XXV Gathering! Live Performance by Killing Joke Released November 1, 2005 Recorded February 25, 2005 Venue Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London Director: Eugene O'Connor Genre Electronic, Rock Length 86 min concert, 124 min including extras Label: Eagle Vision XXV Gathering contains a 25th Anniversary show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London 2005. Including 8 page booklet with information and photos. Personnel Bass, Vocals – Paul Raven Drums – Ben Calvert Guitar – Geordie Walker Keyboards – Nick Walker Vocals – Jaz Coleman Track Listing 1 Communion 7:14 2 Wardance 3:36 3 Song And Dance 5:23 4 Primitive 3:48 5 Total Invasion 5:11 6 Bloodsport 4:51 7 Requiem 3:53 8 Asteroid 4:41 9 The Wait 4:34 10 Whiteout 3:09 11 Pssyche 4:51 12 The Pandys Are Coming 4:18 13 Complications 3:21 14 Sun Goes Down 4:34 15 Are You Receiving? 5:32 16 Love Like Blood 6:26 17 Pandemonium 5:58 18 End Credits 1:18 Version Control There's only the one DVDversion. I’ve had it for a long time, and I’m sure I paid a lot more for it, but Amazon now has this for under $6. The Concert The video quality is fine for a DVD, and we once again have a choice between PCM stereo and 5.1 Dolby Digital. I’m going to go with the 5.1 this time – Coleman uses the center channel and the rears have heavy reverb plus crowd noise. This is a 25th anniversary concert so the set list is dominated by older material – which is too bad because I like the newer (at the time) stuff better. “Communion” From Pandemonium. We’ve got Geordie Walker, Coleman and Raven up front with calvert on drums and Nick Walker on keyboards in the back. Coleman has several layers of face paint on. This song is off of one of the more recent albums and I like it. Good start. “Wardance” From Killing Joke. First of many songs from the self-titled debut. There is much more emphasis on rhythm and not much in the way of melody. Punk rock. “Song And Dance” From Fire Dances. From the 4th album, and we’re still head banging. “Primitive” From Killing Joke. This one has a little more wailing guitar, which is a plus. The video is jitterbugging in sync with the music a bit. “Total Invasion” From Killing Joke 2003. The other self-titled album, which was the newest album at the time. The difference seems pretty stark to me – the bass line has much more range and Coleman is very nearly singing. “Bloodsport” From Killing Joke. Back to the first album and more pile driving. The crowd seems to like this stuff better even if I don’t. I guess that’s what 40 something pear old punk rockers do. Coleman carries a cross. “Requiem” From Killing Joke. Still on the first album and still working in a very narrow harmonic range. “Asteroid” From Killing Joke 2003. And we’re good again. The crowd likes this one too. The newer songs have more synthesizer. Nik Walker isn’t actually a band member – I’m guessing Jaz played those in the studio. I'm going to use the video here because it's somewhat reprseentative of both older and newer Killing Joke. “The Wait” From Killing Joke. This is pretty good considering that it’s another from the first album. Looks like there’s some slam dancing going on in the audience. “Whiteout” From Pandemonium. Ahh yes, far more sophisticated punk. He’s the main vocalist of course, but Coleman’s other job is to look menacing at all times. “Pssyche” From Ha. I guess this an early 80’s song that is only performed live. They are starting to all sound the same. “The Pandys Are Coming” From Revelations. Third album song starts out with melodic keyboards, but cacophony ensues. “Complications” From Killing Joke. Another prototype first album song. “Sun Goes Down” From Ha. Another early live song that seems to have some vocal harmonies from Coleman and Raven. End of regular set. “Are You Receiving?” From Turn to Red, which the EP that preceded the debut album. It has a serious synth line; let’s call it synth punk. It is in fact quite different from the debut album songs - I like it. “Love Like Blood” From Night Time. This is the first tweener; not early stuff but not recent either. More serious synth carrying a melody, and I dare say Coleman is singing rather than merely reciting the lyrics. This is my favorite song of the bunch, but I won’t use video here because it is not at all representative. I might have to pick up the album though because it’s one I don’t have. “Pandemonium” From Pandemonium. Synth carrying the show at the outset here too, and then we get into a fine mid-90’s Killing Joke song. Great finish, and the best track, _______ Both Revelations and Fire Dances were among the first CDs I ever bought soon after getting my first CDC player in 1985. I was still in the phase of buying albums that I didn’t have on LP and those were in the cut out bin and relatively cheap. But I never liked them that much, and that had something to do with redirecting by CD purchases to albums I already knew were good. Twenty years later I picked up Songs from a Victorious City by Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman and loved it. So I decided to give some more recent Killing Joke another try, and that time it clicked. I still think the run from Pandemonium to Hosannahs from the Basements of Hell are all pretty good, with Democracy being mt favorite of the bunch – I still play that somewhat regularly. I also picked up the self-titled debut which I believe their best-selling ever. Not the same. So, the bottom line is that while I’m not that fond of early Killing Joke, I think the later stuff is pretty good. I’m not familiar with what came in between, but I’m thinking maybe I should have a copy of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns. Unfortunately, Gathering! is a 25th anniversary performance with a set list that is dominated by earlier stuff. It has not even even one track from Democracy. Boo. I’m still glad to have though. If you like Killing Joke at all, the going rate of $6 is a bargain. Music – 1 (No Democracy) Sound quality – 2 (5.1), 3 (stereo) Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 2 (1 stereo)
Search out the original film Quadraphonic mix. The new AJ mix on early years isn't as poor as most make it out to be, sound quality wise, but I always go to the original multichannel film mix. The climax of One Of These Days with that line, is where the quad mix really shines both in sq and mix.
In the Flesh – Live Live album by Roger Waters Released 5 December 2000 Recorded 16–27 June 2000 Genre Progressive rock Length 147:35 Label Columbia Producer James Guthrie In the Flesh – Live is a two-disc live album that captures performances from Roger Waters' three-year In the Flesh tour. It's also considered as the tour of the album Amused to Death, because it's the first time he plays songs from that album. A DVD of the same title was also produced, and the two were released in a new package in 2006. A SACD featuring both stereo and 5.1 mixes was also released. The material for the DVD was taken from a 27 June 2000 performance at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon, while the double CD contains various recordings drawn from four performances in Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Irvine, CA and Portland, OR. Roger Waters – bass guitar, acoustic & electric guitar, lead and backing vocals Doyle Bramhall II – guitars, lead and backing vocals Andy Fairweather Low – guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals Snowy White – electric & acoustic guitars Andy Wallace – keyboards, Hammond organ, backing vocals Jon Carin – keyboards, lap steel, programming, acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals Katie Kissoon – backing vocals, percussion Susannah Melvoin – backing vocals, percussion P. P. Arnold – backing vocals, percussion Graham Broad – drums, percussion Norbert Stachel – saxophones 1 Intro 1:55 2 In The Flesh 4:23 3 The Happiest Days Of Our Lives 1:34 4 Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 6:22 5 Mother 5:24 6 Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert 1:03 7 Southampton Dock 2:16 8 Pigs On The Wing, Part 1 1:13 9 Dogs 15:59 10 Welcome To The Machine 6:32 11 Wish You Were Here 4:58 12 Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-8) 15:41 13 Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 6:40 14 Breathe (In The Air) 3:28 15 Time 6:26 16 Money 6:27 17 The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking Part 11 (AKA 5:06 A.M. - Every Stranger's Eyes) 5:04 18 Perfect Sense (Parts I And II) 7:24 19 The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range 5:17 20 It's A Miracle 8:03 21 Amused To Death 9:45 22 Brain Damage 4:06 23 Eclipse 2:11 24 Comfortably Numb 8:07 25 Each Small Candle 8:01 26 Credits 4:25 Special Features 27 Band Member Biographies 28 "Gearing Up" Documentary 17:36 29 Stills ------------------------------------------------------ I am a huge Pink Floyd fan .. for a long time I would have said they were my favourite band .... these days I just like too much music, so I find best and favourite just too hard to process. How does one balance off Floyd - Zappa - Crimson - Beatles and thousands of other bands that have made such great music over the decades, and if we bring classical and folk into the equation, centuries ... it is an impossible task ... So I will just say I love this band. I love the debut album with Syd, I think the run From Atom Heart Mother, up to and including the Final Cut to be one of the most impressive runs of albums ever, by anyone, and I always loved Momentary Lapse of Reason, and in recent years have come to love the Division Bell. I don't get into the Syd vs Roger vs Dave bs ... in fact it makes me want to punch things. I would prefer if Roger and Dave were best mates, but life isn't always like that, and whatever is between them, is between them ... some kind of poxy media picture, painted for readers = dollars isn't going to effect me, because I just listen to the music. Dave has made great solo albums, Roger has made great solo albums, but when they were together, they were an unbeatable team .... for me personally of higher standing the the L and M team that is so loved ... and I love those guys too, and interestingly there is a similar bunch of nonsense amongst the Liverpool bands fans over the same kind of bs........ When this acme out and I saw the tracklisting, it was an instant purchase. I love the Delicate Sound of Thunder, Pulse and as reviewed here already Pompeii concerts we have, but the peak years of Pink Floyd are completely unrepresented by any kind of concert video, and that is a tragedy for music lovers, in my opinion. Dave has done some wonderful stuff with Dave Gilmour in concert, a wonderful predominantly acoustic show, Gdansk, Remember that night, return to Pompeii etc, that if you love the artist are very worth having. This show really blew my mind when I first watched it. The band are just fantastic (yes, that's really what I think ...) and the presentation is very good. The songs are wonderful and faithfully recreated, and it would be hard to ask for more on this concert disc.... I would have liked Gunners Dream, Two Suns In The Sunset ... and maybe a couple of others, but what would one cut out, so I find the setlist to be brilliant. I personally love Amused To Death, and the songs here work as a wonderful crescendo that lead back into some Floyd classics ... and we get an excellent new song to close things up. Anyway It is a long time since I sat and watched this, and I actually got out of work early enough to do so, so here we go ..... Unfortunately the 5.1 is only DD ... but let's see how we go. We start with some pre-show backstage stuff..... You can hear the excitement in the crowd. The hats come in left rear to count us on. The organ is in the rears. The bvox come in in the rears ... This is a nice 5.1 mix Piano in the rears, synth swells up front. This is the second version of In The Flesh from the movie. The guitars up front and organ across the back works nicely, I wish more bands would use this style of live mix. Happiest days starts with the copter across the front..... why isn't this on bluray in hi def. Laughter across the rears. Doyle plays the rhythm and Snowy the vocal melody in Wall pt 2... great pair of guitarists. Bvox chorus rears. Nice full sound, similar mix to the opening tracks. Doyle is an excellent guitarist, probably slightly more blues than Dave but Carrie's off the lead break beautifully. We get a drumm break and Snowy takes a second lead, and Snowy has a beautiful touch and has been playing with Floyd, for a long time. Really nice immersive sound. Mother has Roger on acoustic opening is up. The girls come in on the ooo's, and then a synth organ comes in. The guitars hit with "firing line" One of the backing vocalists sings the mother's part and she has a beautiful rich voice. Doyle nails the lead break. The organ floats along on the right side. This is an excellent arrangement of the song. Filthy hands/Southampton dock at excellent inclusions. The plane flies across us into the explosion. Seagulls in the rears. While Waters plays acoustic, the ever versatile Andy Fairweather Low plays the bass. Waters and Doyle play the closing melody in unison, really nice arrangement. Pigs on a wing is a nice inclusion. The organ floats across the right side, Waters sings and plays the acoustic. Dogs ..... DOGS!, yea baby. This dvd really gave me a new appreciation of how great this track is. The opening accents give the rears some action. Jon Carin plays the 12vstring acoustic and sings an excellent vocal. Doyle again does a great job on Dave's lead parts. Andy Wallace holds down the organ on the right. Carin plays the lead synth lines. Then that mesmerizing harmony guitar with Doyle and snowy mirroring each other .... and obviously really enjoying the fact that they are playing this. Dogs bark in the rears. A nice interlude as a breather and Doyle just nails the lead again, and you can see how happy Waters is.. The reap the harvest vocal is a unison vocal spread around us. The Stone delay floats across the rears, and Carin plays the keyboard section. While this happens the band sits down and play cards... it is actually really cool, and adds a certain sense of theatrics. We get Carin's main synth lead up front, but swirls and squiggles go through the rears. I think Andy wins the card game, and Jon is back on the twelve string, and the band is back into it. Roger takes the vocal for this section. Doyle is a leftie who strings his guitar upside down the guys pull of that marvelous harmony run, and as they go into the beautiful guitar section Doyle looks over at Snowy with a big old grin, but Snowy is in another world. The mix is great, and the performance is sensational. The female backing vocals echoing Roger for the big finale are a beautiful touch. Worth getting just for this track, magnificent. We head straight into the menacing Machine. The synth percussive effects in the rears. Synth in the rears. The bvox work well here too. It takes a slight mental adjustment to be ready for the new arrangements, but once you adapt, they are wonderful. The girls pull out tambourines in unison and shake away. This is a well drilled unit, putting on s hell of a performance. Beautiful mix. We move into the opening Wish sfx. Doyle plays the iconic opening, and Snowy takes the acoustic opening. Pedal steel slides around the place beautifully. Doyle's blues's up a variation on the lead break, and it works nicely. Hammond's in the right rear accompanies the ending nicely. Shine.... a synth up front playing the melodic opening. Snowy plays the opening guitar section on his trusty old gold top, with reverb sends to the rear. Those iconic opening for notes, a trickle of synth across the back. Doyle takes the second lead with an almost SRV twist .... thesectwo play together really well. Organ in the rears. Bvox in the rears. The harmony gtr run, perfect. The girls give the refrain an almost gospel aura. We get an interlude that moves us smoothly in the second section of the complete piece. Carin gives us the synth, and also a lap steel. We move into a groove and Doyle gives us a nice lead as well. Then Snowy gives us a nice lead too. Then another beautiful harmony run... the ending slightly dodgy as Snowy pulls out of the last couple of notes, but 2 seconds doesn't spoil the overall beauty. The we move into a really nice variation on the outro with Doyle singing and the girls echoing. Nice arrangement indeed. The video is very good dvd quality. The way this is put together is very good though. Set the controls is a nice older inclusion. The synth swirls in the rears nicely. The sax players comes out for a really nice lead break. Then we power up and Snowy gives us an excellent lead break with an octave pedal, with wah. A really good version, with some really nice jamming in the middle. Breathe/Time/Money. The pulsing sound goes around us. Carin plays the lap steel section very nicely. Doyle and Jon sing the vocal. Jon on the high harmony. Alarms go off all around us, Waters tick rocks on his bass. Graham Broad has been solid as a rock all night, and here he gets a chance to shine on the rototoms, doing a beautiful job. Synth rears. This is a beautiful mix, particularly for a concert. Bvox rears. Waters main vocal. Doyle and Jon sing the other section. Doyle launches into a nice lead break, essentially aping Dave to some degree here, but really well. Doyle sings the Breathe reprise with Jon adding harminies, and the cash registers go off all around us. Riger takes the, again, iconic bass ruff. Doyle sings the vocal. Snowy plays the vibrato guitar just to the right side. Norbert Stachel comes back out and nails the sax lead, and Doyle launches into Dave's signature lead. Andy Fairweather Low comes forward and plays a very cool rhythm and chicken picking lead, then Snowy plays the final lead into the vocal. We get the album sfx around us and we roll into a truck starting .... Every Strangers Eyes comes in. Andy leads us in on the Danelectro. This is possibly the weak moment of the show, but having said that, it is still really excellent, and the song gains a nice power here. Andy plays a really nice melodic break. Again the immersion is quite beautiful. Sfx and voices all round. Surprisingly this section was always one of the highlights of the show, let's see how we go. Crickets rears, talking voice moves. Piano chord sequence right side. Bvox in rears. One of the ladies comes in with that wonderful vocal. Perfect sense one is wonderful. Part two starts with Roger and the piano across the front. Organ right rear. I love this track ... we have a commentator turning blowing up an oil rig as a sport, with Waters on the periscope. The crowd are loving it. Bravery of being out of range comes in with a nice groove. Organ slides on the right side. Roger is on the red strat and gives us a pick scrape. Snowy on the melody guitar. Miracle, advert voice in rears. Jon plays the piano intro, organ gently in the right rear, kids playing the rears. This has decent dynamics even though only DD. I love this song. The sarcasm is poignant and cutting. Synth swirl in rears. The track has a melancholic beauty. It kicks in. Car zooms across rears. Ride cymbal left side. Snowy closes us out with a lead. Roger Sanders the stage with a torch and talking from the album comes in the left side. Amused to death Another magnificent song. Percussion in the front and sides. The ladies on backing vocals really add to this concert. As the song punches in Doyle and Snowy have a smile together. Again the dynamics work so well. The girls are spread around us. The