are about 10 hours of this stuff on the box set Heaven and Earth, released as raw footage. It took me an entire summer to watch them all!
    I’m sure you’ll like the surround track on the other one.
     
  16. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Rattle and Hum

    [​IMG]

    Studio and Concert Performance by U2
    Released 10 October 1988
    Recorded 1987–88
    Studio Sun Studio (Memphis, TN), Point Depot (Dublin, Ireland), Danesmoat (Dublin), STS Studio (Dublin), A&M Studios (Los Angeles, CA), Ocean Way (Los Angeles)
    Live in McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, CO; Sun Devils Stadium, Tempe, AZ
    Genre Rock, roots rock
    Length 72:27
    Label Island
    Producer Jimmy Iovine

    Rattle and Hum is a hybrid live/studio album by Irish rock band U2, and a companion rockumentary film directed by Phil Joanou. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and was released on 10 October 1988, while the film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was released on 27 October 1988. Following the breakthrough success of the band's previous studio album, The Joshua Tree, the Rattle and Hum project captures their continued experiences with American roots music on the Joshua Tree Tour, further incorporating elements of blues rock, folk rock, and gospel music into their sound. A collection of new studio tracks, live performances, and cover songs, the project includes recordings at Sun Studios in Memphis and collaborations with Bob Dylan, B.B. King, and Harlem's New Voices of Freedom gospel choir.

    Although Rattle and Hum was intended to represent the band paying tribute to rock legends, some critics accused U2 of trying to place themselves amongst the ranks of these artists. Critical reception to both the album and the film was mixed; one Rolling Stone editor spoke of the album's "excitement", another described it as "misguided and bombastic". The film grossed just $8.6 million, but the album was a commercial success, reaching number one in several countries and selling 14 million copies. Lead single "Desire" became the band's first UK number-one song while reaching number three in the US. Facing creative stagnation and a critical backlash to Rattle and Hum, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image.

    While in Hartford during the 1987 The Joshua Tree Tour, U2 met film director Phil Joanou who made an unsolicited pitch to the band to make a feature-length documentary about the tour. Joanou suggested they hire Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, or George Miller to direct the film. Joanou met the band again in Dublin to discuss the plans and again in France in September before the band chose him as director. The movie was originally titled U2 in the Americas and the band planned to film in Chicago and Buenos Aires later in the year.[5] It was later decided that the Chicago venue wasn't suitable, and instead U2 used the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver to film. Following the success of Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky, which had been filmed in Denver four years earlier, the band hoped that "lightning might strike twice". With production problems and estimated costs of $1.2 million the band cancelled the plans for December concerts in South America. At the suggestions of concert promoter, Barry Fey, the band instead booked the Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona.

    The movie is a rockumentary, which was initially financed by the band and intended to be screened in a small number of cinemas as an independent film. After going over budget, the film was bought by Paramount Pictures and released in theatres in 1988, before arriving on video in 1989. It was produced by Michael Hamlyn and directed by Phil Joanou. Paul Wasserman served as the publicist. It incorporates live footage with studio outtakes and band interviews. The album is a mix of live material and new studio recordings that furthers the band's experimentation with American music styles and recognises many of their musical influences. It was produced by Jimmy Iovine and also released in 1988.

    Personnel
    U2

    Bono – lead vocals, additional guitar, harmonica
    The Edge – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Van Diemen's Land"
    Adam Clayton – bass guitar
    Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, percussion

    Additional musicians
    The New Voices of Freedom – gospel choir on "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
    George Pendergrass, Dorothy Terrell – vocal soloists
    Joey Miskulin – organ on "Angel of Harlem"
    The Memphis Horns – horns on "Angel of Harlem" and "Love Rescue Me"
    B.B. King – guest vocals and lead guitar on "When Love Comes to Town"
    Rebecca Evans Russell, Phyllis Duncan, Helen Duncan – backing vocals on "When Love Comes to Town"
    Brian Eno – keyboards on "Heartland"
    Benmont Tench – Hammond organ on "All I Want Is You"

    Track Listing
    1 Helter Skelter (Live)
    2 Van Diemen's Land
    3 Desire
    4 Exit (Live)
    5 Gloria (Live)
    6 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
    7 Freedom For My People
    8 Silver And Gold (Live)
    9 Angel Of Harlem
    10 All Along The Watchtower (Live)
    11 In God's Country (Live)
    12 When Love Comes To Town (Live)
    13 Heartland
    14 Bad (Live)
    15 Where The Streets Have No Name (Live)
    16 Mlk (Live)
    17 With Or Without You (Live)
    18 The Star Spangled Banner
    19 Bullet The Blue Sky (Live)
    20 Running To Stand Still (Live)
    21 Sunday Bloody Sunday (Live)
    22 Pride (In The Name Of Love) (Live)
    23 All I Want Is You

    Version Control
    After being shown in theaters, the film was first released on VHS in 1988. It was first released on DVD with a multichannel soundtrack in 1999 in both 4:3 and widescreen editions. It was first released on bluray and HDDVD in 2006. I have the HDDVD. Yes, that’s right. Right after Toshiba threw in the towel on the format war, you could get a player and 6 movies for a $100. I bought two of them. You could also buy movies for $5-10 each, and I bought about 50 more of them. So for about $500, I ended up with two players and 60-70 discs. Of one them is the Rattle and Hum, the rest are non-music titles. I assume the video quality is about the same as the bluray, but the audio formats are weird. It’s got Dolby Digital Plus 5.1, and DTS 6.1. There is a 2008 version of the bluray that also has DTS 6.1. I am going to review this on my cabin basement system which is 7.1; I’ve got extra speakers in the back for the extra channel to use. (My other system is 5.2.2 – maybe the receiver would use the ceiling speakers, and maybe one of these days I’ll haul the Toshiba player there to find out). All the versions seem to be out of print, and used copies of the bluray seem to be nonexistant. The HDDVD is available cheap – but you need a player.

    The Concert
    The video is better than VHS so I presume there was a higher resolution film transfer somewhere along the way – either in 1999 or 2006. However, it is a little grainy and not making full use of the 1080p. The sound quality is great though.

    Because this is a 6.1 mix, I am going to have to change up the way I describe the surround mix just this once. The “surround” speakers are what I usually refer to as the “rear” speakers. For this review, the “rears” are the two more directly behind that use the sixth channel of the mix.

    “Helter Skelter”
    Beatles cover. The band chose to film the black-and-white footage over two nights at Denver's McNichols Sports Arena on 7 and 8 November 1987. The first night's performance was disappointing with Bono finding the cameras infringing on his ability to play to the crowd. The second Denver show was far more successful and seven songs from the show are used in the film, and three on the album. Bono’s vocals are in the center, crowd noise and reverb in the surrounds, and just crowd noise in the rears.

    “Van Diemen's Land”
    New song recorded at the Point Depot, Dublin, Ireland, May 1988. The credits roll and the only studio footage is of Edge – I think he is singing the vocals which come from the center channel. The guitar is mixed in surround – coming from all five of the other speakers. There is also video of the band ambling about together.

    “Desire”
    Point Depot, Dublin. All the new songs were recorded here. An attempt is made to interview the band, but they refuse to say anything. Yay. The song is recorded with the band in a quadrant, facing each other - Bono and the Edge are opposite one another, as are Clayton and Mullen. Concludes with another lame attempt at an interview. Bono in the center channel, a little reverb in the surrounds, even less all the way back.

    “Exit” / “Gloria”
    From The Joshua Tree, and cover of Them song – not the song with the same name on October. Recorded at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver. Vocals in center and surround. Guitar in surround all the way back. Drums and bass in front. The Edge plays with his back to the audience much of the time, and the six channel surround is pretty awesome.

    “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For”
    From The Joshua Tree. In late September, U2 rehearsed with a New York gospel choir The New Voices of Freedom in a Harlem church, and a few days later they performed the song together at U2's Madison Square Garden concert. Footage of the rehearsal is featured in the movie, while the Madison Square Garden performance appears on the album. After the church rehearsal, U2 walked around the Harlem neighbourhood where they come across blues duo, Satan and Adam, playing in the street. A 40-second clip of them playing their composition, "Freedom for My People", appears on both the movie and the album. Bono is in the center channel, the rest of the band is in front, and the choir is any surround. And here’s the thing: the voices coming out of the rear speakers are different than the ones in the surrounds, which are different that the lead gospel singers who are in front. This is the first time I can tell that it’s a 6.1 mix.

    “Freedom For My People” / “Silver And Gold”
    New songs, performed live at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver. Bono has an acoustic guitar, and gives a political lecture. Bono in center channel, just reverb in surrounds and rears.

    "Angel of Harlem"
    A horn-filled tribute to Billie Holiday, recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Horns mixed in front and rear, but not the surrounds.

    "All Along the Watchtower"
    Bob Dylan cover performance from the band's impromptu "Save the Yuppies" concert in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, California on 11 November 1987. The video intersperses the performance of the song with footage from the band's performance of "Pride" from the same show, during which Bono spray-painted "Rock and Roll Stops the Traffic" on the Vaillancourt Fountain. This caused a bit of controversy, and ultimately, the band paid to repair the damage and publicly apologised for the incident. Bono has an electric guitar. Just reverb in the rears and surrounds.

    “In God's Country”
    From The Joshua Tree. McNichols Sports Arena, Denver. Bono with electric guitar, and both his guitar and vocals use the surrounds a bit, not much in the rears.

    “When Love Comes To Town”
    "When Love Comes to Town" is a blues rocker featuring B.B. King on guitar and vocals, studio version recorded at Sun Studio, but the film has a part rehearsal part live version recorded in Denver. BB King interview precedes song, and the performance is interrupted by interviews several times. Anyway, BB’s guitar is in surround all the way back when he plays it.

    “Heartland”
    New song. The band started writing "Heartland", in 1984 during The Unforgettable Fire sessions, and it was worked on during The Joshua Tree sessions. Song recorded in Sun Studio, overlaid with video of band in Memphis, including Graceland tour. Interrupted by interview several times.