touch in this song by all participants is beautiful. The screen behind with war memorial names.... the Bill Hubbard voice comes in just left of front left. The gentleman reciting it gets some video time. Organ right rear. Brain damage/Eclipse Hats left side. Laughter all around. We kick in to the Eclipse. Comfy.... Roger on the verses, Doyle on the bridge. Doyle nails the opening lead break. We still have really nice immersion, with keys and guitars all round us. Doyle starts the second lead break. Snowy comes in standing on the right rear stage riser. They trade off beautifully. Roger and Andy have a smile and a chat. Doyle and Snowy on the rear risers walking towards each other while bringing us to a very cool musical climax. Each small candle Hats left side, electric piano front. Arpeggio gtr front left. Organ right side. Doyle opens us with some nice lead. Graham solid on the trap set. We drop back to just vocals and keys. I think this is an Amnesty international track. Andy plays some nice acoustic lead. This has an ominous feel, and a tension that works. Synth left side. The ladies around us. After the telling/singing of the story, we get the chorus that works almost like a call and response gospel. Doyle and Snowy trade 4's really nicely and come together for the finish. Then we get synth slides and bvox. Dynamically the drums kick us into a dirty gospel/blues/rock thing with the chorus chant. Very effective. And it's all over..... about two and a half hours of magic, for me. I have never really paid attention to the surround mix with this being a concert, but it is really very good. My only complaint about this whole thing is that it isn't in hi res on a bluray, and I would purchase it again if it were. In light of the peak Floyd period not being available in any way in concert video form, this is essentially my substitute, and I think it is magnificent. We get the added bonus of Roger's solo material, and the Amused To Death material is extremely strong, dare I say Floyd-worthy. for someone with no biases about that whole Dave/Roger thing Amused To Death is a magnificent piece of work, and Waters most substantial work since Final Cut, even though I like his other solo albums. Four stand out tracks get great representations here..... The Floyd seventies catalog gets a very strong representation, and the cohesiveness of the show and songs is quite remarkable. The musician's are all quite brilliant, and seem to be united in a common goal to give an excellent performance all round ... I don't hear any weak links at all. This is also available in sacd, and if I can run the whole thing again I may run through that tomorrow on the surround thread, but I have some prior commitments on there, so we'll see. If you love Floyd, and aren't harbouring grudges about stuff that has nothing to do with any of us, this to me is an essential addition to the collection. I love it. The concert tracklist with hotlinks and times to find stuff quickly ... but the 5.1 makes it worth getting the disc. 1.In The Flesh 01:51 2.The Happiest Days Our Lives 06:23 3.Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2 07:28 4.Mother 13:45 5.Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert 19:28 6.Southampton Dock 20:30 7.Pigs on the Wing, Pt.1 22:46 8.Dogs 24:05 9.Welcome To The Machine 39:39 10.Wish You Were Here 46:13 11.Shine On Your Crazy Diamond Pts.1-8 51:20 12.Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun 1:06:52 13.Breathe (In the Air) 1:13:49 14.Time 1:17:02 15.Money 1:23:21 16.Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Part 11 (AKA) 5:06 AM -- Every Strangers' Eyes)1:29:29 17.Perfect Sense (Parts 1 and 2) 1:34:58 18.The Bravery of Being Out of Range 1:42:26 19.It's a Miracle 1:47:34 20.Amused to Death 1:55:45 21.Brain Damage 2:05:10 22.Eclipse 2:09:20 23.Comfortably Numb 2:11:34 24.Each Small Candle 2:19:39
The Song Remains the Same Concert / Movie by Led Zeppelin Directed by Peter Clifton, Joe Massot Cinematography Ernest Day Edited by Humphrey Dixon Distributed by Warner Bros. Release date 20 October 1976 (US) Running time 137 minutes Language English Box office $12 million The Song Remains the Same is a 1976 concert film featuring the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The filming took place during the summer of 1973, during three nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with additional footage shot at Shepperton Studios. The film premiered three years later on 20 October 1976 at Cinema I in New York, on 22 October 1976 at Fox Wilshire in Los Angeles, and at Warner West End Cinema in London two weeks later. It was accompanied by a soundtrack album of the same name. Promotional materials stated that the film was "the band's special way of giving their millions of friends what they had been clamouring for – a personal and private tour of Led Zeppelin. For the first time the world has a front row seat on Led Zeppelin." Since late 1969, Led Zeppelin had been planning on filming one of their live performances for a projected movie documentary of the band. The group's manager, Peter Grant, believed that they would be better served by the big screen than by television, because he regarded the sound quality of the latter as unsatisfactory. The first attempt was the filming (by Peter Whitehead and Stanley Dorfman) of Led Zeppelin's Royal Albert Hall performance on 9 January 1970, but the band thought they appeared dated when they viewed the edited footage several months later, and the film was shelved (this footage was later remastered and featured on the 2003 release Led Zeppelin DVD). On the morning of 20 July 1973, during the band's concert tour of the US, Peter Grant made contact with American-born director Joe Massot. Massot was already known to Grant as he and his wife had moved into a house in Berkshire in 1970, where they made friends with their neighbours, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and his girlfriend Charlotte Martin.[4] Grant had previously turned down offers by Massot to make a film of the band, but with the huge success of the band's current tour, Grant changed his mind and offered him the job of director. As Grant recalled: It all started in the Sheraton Hotel, Boston. We'd talked about a film for years and Jimmy had known Joe Massot was interested – so we called them and over they came. It was all very quickly arranged. Massot hurriedly assembled a crew in time for Led Zeppelin's last leg of the tour starting on 23 July 1973, in Baltimore. He subsequently filmed the group's three concert performances at Madison Square Garden on the nights of 27, 28, and 29 July 1973. The film was entirely financed by the band and shot on 35mm with a 24-track quadraphonic sound recording. The live footage in the US alone cost $85,000. Some members of the band regard the performances filmed at Madison Square Garden as merely average for the time, coming as they did at the end of a long and exhausting tour, but nonetheless representative of the generally high standard of the band's live performances during this era. In an interview he gave with New Musical Express in November 1976, Page stated: The Song Remains The Same is not a great film, but there's no point in making excuses. It's just a reasonably honest statement of where we were at that particular time. It's very difficult for me to watch it now, but I'd like to see it in a year's time just to see how it stands up. The DVD of the film was released on 31 December 1999. A reissue of the film, including previously unreleased footage as a bonus, was released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc on 20 November 2007, by Warner Home Video. Personnel John Bonham – drums, percussion John Paul Jones – bass guitar, keyboards Jimmy Page – guitars, backing vocals, production, sound editing, mixing Robert Plant – vocals, tambourine Track Listing As usual, I am just going to focus on the actual performances, and skip over the parts of the movie that don't have concert fpptage. The DVD movie chapters with songs are as follows 4. "Bron-Yr-Aur" 5. "Rock and Roll" 6. "Black Dog" 7. "Since I've Been Loving You" 8. "No Quarter" 10. "The Song Remains the Same" 11. "The Rain Song" 15. "Dazed and Confused" 20. "Stairway to Heaven" 21. "Moby Dick" 23. "Heartbreaker" 25. "Whole Lotta Love" In addition, as bonus material we have: "Over the Hills and Far Away" "Celebration Day" "Misty Mountain Hop" "The Ocean" Version Control Discogs lists over 100 versions. It was first released on VHS in 1984, and then on DVD in 1999. A two DVD set with a fresh transfer and the bonus material was released in 2007; a single bluray with the same material was released at the same time. I have the bluray, which was an upgrade from the 1999 DVD. Amazon. There are also many different versions of the soundtrack, with the most recent coming in 2018; there is a bluray version with a surround mix. Burning Shed. The Concert The picture is DVD quality – I don’t suppose the bluray is any better than the DVD in that regard. However, the 5.1 format is lossless Dolby TrueHD, a step up from the DVD. "Bron-Yr-Aur" On bluray chapter 5 (different from DVD apparently), the song from III plays as the band is shown making it’s way to the arena. No surround at all. "Rock and Roll" From IV. On chapter 6, now we’re at the concert. No use of the center channel, moderate reverb. I’m thinking this isn’t serious surround. Plant and Page are the main show, duh. "Black Dog" On chapter 7, goes straight into this one that precedes R&R on IV. Play get the audience to help out with the singing. The movie cuts away from the arena to show some New York traffic. "Since I've Been Loving You" Now we’re on to chapter 9. The concert parts seem to be better segregated on the bluray. This song from III starts out with quadruple imagery of first