    “Bad”
    From Unforgettable Fire. McNichols Sports Arena, Denver. Alrighty then, back to live performance, and the Edge is in surround again. Briefly slides into a Rolling Stones medley.

    “Where The Streets Have No Name”
    From The Joshua Tree. First color track, Sun Devil Stadium,Tempe, Arizona shows on 19-20 December 1987. The next four tracks are also. Very cool lighting effects at the beginning. Definitely the place to use the video.



    Edge reverb and backing vocals in the surrounds, crowd noise in the rears. Second time I can really tell it’s 6.1.

    “Mlk”
    From Unforgettable Fire. Sun Devil Stadium. Bono center plus a soundscape (Eno?) in surround.

    “With Or Without You”
    From The Joshua Tree. Seems all up front, with Bono in center channel

    “Bullet The Blue Sky”
    From The Joshua Tree. The Jimi Hendrix version of The Star Spangled Banner plays as an intro. Guitar in surround all the way back, and I dare say it sounds like reverb of reverb in the rears. Score another one for 6.1

    “Running To Stand Still”
    From The Joshua Tree. Sun Devil Stadium. Edge plays keyboards, and it’s pretty much all in front. But wait, Bono has an acoustic guitar, and that’s in surround. Crowd in the rears.

    “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
    From War. Back to B&W and McNichols Sports Arena, Denver. Hours before the second Denver performance, an IRA bomb killed eleven people at a Remembrance Day ceremony in the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen. During a performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which appears on the film, Bono condemned the violence in a furious mid-song rant in which he yelled "**** the revolution." Guitar in front and rears, but not surrounds. I think there’s some extra bass in the surrounds though.

    “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”
    From Unforgettable Fire, McNichols Sports Arena. Crowd sings from front and the rears. Just a little reverb from the surrounds.

    “All I Want Is You”
    New song that plays during end credits.
    _______

    As I alluded to before, I think U2 started to slide downhill after War. But The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree are still very nice albums, and that’s where the bulk of the material from this video comes from. The concert performances from Denver and Tempe are both great shows. So is the “All Along the Watchtower video, but the rest of it not so much. There’s really only maybe three tracks that get extra mileage out of the sixth channel, but because it is very cool in those few instances. I’m going to say the limited use and novelty 6.1 mix squeaks by for full surround marks. Even though I didn’t listen to it, I’m sure the 5.1 mix is also good enough for a point.

    Music – 2
    Sound quality – 3
    Video presentation – 3
    Video quality – 2
    Surround – 2 (5.1) or 3 (6.1)
     
  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour

    [​IMG]
    Video by
    Rush
    Released
    November 22, 2005
    Recorded September 24, 2004 at the Festhalle Frankfurt
    Genre Hard rock, progressive rock
    Length ≈130:00
    Label Anthem, Atlantic, Eagle Vision (for the Blu-ray edition)
    Director Pierre Lamoureux

    1. "R30 Overture" – ("Finding My Way", "Anthem", "Bastille Day", "A Passage to Bangkok", "Cygnus X-1", "Hemispheres")
    2. "The Spirit of Radio"
    3. "Force Ten"
    4. "Animate"
    5. "Subdivisions"
    6. "Earthshine"
    7. "Red Barchetta"
    8. "Roll the Bones"
    9. "Bravado" (previously unreleased)
    10. "YYZ" (previously unreleased)
    11. "The Trees" (previously unreleased)
    12. "The Seeker"
    13. "One Little Victory" (previously unreleased)
    14. "Tom Sawyer"
    15. "Dreamline"
    16. "Secret Touch" (previously unreleased)
    17. "Between the Wheels"
    18. "Mystic Rhythms"
    19. "Red Sector A" (previously unreleased)
    20. "Der Trommler"
    21. "Resist"
    22. "Heart Full of Soul"
    23. "2112" ("Overture"/"Temples of Syrinx"/"Grand Finale")
    24. "La Villa Strangiato" (previously unreleased)
    25. "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" (previously unreleased)
    26. "Xanadu" (abbreviated version)
    27. "Working Man"
    28. "Summertime Blues"
    29. "Crossroads"
    30. "Limelight"
    From the R40 6x bluray box set, also available in a 10x dvd box set

    [​IMG]

    Disc One – Rush In Rio
    • 1) Tom Sawyer
    • 2) Distant Early Warning
    • 3) New World Man
    • 4) Roll The Bones
    • 5) Earthshine
    • 6) YYZ
    • 7) The Pass
    • 8) Bravado
    • 9) The Big Money
    • 10) The Trees
    • 11) Freewill
    • 12) Closer To The Heart
    • 13) Natural Science
    • 14) One Little Victory
    • 15) Driven
    • 16) Ghost Rider
    • 17) Secret Touch
    • 18) Dreamline
    • 19) Red Sector A
    • 20) Leave That Thing Alone
    • 21) O Baterista
    • 22) Resist
    • 23) 2112
    • 24) Limelight
    • 25) La Villa Strangiato
    • 26) The Spirit Of Radio
    • 27) Encore Medley: By-Tor And The Snow Dog / Cygnus X-1 / Working Man
    Rush In Rio Bonus Features
    • The Documentary – The Boys In Brazil
    • MX Multiangle versions of: (1) YYZ (2) O Baterista (3) La Villa Strangiato
    • Easter Eggs: (1) By-Tor And The Snow Dog animation (2) Anthem (1975 performance)
    Sound Formats: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Stereo

    Disc Two – R30
    • 1) R30 Overture (Finding My Way / Anthem / Bastille Day / A Passage To Bangkok / Cygnus X1 / Hemispheres)
    • 2) The Spirit Of Radio
    • 3) Force Ten
    • 4) Animate
    • 5) Subdivisions
    • 6) Earthshine
    • 7) Red Barchetta
    • 8) Roll The Bones
    • 9) The Seeker
    • 10) Tom Sawyer
    • 11) Dreamline
    • 12) Between The Wheels
    • 13) Mystic Rhythms
    • 14) Der Trommler
    • 15) Resist
    • 16) Heart Full Of Soul
    • 17) Medley: 2112 / Xanadu / Working Man
    • 18) Summertime Blues
    • 19) Crossroads
    • 20) Limelight
    R30 Bonus Features
    Interviews:
    • (1) 1979 Hamilton, Ivor Wynne Stadium
    • (2) 1981 Le Studio, Quebec
    • (3) 1990 Artist Of The Decade
    • (4) 1994 Juno Hall Of Fame Induction
    • (5) 2002 Vapor Trails Tour
    From the Anthem vault:

    • (1) Fly By Night
    • (2) Finding My Way (mpeg1 from Rock Concert)
    • (3) In The Mood (mpeg1 from Rock Concert)
    • (4) Circumstances
    • (5) La Villa Strangiato
    • (6) A Farewell To Kings
    • (7) Xanadu
    • (8) The Spirit Of Radio (Soundcheck 1979 Ivor Wynne Stadium)
    • (9) Freewill (Toronto Rocks 2003)
    • (10) Closer To The Heart (Canada For Asia 2005)
    Easter Eggs:
    • (1) Rush hits St John’s (1988)
    • (2) Alex Lifeson interview for Artist Of The Decade (1990)
    Disc 3 – Snakes & Arrows Live
    • 1) Limelight
    • 2) Digital Man
    • 3) Entre Nous
    • 4) Mission
    • 5) Freewill
    • 6) The Main Monkey Business
    • 7) The Larger Bowl
    • 8) Secret Touch
    • 9) Circumstances
    • 10) Between The Wheels
    • 11) Dreamline
    • 12) Far Cry
    • 13) Workin’ Them Angels
    • 14) Armor And Sword
    • 15) Spindrift
    • 16) The Way The Wind Blows
    • 17) Subdivisions
    • 18) Natural Science
    • 19) Witch Hunt
    • 20) Malignant Narcissism – De Slagwerker
    • 21) Hope
    • 22) Distant Early Warning
    • 23) The Spirit Of Radio
    • 24) Tom Sawyer
    • 25) One Little Victory
    • 26) A Passage To Bangkok
    • 27) YYZ
    Bonus Features

    Oh, Atlanta! The Authorized Bootlegs
    • (1) Ghost Of A Chance
    • (2) Red Barchetta
    • (3) The Trees
    • (4) 2112 / The Temples Of Syrinx
    Disc 4 – Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland
    • 1) The “Real” History Of Rush Episode No.2 “Don’t Be Rash”
    • 2) The Spirit Of Radio
    • 3) Time Stand Still
    • 4) Presto
    • 5) Stick It Out
    • 6) Workin’ Them Angels
    • 7) Leave That Thing Alone
    • 8) Faithless
    • 9) BU2B
    • 10) Freewill
    • 11) Marathon
    • 12) Subdivisions
    • 13) The “Real” History Of Rush Episode No.17 “…and Rock and Roll is my name.”
    • 14) Tom Sawyer
    • 15) Red Barchetta
    • 16) YYZ
    • 17) Limelight
    • 18) The Camera Eye
    • 19) Witch Hunt
    • 20) Vital Signs
    • 21) Caravan
    • 22) Moto Perpetuo (featuring Love For Sale)
    • 23) O’Malley’s Break
    • 24) Closer To The Heart
    • 25) 2112 Overture / The Temples Of Syrinx
    • 26) Far Cry
    • 27) La Villa Strangiato
    • 28) Working Man
    Bonus Features
    • Outtakes from “The “Real” History Of Rush Episodes 2 & 17”
    • “Tom Sawyer” featuring the cast of “The “Real” History Of Rush Episode 17”
    • “Need Some Love” live at Laura Secord Secondary School, 1974
    • “Anthem” live from Passaic, New Jersey 1976
    Disc 5 – Clockwork Angels Tour
    • 1) Subdivisions
    • 2) The Big Money
    • 3) Force Ten
    • 4) Grand Designs
    • 5) The Body Electric
    • 6) Territories
    • 7) The Analog Kid
    • 8) Bravado
    • 9) Where’s My Thing? / Here It Is!
    • 10) Far Cry
    • 11) Caravan
    • 12) Clockwork Angels
    • 13) The Anarchist
    • 14) Carnies
    • 15) The Wreckers
    • 16) Headlong Flight / Drumbastica
    • 17) Peke’s Repose / Halo Effect
    • 18) Seven Cities Of Gold
    • 19) Wish Them Well
    • 20) The Garden
    • 21) Dreamline
    • 22) The Percussor (i) Binary Love Theme (ii) Steambanger’s Ball
    • 23) Red Sector A
    • 24) YYZ
    • 25) The Spirit Of Radio
    • 26) Tom Sawyer 27) 2112
    Bonus Features