Page and then Plant. Page tears it up, JPJ is on keyboards. "No Quarter" From Houses of the Holy. We’re on chapter 10 and we spend a few seconds on the subway before the song starts. JPJ still on keyboards, and he starts it off. Page makes up for the lack of a bass player by keeping his fret hand up top. They cut to JPJ playing in a church with organ pipes above him, but I don’t think that’s what we’re listening to. They then also interject other extraneous video for absolutely no reason. Some of it does seem to synchronized with the music that keeps playing, thankfully. "The Song Remains the Same" From Houses of the Holy, on chapter 12. JBJ back on bass, and Page has a double-necked guitar – mainly playing 12-string. Video cuts away from the stage for some pretty random stuff. Plant marches around Wales with a sword. "The Rain Song" From Houses of the Holy, on chapter 13, with the video continuing where chapter 12 left off. These two tracks do follow each other on the album too. Plant finds a magic mushroom, rides a horse, throws a guy into moat, and wins the girl – but maybe that last part was just the mushroom kicking in. "Dazed and Confused" From the debut, on chapter 15. JPJ leads off on bass, and Page with heavy reverb that does show up in the back a bit. After Page tears it up, Bonham is featured for what seems like the first time. Page plays his guitar with a bow for a very long time. Then reverb that bounces around all four speakers – it’s a surround mix. The video leaves the stage again, and we’ve got Page roaming the countryside this time. This version of the song is way longer than the original. "Stairway to Heaven" From IV, on chapter 17. Starts off with shot of NYC skyline. JPJ on keyboards. Very cool mirror imagery of Page with the double-necked guitar. Seems like the video just has to go here: "Moby Dick" From II. On chapter 18, drum solo time for Bonham, lots of cutaway screen shots of Bonham. He likes drag racing apparently, and he doesn’t necessarily need drum sticks. Baby Bonham has his own kit. Decent reverb in the rear. "Heartbreaker" From II. On chapter 19, Bonham starts it off. The movie cuts away to Broadway - both audio and video this time with a discussion of money take from a hotel deposit box. Pretty much ruins the song – I guess it’s a heartbreaker. "Whole Lotta Love" OK, let’s try again with another one from II on chapter 20. Page starts fooling around with reverb, which is cool but it doesn’t seem to involve the rears as much as it should – seems like a lost opportunity. Some cool camera trickery to go along with it as it turns into a fantastic extended version. I've already used up my embedded video, but here's a link: YouTube That’s it for the movie. "Over the Hills and Far Away" From Houses of the Holy. On to the bonus material. These four extra songs all have to be played individually from the main bonus feature menu, which is absurd. Somehow seems immediately different – it’s concert video that isn’t trying to be a movie. Still great audio and video for a 70’s concert, no surround though. "Celebration Day" From III. This a “cutting room copy” which I guess means it was going to be in the movie at some point. Still looks like concert video, and Page tears it up again – that’s what he does. "Misty Mountain Hop" From IV. JPJ starts out on keyboards before switching to bass. Some video problems at a few junctures. "The Ocean" From Houses of the Holy. Definitely some subpar video on this one too, but so what - Page is still awesome. Ends with credits and video of stage being disassembled. _______ It’s a damn silly movie, but there is still lots of great concert video in among a few weeds. I will complain that set list doesn’t include “When the Levee Breaks”, but it still all classic Zeppelin material. The surround is a bit disappointing, especially since there were few points where surround could be well employed, especially on the the extended version of "Whole Lotta Love". Even if it is the quadrophonic recording, there isn't a whole lot going on on the back most of the time. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 (too many interruptions) Video quality – 2 Surround – 1 Mark may get around to reviewing the bluray audio today - I'll post a link if he does.
Score Live Performance by Dream Theater Released August 29, 2006 Recorded April 1, 2006 - Radio City Music Hall, New York City, New York Genre Symphonic metal, progressive metal, progressive rock Length 157:08 Label Rhino Entertainment Producer Ethan Mesmer Score is a live album and DVD by progressive metal band Dream Theater. It was recorded on April 1, 2006 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The concert was the last of their 20th Anniversary Tour, labeled "A Very Special Evening with Dream Theater". The entire second half of the concert features a complete symphonic orchestra, dubbed "The Octavarium Orchestra", conducted by Jamshied Sharifi. The album was released on August 29, 2006 and contains the entire concert setlist, including the encore. The title of the album comes from the word "score", meaning the number twenty, in reference to the band's 20th anniversary. It can also refer to a conductor's musical score, which is seen on the album cover. Two of the songs recorded on this album were previously unreleased: "Another Won," a song written by the band in their earlier years, when they were known as Majesty; and "Raise the Knife", a song recorded for but omitted from Falling into Infinity, Personnel Dream Theater James LaBrie – Vocals John Myung – Bass John Petrucci – Guitar, backing vocals Mike Portnoy – Drums, backing vocals Jordan Rudess – Keyboards, Continuum, and Lap steel guitar Octavarium Orchestra Conductor - Jamshied Sharifi Violins - Elena Barere - (Concertmistress), Yuri Vodovos, Belinda Whitney, Avril Brown, Katherine Livolsi, Abe Appleman, Joyce Hammann, Karen Karlsrud, Ann Leathers, Ricky Sortomme, Jan Mullen, Carol Pool Violas - Vincent Lionti, Adria Benjamin, Judy Witmer, Crystal Garner, Jonathan Dinklage Cellos - Richard Locker, Eugene Moye, David Heiss, Caryl Paisner French Horn - Bob Carlisle, Dan Culpepper, Larry DiBello Bass Trombone - George Flynn Flute = Pamela Sklar B Flat Clarinet - Ole Mathisen Trumpet - Jeff Kievit, Jim Hynes Percussion - Gordon Gottlieb Track Listing 1. "The Root of All Evil" – 9:32 2. "I Walk Beside You" – 4:10 3. "Another Won" – 5:40 4. "Afterlife" – 7:28 5. "Under a Glass Moon" – 7:27 6. "Innocence Faded" – 6:16 7. "Raise the Knife" – 11:51 8. "The Spirit Carries On" – 9:37 9. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" – 41:26 10. "Vacant" – 3:03 11. "The Answer Lies Within" – 5:36 12. "Sacrificed Sons" – 10:36 13. "Octavarium" – 27:29 14. "Metropolis" – 11:16 15. Credits – 2:53 Version Control There are 3-CD and 2-DVD versions of this, both of which were released in 2006. It’s out of print, but used copies are cheap. Amazon Discogs The Concert We’ve got excellent for DVD video quality and once the again the difficult choice of DD 5.1 or PCM stereo. Judging from the first song the center channel is used as just another speaker for the stereo mix to use; however there is a middling amount of reverb. I’m going to leave it on 5.1, but I am tempted to switch it to stereo. They play their most recent albums; Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Octavarium in their entirety. Earlier works are also sampled. "The Root of All Evil" (from Octavarium) Myung, LaBrie, and Petrucci are lined up front with Rudess and Portnoy in back. Three screens in back of the stage that are used to introduce the songs. The middle one is bigger and often shows live shots of band members playing. The smaller ones on either sudden usually have other stuff. Myung has a six-string bass, Rudess has a main keyboard that he uses most of the time, plus a fingerbaord (sort of a slide piano) that he uses occasionally. The main one is on a swivel – he can play facing the band, the audience, or somewhere in between. It takes a few minutes for things to get started, but when they do Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy are all playing at breakneck speed. La Brie also sings, but not all the time. That’s situation normal. Rudess is the main wild card – he has a solo at the end. "I Walk Beside You" (from Octavarium) Petrucci starts it off, then situation normal. Rudess imitates a string section. "Another Won" (from Majesty Demos) Old unrelentless stuff. Rudess plays along, and La Brie doesn’t have to sing that much. "Afterlife" (from When Dream and Day Unite) After going full bore most of the way, the song slows enough at the end for Petrucci to get a solo in. "Under a Glass Moon" (from Images and Words) Starts off with heavy bass line, solos from both Petrucci and Rudess. "Innocence Faded" (from Awake) This one starts of relatively slowly with Petrucci leading off, almost ethereal even. Rudess has his keyboard set to mellotron then organ. More prog, less metal. "Raise the Knife" (unreleased track from the Falling into Infinity sessions) LaBrie sings almost continuously for the first half of the song. Rudess uses the fingerboard quite a bit on this one. Petrucci and Portnoy both with backing vocals. LaBrie stops long enough for a jam session of sorts, Petrucci with lots of reverb that hardly shows up in the back at all. Probably should be listening in stereo. "The Spirit Carries On" (from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory) Starts out with just keyboards, then Petrucci comes in playing the blues. After about two minutes, LaBrie starts. The crowd lights up their flip phones. Myung and Portnoy finally join in too, and it gradually turns into a bluesy situation normal. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence) Hey, we’ve got an orchestra in back of Rudess and Portnoy. Heavy on strings and horns, light on woodwinds, one percussionist. Center screen goes blank and the small screens start to show live band video. The orchestra starts it off and they go for at over seven minutes before Rudess, Myung, and the rest of the band join in. Portnoy has traded his Knicks jersey for a tuxedo t-shirt, and he has lots more background vocals. LaBrie has a t-shirt that matches his pants. The prog to metal ratio goes up another notch, but there are still plenty of situation normal passages. At 20 minutes, most of the band goes silent and the orchestra again takes over with LaBrie vocals. Then Rudess, Myung and Portnoy add some light touches, followed by Petrucci solo. Petrucci switches to double neck, plays 12-string. The orchestra is dominating the rear speakers – the surround suddenly seems worthwhile. Portnoy finishes it off with a gong. A prog metal epic - I guess Nightwish didn't do it first. "Vacant" (from Train of Thought) Crap. ToT is my favorite Dream theater album, and I only get one measly three minute song? Where the hell is “As I Am”? Orchestra only for 50 seconds, then LaBrie and that’s it. Bloody hell, that’s going to cost a point. "The Answer Lies Within" (from Octavarium) Orchestra starts again, then Rudess, then LaBrie, then Petrucci, then Myung and Portnoy. All very proggy, no metal at all. "Sacrificed Sons" (from Octavarium) Starts with video of World Trade Center destruction. Rudess plays both his keyboards at once, and we’re pretty close to situation normal, but we still have a backing orchestra. Pretty awesome really, so video goes here: "Octavarium" (from Octavarium) Starts off with just Rudess playing both keyboards at once, but mostly the fingerboard. After about a five minute solo, the orchestra and Portnoy join in, then Petrucci on the 12 string. Flute solo, Petrucci solo, then LaBrie vocals. Rudess returns both hands to the regular keyboard. The music gets very proggy. Screens show animated band members. Portnoy with sound-effect vocals. Orchestral finish. La Brie says good night and leaves the stage. "Metropolis" (from Images and Words) The Orchestra starts it off, the band joins in, and after a minute or two LaBrie comes back. Eventually builds up to situation normal with backing orchestra. Second best track after “Sacrificed Sons”. “Honor Thy Father” There are three bonus tracks on the second DVD, including this one from Train of Thought. Portnoy has a Bulls shirt instead of a Knicks shirt. The video is 4:3 and not especially good VHS quality – I think we can assume it was shot with a video camera. The audio isn’t so hot either. I am not placated. _______ I feel like Dream Theater were at their peak as this point. But I am disappointed at the paucity of representation from Train of Thought, which is the one I think of as their classic. But the second half of the concert with the orchestra is still fantastic, and I’d have to say pretty essential for even a casual Dream Theater fan. I had a hard time choosing between the stereo and surround options – in the end I think it depends on the system I’m watching on. On a home theater system I would go with the surround, but on a good stereo set up (i.e. better fronts than rears) I’d probably go with the 2 channel PCM. It adds up to an 11 point disc either way. Music – 2 (No “As I Am”) Sound quality – 3 or 2 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 1 or 2
Absolutely love this thread! Lots of great video collections and live performances out there. Lots of cool DVD's included with CD releases too.
Live at Brixton Academy Live Performance by Dido Released 7 June 2005 (Region 1), 13 June 2005 (Region 2) Recorded August, 2004, Brixton Academy, Brixton, London, England Genre Pop Length 91 mins (DVD track), 58 mins (Audio track) Label Arista, Cheeky, Sony BMG Producer Jacqui Edenbrow Live at Brixton Academy (released as Dido Live on Region 1) is a live album and DVD set by Dido, released on 2005. It was recorded over three nights in August 2004, at Brixton Academy in London during the Life for Rent tour. The DVD release includes a bonus audio CD which contains twelve of the recorded tracks, in a slightly modified order. Personnel Dido - vocals Vini Miranda - guitar Keith Golden - bass guitar John Deley - keyboards Alex Alexander - drums Jody Linscott – percussion Track Listing 1. "Stoned" – 5:58 2. "Here with Me" – 4:35 3. "See You When You're 40" – 5:55 4. "Life for Rent" – 3:55 5. "Hunter" – 4:16 6. "Isobel" – 4:48 7. "My Life" – 3:18 8. "Honestly OK" – 7:09 9. "Don't Leave Home" – 4:20 10. "Mary's in India" – 3:30 11. "Take My Hand" – 5:53 12. "Thank You" – 4:09 13. "Sand in My Shoes" – 5:17 14. "White Flag" – 4:16 15. "Do You Have a Little Time" – 2:43 16. "All You Want" – 3:55 17. "See the Sun" – 6:06 Version Control So there’s two versions of this: A European version entitled Live at Brixton Academy and a U.S. version entitled just Live. I screwed up and got the European version, which besides having European region coding is PAL instead of NTSC. I thought that meant I would have to play it on my laptop, but just for grins I tried putting it in the Oppo 105 instead of the Sony x800 that I usually use for video and holy crap – it played just fine. Both are still available new, but if you want the U.S. version you are probably better off going for a used copy because a new one is pricey. Amazon. The Concert Its DVD quality audio and it has a DTS surround track. All the songs are from her first two albums, which is not a bad thing. "Stoned" Starts with a Grid-like tour of Brixton, but we eventually find Dido in the spotlight. Can’t really see how the band is set up on stage – they only show close-ups. The surround is quite decent – Dido vocals are in the center channel and there’s plenty of reverb and crowd noise in the back. "Here with Me" From No Angel. Big hit song with a heavy bass line. Now I’ve got the stage layout: Two drummers in the back left and right with keyboards in between. Guitar and bass are in front to the left and right of Dido. The drummers are mixed front left and right. "See You When You're 40" From Life for Rent. The “You’re Just a Boy” song. Starts with keyboards and Alexander drums – he’s on the right. After Dido sings a bit, it picks up with more drums, bass, and guitar. "Life for Rent" From Life for Rent. Starts with guitar, keyboards, and vocals. Never does build up much. "Hunter" From No Angel. Alexander has a normal drum kit, but Linscott doesn’t – she big drums (timbales perhaps), a bunch of cymbals, and lot’s pf other stuff – she plays standing. Anyway, she starts this one off and dominates the left speaker thought the song. Lots of synth in the back. "Isobel" From No Angel. I know Wiki labels Dido as Pop, but this is a rock song for sure. Starts off with guitar bass and drums, but that gives way to Dido and piano. Heavy bass line and synth. Oh, the light show has picked up over the last few songs. First screens in back showed up, now we’ve got lots of strobe lights during the raucous parts. "My Life" From No Angel. Starts with solo guitar, the Dido, a little synth in there too. Slow Alexander drums and bass join in too. "Honestly OK" From No Angel. Starts with guitar and percussion from Linscott. Alexander moves up front with a conga. Synth and bass too, with the former dominating the rear speakers. Dido stops singing, picks up a tambourine and cheers the band on for a jam that goes on for at least five minutes – which makes this the longest song. "Don't Leave Home" From Life for Rent. Miranda has an acoustic guitar "Mary's in India" From Life for Rent. Dido takes on an acoustic guitar and sings and plays solo. The rest of the band adds some light percussion – Golden seems to being playing keyboards. "Take My Hand" From No Angel. Miranda has an acoustic guitar again and I’m getting bored because the last two songs started putting me to sleep. But then things pick up and the light show that had disappeared comes back. A flurry of percussion leads to a pause and then we’re rocking again. Let’s put the video here: "Thank You" From No Angel. Starts out with percussion form both Linscott and Alexander. Dido sings, some interesting guitar work, the crowd sings from the rears. "Sand in My Shoes" From Life for Rent. Synth starts in front, guitar comes in, then there’s synth in the back. I don’t think it’s “just” reverb, but I could be wrong. After Dido sings a bit, very cool percussion and synth kicks in. "White Flag" From Life for Rent. Different synth front and back – definitely not reverb. Dido sings, the band plays, and Deley finishes on piano. "Do You Have a Little Time" From Life for Rent. I presume this is an encore – Dido at the keyboards by herself. "All You Want" From No Angel. Ok, the other big hit song. It’s definitely a pop song. "See the Sun" From Life for Rent. Guitar in front, synth in the rear. Dido has an acoustic guitar again, which also shows up in the rear. _______ I have this video and four of her albums largely because my wife likes her. I like her too, but all of the ones after the first seem redundant. I read somewhere on QQ that this has a decent surround mix, so that pushed into looking for a copy too. I liked it and so did my wife. However, it’s not like I loved every minute of it; at the end I felt like I had heard what she had to sing. However, there are more than a few parts where it’s not just her singing – and in the end those bits are my favorite. Also, let it be acknowledged that the surround mix was better than average. Music – 2 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 2 Surround – 2
Dream Theater’s Score was my entry into their music. I rented it from Netflix when they were sending out DVDs. I was captured from the first song and enjoyed, in particular, watching Portnoy bounce around the drum kit. Definitely not a guy to just sit there and play.