    Bonus tracks:
    • (1) Limelight (soundcheck recording)
    • (2) Middletown Dreams
    • (3) The Pass
    • (4) Manhattan Project
    Can’t Stop Thinking Big (tour documentary) / Behind The Scenes (featuring Jay Baruchel) / Outtakes / Interview with Dwush / Family Goy / Family Sawyer / The Watchmaker / Office Of The Watchmaker

    Disc 6 – R40 Bonus Disc

    Laura Secord Secondary School 1974

    1. “Need Some Love”
    2. “Before and After”
    3. “Best I Can”
    4. “I’ve Been Runnin'”
    5. “Bad Boy”
    6. “The Loser”
    7. “Working Man”
    8. “In the Mood” (partial)

    Capitol Theatre 1976

    1. “Bastille Day”
    2. “Anthem”
    3. “Lakeside Park”
    4. “2112”
    5. “Fly By Night”/”In the Mood”

    1988

    “Lock and Key”

    Molson Amphitheatre 1997

    1. “Limelight”
    2. “Half the World”
    3. “Limbo”
    4. “Virtuality”
    5. “Nobody’s Hero”
    6. “Test for Echo”
    7. “Leave That Thing Alone”/Drum Solo
    8. “2112” (all seven parts)

    2011

    “I Still Love You Man”

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, 2013

    1. “2112,” featuring Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and Nick Raskulinecz
    2. “Tom Sawyer”
    3. “The Spirit of Radio”

    That's a whole lotta Rush, and it is really very good for someone like me that didn't have any of their stuff prior.
    Just on a side note - The Rush In Rio bluray, has terrible audio....
    The rest are pretty decent.

    --------------------------------------------
    The separate bluray for this is available from Amazon for about $13 https://www.amazon.com/Rush-30th-An.../ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Note -there are only two left in stock apparently.

    The R40 6x bluray set is currently about $138 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/R40-6-Blu-ra...=r40+bluray&qid=1591551894&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
    You can get it cheaper, and obviously there are some secondhand versions around also.
    ------------------------------------------
    I have been having a very enjoyable time exploring the Rush catalog on the Rush Album Thread. I got this set around the time the thread started and have watched at least some of all of these. Now we are further into the catalog I am more familiar with some of this later stuff, so I am looking forward to revisiting this today for a proper listen.

    So I'm not going to get too in deep here, if you are interested in the history of Rush and their music, the link to the album thread should be able to give you a start :)

    ‐---‐----------------
    We open up with some pretty cool animations that essentially highlight some album covers with Rush's patented sense of humour.
    The surround in the opening is pretty decent.
    Then we get the dad from everybody loves raymond, sorry I dont know his name, and he has a little video screen intro, and the band come on stage to his demand.

    The picture quality is really top class.
    The opening medley is an instrumental medley that covers a lot of the early tracks... I am guessing that Geddy would struggle to sing a lot of those older tracks in 2004.
    The medley is a winner in many ways, but of course I wouldn't complain about getting a full Hemispheres, or Cygnus x1... or even Anthem.
    We burst into Spirit of the Radio.
    Neil was such a monster drummer.
    These guys are such top class musicians.
    Geddy struggles a little with the pitch of the vocal but makes it through.
    You get to see his wizardry of playing the bass, singing and triggering, and also playing the pedals for the keys.

    The audio is predominantly up front, but there are some effects sends on the guitar feeding the sides. It is a good audio base. It is a little over ompressed.

    Force ten comes in at force ten.

    This is the stage with the washing machines.. and what is that? a snack dispenser?.... I dont know those goofy guys.

    Animate also comes in really solidly.

    Geddy really has fun hopping around when he isn't tied to the pedals, mic or keys.

    Although the 5.1 may not be considered in the same light as a good studio mix, the sound is full, and very good, aside from the compression.
    I can live with compression, but would prefer not to.

    Subdivisions comes across just about perfectly.
    As is often the case with older singers, Geddy's voice gets better as the show progresses. You hear and feel he is getting stronger and more confident in his delivery.

    Earthshine is a pretty new song to me, and it comes over well.

    Red Barchetta is always a favourite, and it revs up nicely.

    Roll The Bones is solid and the rap comes via the skeleton on the screen, and this has a slightly accentuated 5.1
    The 5.1 all through is quite good really.

    Bravado is a really good song to me, and this comes over well, and the arpeggio on the tele comes through in a nice surround sound.
    Love this song.

    YYZ has the guys playing their butts off.
    Geddy really shines on the bass on this track.

    The Trees comes in with Alex on the acoustic on the stand, and then we launch into the full blooded band.
    In the atmospheric section we get some animal sounds and Neil synth percussion thing in the rears.

    Then we move into The Who's The Seeker from the album of covers that the band did, and it cool also.

    One Little Victory is introduced by the Rio dragon, and it's a solid track.
    The band take a short break after this track, and we get a series of video clips to bring us back in. Via a mini movie "That Darn Dragon, with the band as bobbleheads attacking that the darn dragon, this kicks into Tom Sawyer

    Tom Sawyer bounces in Dreamline, another great song.
    Again we get some nice surround stuff with the synth from the pedals in the side.

    Secret Touch comes along, then we get a bonus of Between the Wheels coming out of the vaults for a live birth. Mystic Rhythms follows.
    Red Sector A
    These are all great songs, and to me the mix is good and at various point we get good immersion.
    The we move into Der Trommler, the drummer? I don't know but it's Peart, and it's excellent.

    For something a little different Geddy and Alex come out with the acoustics and play Resist. Then go on to do a nice acoustic version of Heart full of Soul.
    Neil comes back in on the kit after the first chorus.

    We then move into 2112 (8 mins)which starts another medley, and pretty much has the intro mix from 5.1 album. Some pretend pirates have sword fight and make up, and Geddy ends up with a parrot on his shoulder. We steam into La Villa (10 mins), Bytor (4 mins), Xanadu (7 mins), Working Man (7 mins)
    So it ends up being pretty healthy chunks of each.

    We get a Rush version of Summertime Blues, and Crossroads in the Cream styling.
    Then we close out the show with Limelight.

    Look this is a monster bluray that rolls for 3 hrs, and the biggest problem is having 3 hrs spare to watch it. I think there are enough 5.1 moments or sections for it to be worthwhile, and the picture is top class. Great disc.

    The Intro and R30 Overture (yes the picture is a lot better quality than this)

    the music starts at 2:55

     
  18. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    mark winstanley likes this.
  19. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    I am likely in the minority here, but for me Rattle and Hum is peak U2. Ne er understood the backlash to the movie or album. The new songs are excellent, the old ones sound great in concert, and the covers are played with conviction.

    Maybe “We’re stealing it back” before “Helter Skelter” was a touch arrogant, but who cares? They were the biggest band in the world at at that point, and I never doubted Bono or the band’s sincerity when it came to exploring/honoring the roots of American rock and blues. “Americana” wasn’t really a term then, but it is now and these guys were ahead of their time when it came to that.

    Anyway, I saw this movie at least three times in the theatre, and played the s*** out of the soundtrack. Also had it on VHS, loaned it to a co-worker years later and never got it back. No big deal, DVD was a thing by then. For some reason I never bought it on DVD or BR though. Gonna need to try to find a copy, I’d love to see it again. Would love to hear it in surround!

    For me, U2 had one great album after this in Achtung Baby. Some good ones since, but never as great. But the U2 of Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum are the U2 I loved the best.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I love U2 and really want this bluray... I'm hoping it will be reissued
     
    Guy Smiley and weekendtoy like this.
  21. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Yeah, I really like it. The critics were bonkers. Still like Under a Blood Red Sky better though.
     
    Guy Smiley and mark winstanley like this.
  22. weekendtoy

    weekendtoy Rejecting your reality and substituting my own.

    Location:
    Northern MN
    You could always get U2's Rattle and Hum from the Russian Federation for $20

    I'm generally loath to buying anything bootlegged as I want to support the artist whenever possible. However, when the artist has no apparent interest in releasing or re-releasing the album and used prices are $50 plus, in those cases, I figure why not?
     
    Guy Smiley and mark winstanley like this.
  23. Hymie the Robot

    Hymie the Robot Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I have the U2 Rattle and Hum HD-DVD and it is one of the few music discs that rips properly using the XBOX add-on drive. Strange that movies rip fine but very few music ones will? I really like the title and even after watching it several times, it never fails to impress.
     
  24. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Trilogy

    [​IMG]

    Live Performance by The Cure
    Released 3 June 2003
    Recorded 11–12 November 2002
    Venue The Tempodrom Berlin
    Genre New Wave, Goth rock
    Directed by Nick Wickham
    Produced by Robert Smith, Daryl Bamonte
    Length 248 mins
    Distributed by Eagle Vision (US) / Fiction Records (UK)

    The Cure: Trilogy (Live In The Tempodrom Berlin November 2002) is a double live album video by The Cure, released on two double layer DVD-9 discs, and later on a single Blu-ray disc. It documents The Trilogy Concerts, in which the three albums, Pornography (1982), Disintegration (1989) and Bloodflowers (2000) were played live in their entirety one after the other each night, the songs being played in the order in which they appeared on the albums. Trilogy was recorded on two consecutive nights, 11–12 November 2002, at the Tempodrom arena in Berlin. A third, previous Trilogy concert in Brussels on 7 November was not used.

    Robert Smith is quoted on the sleeve about the "trilogy" concept and its eventual execution:

    "The albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers are inextricably linked in so many ways, and the realisation of this Trilogy show is one of the highlights of my time in The Cure."

    Smith began arranging the concerts days after seeing David Bowie's Heathen Tour concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 29 June 2002, when Bowie played 10 of the 11 Low tracks consecutively (though not in album order), and the whole of the Heathen album in order. It was, said Smith, "the best I'd seen him on stage for years and years".

    The two DVDs feature a letterboxed 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound or regular PCM stereo. Two interviews with the band are also included, though one is hidden and requires the specific manipulation of a DVD player's remote control to be accessed. Another hidden feature is the "mic cam", a camera mounted on Smith's microphone pole which, when accessed with the angle control buttons, shows him in a fish-eye view, singing.

    The band's line-up for this production was Smith (vocals, guitar, 6-string bass guitar), Simon Gallup (4- and 6-string bass guitars), Perry Bamonte (guitar, 6-string bass, keyboards), Jason Cooper (drums, percussion) and Roger O'Donnell (keyboards, percussion). The songs performed were written by the band members, and, in the case of the first two albums, by former members Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst, Porl Thompson and Boris Williams.

    The first DVD contains the Pornography and Disintegration sets, and the second consists of the Bloodflowers set, a short encore—"If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" and "The Kiss" from the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)—and both interviews. Robert said that the two extra songs were included as a preview of "what was to come" in future Cure releases, despite later saying that the Trilogy concerts were supposed to be the Cure's swan song, though Smith has been notorious for saying such things in the past, usually coinciding with the release of new albums. In the two Trilogy shows at the Tempodrom a second encore was performed consisting of "M", "Play For Today" and "A Forest" the first night, and the same plus "Grinding Halt" and "Boys Don't Cry" the second night.

    Personnel
    Robert Smith Voice/Guitar/6 String Bass
    Simon Gallup Bass/6 String Bass
    Perry Bamonte Guitar/Keyboards
    Jason Cooper Drums/Percussion
    Roger O'Donnell Keyboards/Percussion

    Track Listing
    Pornography Set

    1 One Hundred Years
    2 A Short Term Effect
    3 The Hanging Garden
    4 Siamese Twins
    5 The Figurehead
    6 A Strange Day
    7 Cold
    8 Pornography

    Disintegration Set
    9 Plainsong
    10 Pictures Of You
    11 Closedown
    12 Lovesong
    13 Last Dance
    14 Lullaby
    15 Fascination Street
    16 Prayers For Rain
    17 The Same Deep Water As You
    18 Disintegration
    19 Homesick
    20 Untitled

    BloodFlowers Set
    21 Out Of This World
    22 Watching Me Fall
    23 Where The Birds Always Sing
    24 Maybe Someday
    25 The Last Day Of Summer
    26 There Is No If…
    27 The Loudest Sound
    28 39
    29 Bloodflowers

    Encore Set
    30 If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
    31 The Kiss

    Version Control
    I had the DVD version of this, but I upgraded to the bluray primarily to get the DTS MA/HD 5.1 audio instead of the DD 5.1. I think I got a used copy for $10, but they seem to be going for more than that now.

    The Concert
    The picture quality is excellent – the lighting is a little dark, but hey it’s a Cure concert. The audio quality is also excellent. The bluray is a significant upgrade for both. I won’t cover the two encore songs except to say they both have surround.

    The Pornography Set
    Cooper on drums in the back, O’Donnell, Smith, Gallup, and Bamonte lined up L-R in front.

    “One Hundred Years”
    Starts with rotating light behind the stage that is synchronized with the drum beat. Other spotlights too, so the stage is brightly lit. There’s also a screen with psychedelia in the back. Smith vocals in center, guitar (or six-string bass) on left. Bamonte guitar on right. Only a little reverb and crowd noise in rear. The rotating light stops when the drum stops.

    “A Short Term Effect”
    The stage starts of bathed in blue light The film is edited so the it never shows one camera for more than a few seconds at a time – it’s constantly changing from one shot to another, which makes for a pretty jarring viewing.

    “The Hanging Garden”
    The lighting changes to primarily red with a little green too. Camera is mostly Robert Smith, with occasional brief shots of other band members. There’s a fair amount of Gallup too - you should have figured out by now that the bass and drums are the better part of a early Cure song.

    “Siamese Twins”
    We’ve still got mostly red lights, but there’s some blue thrown in for good measure now.

    “The Figurehead”
    Stone sculpture head appears on screen in the back. Nice guitar on both sides, with more than a little reverb in the back. This whole set has been pretty good, but this is the standout so far.

    “A Strange Day “
    Red and purple, with color matching psychedelia on the screen. Since that’s not enough, there’s blurring and other video editing tricks used to distort the camera shots.

    “Cold”
    We’re back to all blue, and we start off with drums and synth that would make Ultravox proud. And guess what – the synth is in surround - that’s going to be good for a point. Robert put his guitar down, so what sounds like guitar riffs are actually coming from Gallup’s bass with his fret hand close to his pick hand.

    “Pornography”
    Well, the video editors have gone wild again. They apparently don’t want to let us just watch the concert. That would be boring. How many different ways are there to mess a picture up? Quite a few, apparently. Anyway, the songs ends, the stage is swathed in red light, and Smith says “Thank you, see you in seven years”. The band leaves and the lights turn blue.

    The Disintegration Set
    “Plainsong”
    We start off with blue lights, but then purple, drums and synth in surround. Smith just vocals in center channel.

    “Pictures Of You”
    Red lights, Smith has a guitar back in his hands, and we have left and right guitars with a little reverb. I can’t say there’s anything wrong with that. But then Smith would rather just sing, and the lights turn blue. Not to worry, the guitar and red lights come back at the end.

    “Closedown”
    Bass and drums in front, synth in surround – I’m liking this formula. OK, Smith sings too, plus left and right guitar.

    “Lovesong”
    Big hit song, baby. But no surround, damn it.

    ’Last Dance”
    Bass and drums, synth on the left, Bamonte guitar on the right. Smith sings.

    “Lullaby”
    Spider web on the screen. Another big hit song, and the rear speakers go relatively silent. Sounds really good though.

    “Fascination Street”
    Lots of spotlights, and the video editors are playing fast and loose again. Pretty much stays in front, with a little reverb in the back. Great song though.

    “Prayers For Rain”
    Bass and drums in front, synth in surround – yes we’re back. Plus Smith vocals and two guitars. Gorgeous.

    “The Same Deep Water As You”
    Bass and drums in front, synth and running water noises in surround. I don’t know why Simon Gallup always plays with his bass down around his knee, but it’s pretty cool. The video editors fool around with double imaging. Smith plays most of the guitar – Bamonte disappears on the right.

    “Disintegration”
    Drums, bass, and Bamonte is busy again on the right, and synth in surround. Plus crowd noise in the back because it was really good.

    “Homesick”
    O’Donnell piano on left, Bamonte electric guitar and keyboards on right, Smith has an acoustic guitar, none of which figure prominently in the back.

    “Untitled”
    Starts off with keyboard left front, Bamonte guitar right, Smith vocals center, bass and drums front – just a tiny bit of reverb in the back. Smith guitar on left too at the end, “OK, another 11 years”

    BloodFlowers Set
    “Out Of This World”
    Starts off in blue with some protoplasmic action on the back screen. Organ and Smith acoustic guitar left front, Bamonte electric on right, with red light joining the blue from the left.

    “Watching Me Fall”
    Blue plus stage level red lights, same instrument mix. The reverb from Bamonte electric guitar is maybe a little more prominent in the back, but it’s mostly all in front. Bamonte much more active on this album than the previous two.

    “Where The Birds Always Sing”
    Back to blue with a touch of red. Smith electric and Bamonte acoustic. The screen in the back shows symbols of all sorts.

    “Maybe Someday”
    Bamonte with an electric guitar again, and on this song at least he’s the lead. Smith just singing. I’m beginning to think we can kiss surround goodbye on this album because if there were ever going to be significant reverb in the back it would be this song.

    “The Last Day of Summer”
    Green and blue lighting. Piano on the left, Smith is lead again.

    “There Is No If…”
    All blue, Smith with acoustic. This song has a reverberating sound effect that is probably coming from an O’Donnell synth. It doesn’t show up in back, how annoying. Just crowd noise in back.

    “The Loudest Sound”
    Apparently that would be Gallup’s reverbing bass that dominates this song. Bamonte lead, Smith just sings.

    “39”
    Time for more flaming Bamonte lead guitar. I think Smith has the six string bass. Light scheme turns to red and yellow and there’s flames on the screen in the back. Gallup wanders the stage, feeding the flames. Best visuals on the disc, plus it’s the best song on the album:



    Too bad there’s no surround.

    “Bloodflowers”
    Back to red and blue, bass drums and synth start it off without surround. Smith electric lead at the start, but Bamonte gets loose again at the end.
    _______

    Pornography isn’t the first album I would choose the represent early Cure. I’d prefer Seventeen Seconds or Faith. But still, it’s a very good album. OTOH, Disintegration is the best Cure album from any era. Bloodflowers has to be the weakest album of the trio. There are two are three good songs on there, but the rest is pretty forgettable. The lighting and visual presentation are excellent on all three sets, and the last set is probably the best in that regard. The audio on the bluray is also excellent, but the Dolby Digital on the DVD is a little thin sometimes. Surround was spotty – Disintegration has the most going on in the back, Pornography has just a little, and Bloodflowers has none. There is also surround on the two encore tracks. It seems very strange that the surround mixing is so uneven and disparate. Anyway, it's a great Cure fix.

    Music – 2 (2 for Pornography, 3 for Disintegration, 1 for Bloodflowers)
    Sound quality – 2 (DVD) or 3 (BR)
    Video presentation – 3
    Video quality – 2 (DVD) or 3 (BR)
    Surround – 2 (barely)
     
  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Very enjoyable show.
    I have the dvd, and pondered the bluray upgrade .... still pondering
    Good write up mate
     
    Jagger69 and riskylogic like this.

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