Same here. I have all their stuff now, though not fully fluent yet, but Score opened the door.... it was one of those random purchases, and I had little to no idea who they were or what they did.
This acoustic concert is part of this set Devin Townsend Empath Ultimate edition 5.1 Devin Townsend Acoustically Inclined in Leeds The Setlist Intro Let It Roll Funeral Deadhead Ih-Ah! Love? Hyperdrive! Terminal Coast Solar Winds Thing Beyond Things For more details, go to the link above in the surround thread. I have no idea what to expect from this bonus disc, but Devin live, in some form of acoustic set up..... So off we go. So we appear to have a small theater or opera house. This is just in stereo. The video quality is certainly hi-def. We open with the typically self effacing Devin introducing us to the idea of what he is doing here. There are few performers who seem as close and genuine with their audience as Devin. We just have Devin on the acoustic, through an effects board. The stereo is Lpcm, the sound is good. It is slightly a shame that this wasn't 5.1'd, with the effects in the rear and the straight signal up front, but Devin is pretty much self funded, and he must have spent a mint on the 5.1 on the Empath set, it is incredible. We open with Let it Roll, which is essentially a folk song, and shows what a beautiful voice Devin has. He has incredible control of his voice. Smoothly between falsetto, and the amazing raspy fry vocal.... I love the Synchestra album this track is off. For interest I put the dts no 6 on. It adds a nice ambience. For the record, I have Ziltoid at the Royal Albert Hall, Retinal Circus, By A Thread and Ocean Machine - live at Plovdiv. Yea, I am a big fan of Devvy. We get the emotive Funeral next, and again we get this beautiful mellow delivery. Devin makes good use of space stepping into, and away from the mic, for the right vocal impact and effect. Deadhead comes in next. The electric band sends these songs into the stratosphere. These acoustic versions are really very effective. There is a strange intimacy here. We have just the acoustic, with its wash of ambient reverb. Devin sings it exactly the same, the intensity, the amazing control over the fry vocal effect. Ih ah was done with Anneke on the addicted album. We get another nice bit of interaction with the audience. Ih ah is essentially like a somewhat pop live song. The delivery is really excellent. We get an unusual interlude with Love? Here we Devin being goofy, and it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea... it is like a psychological breakdown to music, with a humourous twist. Hyperdrive from the first Ziltoid album, is always excellent. Anyway my time today has run out, but I would think any Devin fan would enjoy this as the bonus material it is. Entertaining, fun, musical.... Unfortunately there is nothing uploaded at this stage.... this is brand new
Great band. SeMPTe, Bridge Across Forever and Whirlwind are brilliant. Kaleidoscope is very good. The Live In Europe dvd is very good, but the video quality is so-so. The Whirlwind dvd is amazing, and better video quality.
I was surprised how much I like Flying Colors. Sons of Apollo is another favorite. I’ve been enjoying about 50% of the projects he’s done during/after DT.
It seems to be OOP, but that's on my wishlist. "The Giant Hogweed" with Hackett as guest musician. How badly do I need it?
Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall Live Performance by Eric Clapton Released 13 November 2015 Recorded 21 May 2015 Venue Royal Albert Hall Genre Blues rock · blues Label Eagle · Universal · Warner Producer Audrey Davenport Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a November 2015 album by Eric Clapton recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall on 21 May 2015 during his "70th Birthday Celebration" tour. A film of the concert was released on 14 September 2015 via cinema broadcasting in various territories. The cinema release included a report on Clapton's history at the Royal Albert Hall. A DVD, Blu-ray, compact disc and gramophone record release of the performance was released on 13 November 2015. Keyboardist Paul Carrack recalled in an interview with the Canadian National Post: "I thought the playing was amazing. Eric doesn’t make much fuss about the fact that it’s the 70th so in that respect it was just like any other gig but there was a special atmosphere in the hall. When we came off stage the first night Eric said he wasn’t gonna let it go on. I think the second night must have been a lot better. [...] With Eric, playing at the Albert Hall … it’s really just about the music. It feels like you’re playing in a small club, almost. Especially when you’ve been out playing those big auditoriums, which aren’t built for music. But the Albert Hall has this wonderful, intimate atmosphere". Personnel Eric Clapton – electric and acoustic guitar · lead vocals Chris Stainton – keyboards Paul Carrack – keyboards · Hammond organ · background vocals Andy Fairweather Low - guitar · vocals - High Time We Went Nathan East – bass guitar · background vocals Steve Gadd – drums Michelle John – background vocals Sharon White – background vocals Track Listing No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Somebody's Knockin' on My Door" J. J. Cale 7:08 2. "Key to the Highway" Big Bill Broonzy · Charlie Segar 5:06 3. "Tell the Truth" Eric Clapton · Bobby Whitlock 6:37 4. "Pretending" Jerry Lynn Williams 5:35 5. "Hoochie Coochie Man" Willie Dixon 5:25 6. "You Are So Beautiful" Billy Preston · Bruce Fisher 4:45 7. "Can't Find My Way Home" Steve Winwood 6:16 8. "I Shot the Sheriff" Bob Marley 9:30 9. "Driftin' Blues" Charles Brown · Johnny Moore · Eddie Williams 6:30 10. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" Jimmy Cox 3:32 11. "Tears in Heaven" Eric Clapton · Will Jennings 5:02 12. "Layla" Eric Clapton · Jim Gordon 6:57 13. "Let It Rain" Eric Clapton · Bonnie Bramlett 5:35 14. "Wonderful Tonight" Eric Clapton 3:55 15. "Crossroads" Robert Johnson 6:07 16. "Cocaine" J. J. Cale 8:51 17. "High Time We Went" Joe Cocker · Chris Stainton 5:37 Version Control Here are the choices: Double DVD with double CD, gramophone record, double CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc and a triple vinyl release with included DVD. I have the bluray of course. The Concert The picture and audio quality (it’s DTS-HD) are both excellent. Let’s see if Clapton can still play the guitar at 70. "Somebody's Knockin' on My Door" Didn’t take 15 seconds to answer that question. We’ve got two keyboard players on either side of the stage (Carrack left and Stainton right), two backup singers back left , one drummer back center, one bass player front right, and one guitar player front and center. There’s a rug laid out underneath Clapton. Swirly lights projected from the ceiling. Seems like we’re going to hear some blues. Even though I wouldn’t call the original version of this song a straight up blues ballad, that’s what it sounds like here. We’ve definitely have a surround mix. Clapton’s guitar dominates the center channel, bass and drums are up front, but the cymbals reverb in the rear. The vocals are hard to place, I’d say they are mixed in surround put the placement seems to vary somewhat. Both Clapton and the backup singers seem to me predominately in the rear sometimes. Carrack keyboards are on the left spilling into the left rear. "Key to the Highway" Clapton vocals definitely in back on this one, backup singers are front left. "Tell the Truth" Clapton vocals in front, White takes a turn singing lead left front. I’m beginning to think that’s where she always is, and John is right rear. East also singing on this one, but I can’t place him. Every single song so far has sounded really good. "Pretending" Clapton vocals in front, backup singers mostly in rear. I think it’s White left and John right, which is the opposite of their position on stage. "Hoochie Coochie Man" Willie Dixon Clapton vocals rear left, backup singers left and right but more to the front. Carrack keyboards still one left – the mix seems to be left-heavy. "You Are So Beautiful" Carrack starts it off with keyboards front left and lead vocals left, Clapton guitar comes in front right. Backup singers left and right. "Can't Find My Way Home" East starts it off with bass solo, then drums guitar and Stainton keyboards. All in front except for some cymbal reverb. East lead vocals in front – he has a fairly high pitched voice that actually is a little hard to distinguish from the backup singers. Any, once the latter kick in they dominate the rears. Low key version of the song, very nice. "I Shot the Sheriff" For the first time, can’t call this the blues. Clapton vocals far left again, finishes with an extended guitar solo; while he is playing there is a live video projection of Clapton on the back of the theater instead of the swirly lights. Not as cool as the Wilson holographic images, but still pretty awesome: "Driftin' Blues" I think this is the beginning of a second set, and we are back to the blues. Clapton sitting with just an acoustic guitar, and East accompanying on a string bass. The guitar is mixed in surround while the vocals are from the center channel. Carrack organ on left. Still projecting Clapton’s guitar to the back of the theater. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" The backup singers are back left and right and mostly in the rear, singing while seated. Stainton is back too, still mixed in front. Clapton vocals move to left. Carrack not playing. "Tears in Heaven" Same line up and mix. It sounds like someone is playing slide guitar, but I don’t know who "Layla" Still playing acoustic, Clapton vocals back in center. Background vocals dominate the rears. Carrack back on the left again. The lighting scheme has changed again. The rear of the theater is lit up with multicolored lights "Let It Rain" Back to electric, and another not-exactly-blues song. We’re also back to the electric mix with guitar in center. Only Carrack is sitting. "Wonderful Tonight" Pretty much the same mix, but the backgrounds vocals are more in front. "Crossroads" Clapton starts out solo, with projection on again in the back of the arena. Unless John and White are singing, pretty much just reverb in the rear speakers. Carrack with an organ solo. "Cocaine" Clapton and East start out with duet. The rest of the band kicks in, and the old fogeys in the audience rush the stage. Stainton with long keyboard solo. "High Time We Went" Encore time, and we’ve got another guitarist. Carrack with lead vocals of the left. New guitarist Lowe also mixed left while Clapton moves to right. _______ I saved up most of my exclamatories for the end. An excellent concert all the way around. Great music and the sound quality is very very good. Every second is enjoyable. Even at 70, Clapton was a world class guitarist. The only things to pick on a little are the visual presentation and the surround. Neither are completely top notch in that regard, but are still nearly good enough to earn top marks. In the end, I’ll give the video presentation top marks for the video projection. While above average, the surround mix isn’t discrete enough to get top marks. Might be the best Clapton video ever, but there are lots more out there. Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
1971 Reverber/ation Video Collection by Pink Floyd Released: 2017 Recorded 1971 Genre Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock Length 65 minutes Label Pink Floyd Records 1971 Reverber/ation is a disc set released in book format. Amazon. It is also part of the larger Early Years box set. It includes a quad mix of Echoes (from the album Meddle) and a CD with recordings made at a BBC session. It also includes a little over 60 minutes of video, which will be the subject of this review. Video Track Listing 1. ‘Aspekte’ feature – 9:51 2. Cinq Grands Sur La Deux’, Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnierès-sur-Oise, France,15 June 1971 – 17.55 3. ‘Musikforum Ossiachersee’, Ossiach, Austria,1 July 1971 – 3.12 4. ‘Get To Know’ Randwick Race Course, Sydney, Australia, 15 August 1971 – 6.23 5. '24 hours – Bootleg Records’, London, UK, 1971 – 2.27 6. ‘Review’, London, UK, 1971 – 3.37 7. Ian Emes animation created July 1972, Birmingham, UK – 4.17 8. ‘Musikforum Ossiachersee’, Ossiach, Austria, 1 July 1971 – 5.10 9. ’71 Hakone Aphrodite Open Air Festival, Hakone, Japan, 6–7 August 1971 – 15.11 I feel like I spent more time than it was worth on the video in 1970 Devi/ation, so this time I’m just going to ferret out the good parts. The rest is documentary (much of it in German), and the other performance clips like poor audio (often in mono) or video (often black and white). The good parts, which are 4:3 screen format, VHS quality video and in stereo are as follows: Cinq Grands Sur La Deux Shot with single hand-held camera, might even be DVD video quality. The camera angles leave a lot to be desired sometimes. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" Psych epic from A Saucerful of Secrets. The concert is in a cathedral, and the crowd looks like they are attending a church service. Roger Waters sings, plays bass, and gives the gong a workout. Mason plays with mallets, Glimour plays with reverb, and Wright has a synthesizer. The crowd claps politely when they are finished. "Cymbaline" From More. Gilmour with lead vocals, Waters sticks to playing bass. Ian Emes animation "One of These Days (‘French Windows’)" From Meddle. Looks dated now, but still very cool: ______ That’s about 22 minutes of good video to go with the Echoes quad of about the same length. You can see the video with same audio video quality on Youtube. Not a great set for the price really, but the video (at least the good parts) is a notch above what comes with Devi/ation. The good parts: Music -2 Sound quality – 2 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 1 Surround – 1
Time for another index update. Here is a synopsis of my current rating system that has been modified slightly since the opening post: 1) Music Quality. This is loosely tied to my collection of about 4000 stereo titles. A 3 means top 10%, a 2 is in the next 40%, a 1 is bottom half. 2) Visual performance. This is also completely subjective, and since I don’t have a frame a reference, I am basically just winging it. 3) Sound Quality. I am giving everything that is DTS or better a 3. Dolby Digital gets a 2, even though you may not notice the difference unless you are listening on a pretty good system. A 1 means there are obvious problems with the audio, no matter what you are listening on. 4) Video quality. 3 is bluray quality, 2 is DVD, 1 is VHS, 0 is Archival Footage. Longer explanation here. Note that it’s the quality of the actual video that matters, not the format itself; putting an old VHS recording on a bluray does not increase the score. 5) Surround Quality. 3’s are rare on this thread, but I give them for either discrete mixing in the back or for center channel use plus ambience (more than just reverb) in the back. Use of the center channel or use of the rears for more than just reverb is good enough for a 2. Stereo is 1, Mono is 0. Ranges indicate either that the rating is version dependent, or that the content varies. The reviews are mine unless other attribution is given. The highlighted link for the reviews and ratings are different if the initial review is from Mark or someone else, or if I have changed the ratings for some reason. AC/DC – Let There Be Rock / Live Performance and Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Anathema – A Moment in Time / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Ayreon - Electric Castle Live and Other Tales / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Band, The – The Last Waltz / Live Performance and Concert Documentary / Rating: 12-14 Beatles, The – A Hard Day’s Night / Movie / Rating: 11 Beatles, The – Help! / Movie / Rating: 9-12 Beatles, The – Magical Mystery Tour/ Movie / Rating: 8-10 Beatles, The – Yellow Submarine / Movie / Rating: 15 Beck, Jeff – Performing This Week... Live At Ronnie Scott's / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Big Big Train – Reflectors of Light / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Blackfield – NYC: Live in New York City / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Blue Öyster Cult – Live 1976 / Live Performance / Rating: 7 Blue Öyster Cult – 40th Anniversary - Agents Of Fortune - Live 2016 / Studio Performance / Rating: 12 Camel – Live At The Royal Albert Hall / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Camel – Moondances / Live Performance / Rating: 8-9 Cave, Nick – Once More With Feeling / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Church, The – Future Past Perfect / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Clapton, Eric – The Cream of Eric Clapton / Video Collection / Rating: 10* Clapton, Eric – Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Cure, The – Trilogy / Live Performance / Rating: 11-13 Dead Can Dance – Yulunga and Other Stories / Video Collection / Rating: 9-12 Depeche Mode – Live in Berlin / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Dido - Live at Brixton Academy / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Dire Straits – Alchemy / Live Performance / Rating: 13* Dream Theater – Distance Over Time / Video Collection /Rating: 12* Dream Theater – Score / Live Performance /Rating: 11 Dylan, Bob – No Direction Home / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams - The Video Album / Video Collection / Rating: 8 Gabriel, Peter – Secret World Live / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Gabriel, Peter – Play / Video Collection / Rating: 11-13* Gabriel, Peter – New Blood - Live In London / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Genesis – Pop Shop Live TV 1972 / Studio Performance / Rating: 8* Gentle Giant – The Power and the Suite / Video Collection / Rating: 13 Gilmour, David – Live in Gdańsk / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Gilmour, David – Live at Pompeii / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Glass, Philip – Koyaanisqatsi / Movie / Rating: 13 Glass, Philip – Powaqqatsi / Movie / Rating: 11 Grateful Dead – The Grateful Dead Movie / Concert Documentary / Rating: 11-12 Hackett, Steve – The Tokyo Tapes / Live Performance / Rating: 10 Hackett, Steve – Somewhere in South America / Live Performance / Rating: 8 Hendrix, Jimi – Band of Gypsys: Live at The Fillmore East / Concert Documentary / Rating: 8* Hendrix, Jimi – Live at Woodstock / Live Performance / Rating: 10 Iron Maiden – Flight 666 / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Killing Joke – XXV Gathering! / Live Performance / Rating: 10 King Crimson – Déjà Vrooom / Live Performance / Rating: 11 King Crimson – Eyes Wide Open, Part 1 / Live Performance / Rating: 9 King Crimson – Meltdown: Live in Mexico City / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Knopfler, Mark – A Night in London / Studio Performance / Rating: 8 Kraftwerk – 3D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / Video Collection / Rating: 13 Krauss, Allison & Union Station – Live! / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same / Live Performance and Movie / Rating: 11 Lee, Albert – Tearing it Up / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Mannheim Steamroller – Fresh Aire 8 / Video Collection / Rating: 9* Marillion – Fish Tales / Video Collection / Rating: 9-10* Marillion – Recital of the Script / Live Performance / Rating: 11* Marley, Bob & The Wailers – Live! at the Rainbow / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Nightwish – Vehicle of Spirit / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Pink Floyd – 1970 Devi/ation / Video Collection / Rating: 4 Pink Floyd – 1971 Reverber/ation / Video Collection / Rating: 8 Pink Floyd – Live at Pompeii / Live Performance / Rating: 10-11 Pink Floyd – The Wall / Movie / Rating: 10 Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere... / Live Performance / Rating: 13 - 14 Presley, Elvis – That's The Way It Is (@mark winstanley) R.E.M – Road Movie / Live Performance / Rating: 9 Roxy Music – The High Road / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Rush – Exit ..... Stage Left / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Rush – R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Santana – Santana IV Live At The House Of Blues Las Vegas / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Simple Minds – Acoustic In Concert / Live Performance / Rating: 1o Springsteen, Bruce – The River Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Supertramp – Live In Paris '79 / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense / Live Performance / Rating: 11-13 Tangerine Dream – The Video Dream Mixes / Video Collection: Rating: 7 Tool – Vicarious / Video / Rating: 10 Townsend, Devin – Ocean Machine – Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 10-12 Townsend, Devin – Acoustically Inclined in Leeds / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) U2 – Under a Blood Red Sky / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 12 U2 – Rattle and Hum / Studio and Live Performance / Rating: 12-13 U2 – 360° at the Rose Bowl / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) U2 – Live in Paris / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Ultravox – Rage in Eden / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 13 Various Artists – The Monterey Pop Festival / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Various Artists – Woodstock / Live Performance and Concert Documentary / Rating: 12* Various Artists – Baraka / Movie / Rating: 12 Waters, Roger – In the Flesh - Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Wilson, Steven – Home Invasion / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Winter, Edgar – Reach For It / Live Performance / Rating: 9 Wishbone Ash – Live Dates 3 / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Yes – Yessongs / Live Performance / Rating: 6* Yes – Symphonic Live / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Zappa, Frank – Baby Snakes / Movie and Live Performance / Rating: 8 Zappa, Frank – The Torture Never Stops / Live Performance / Rating: 8 Zimmer, Hans – Live in Prague / Live Performance (@thetman) / Rating: 15 * One point deducted from original rating as a result of video rating scale adjustment. Comments on any of the above are always welcome.
Somewhere In London Live Performance by Marillion Released Nov 2007 Recorded June 15-16, 2007 - London Forum Genre Neo-progressive rock alternative rock pop rock Length 104:36 Label Racket, Madfish Director Tim Sidwell Somewhere In London was filmed over the final 2 nights of the Somewhere Else album tour at the London Forum in June 2007. Personnel Steve Hogarth – vocals, bass, guitar, and percussion Mark Kelly – keyboards Ian Mosley – drums Steve Rothery – guitars Pete Trewavas – bass, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar Track Listing 1. Splintering Heart (Live) (06:37) 2. The Other Half (Live) (04:08) 3. You're Gone (Live) (06:46) 4. No Such Thing (Live) (04:24) 5. Faith (Live) (04:17) 6. Thankyou Whoever You Are (Live) (04:56) 7. Fantastic Place (Live) (07:12) 8. The Wound (Live) (07:25) 9. A Voice from the Past (Live) (06:22) 10. Somewhere Else (Live) (08:01) 11. Man of a Thousand Faces (Live) (07:32) 12. Between You and Me (Live) (07:23) 13. King (Live) (07:57) 14. The Release (Live) (04:37) 15. Neverland (Live) (11:49) Version Control The original version of this had 2 DVDs. The second DVD has 5.1 mixes for four tracks from Somewhere Else. On hindsight, maybe I should have gotten a used copy of the 2007 U.S. version. Discogs. More recent versions, including the 2020 one that I have, come with 2CDs and 1 DVD; the CDs have 6 more tracks than the DVD. I got mine from Burning Shed as part of a larger order, but it is also on Amazon. The Concert We’ve got DVD video quality and again have the choice of PCM stereo or DD 5.1. I only have about half of the Hogarth era albums, and Somewhere Else is one of those that I don’t have – so I haven’t heard the majority of the songs on this. Let’s see if I like it. The 5.1 mix doesn’t use the center channel at all, and there’s only a smidge of reverb in the back. Let’s go with the PCM stereo on this one. “Splintering Heart” From Holidays in Eden. Don’t have this album either – it’s the first one of the Hogath era. Starts with bass line and synth. Hogarth comes out on stage and starts singing – he’s a little blurry, but that’s on purposes and it’s only temporary. After a couple of minutes the lights go on and the band kicks in. It’s Trewavas, Hogarth, and Rothery in front, Mosley and Kelly are behind them. OK, good start. “The Other Half “ From Somewhere Else. Rothery starts it off, Hogarth has maracas, and some confetti falls from above. Fish sounds more like Peter Gabriel,, but Hogarth looks and acts more like him. ‘You're Gone” From Marbles. I do have this album. Rothery starts it again. Great bass line from Trewavas. Mosley has to be the most nonchalant drummer ever. “No Such Thing” From Somewhere Else. Rothery starts with Hogarth singing with reverb. Then rest of band comes in with ambient layering. Hogarth has a weird percussion instrument. Very nice song, my favorite so far. “Faith” From Somewhere Else. Trewavas with an acoustic guitar, Hogarth has a bass that he says he say he can play three notes on. After Hogarth sings for a couple of minutes, the rest of the band joins in and Hogarth plays the bass and keyboards. “Thankyou Whoever You Are” From Somewhere Else. Kelly starts out with piano, the drums, Hogarth, bass and guitar. Trewavas backup vocals, Hogarth keyboards, Rothery guitar solo. “Fantastic Place “ From Marbles. Hogarth sitting behind keyboards with a guitar pick stuck to his forhead. Kelly lays on the synth. Another slow build up that ends up punctuated with a guitar solo; Rothery finishes song on left side of stage next to Trewavas. “The Wound” From Somewhere Else. Starts with drums and guitar, then gets snappy for a while before going ethereal. Hogarth claps, so does the crowd. Kelly has his synth sounding like a hammered dulcimer. Nice song. “A Voice From The Past” From Somewhere Else. Hogarth makes an anti-poverty pitch. Kelly playing piano again, with Hogarth playing synth, and we get another short guitar solo. “Somewhere Else” From Somewhere Else. Hogarth has a pink guitar in his hand, he doesn’t play it though – he sings with piano from Kelly and wailing guitar form Rothery. Backing vocals from Trewavas again. Kelly switches to synth. Eventually Hogarth seems to be playing his guitar, but I can’t detect any result from it. I wonder if it’s plugged in. Not among my top five tracks, but it’s the best I could find: “Man Of A Thousand Faces” From This Strange Engine. Don’t have this album either. Rothery on acoustic guitar, Hogarth a tambourine that he is actually playing. Kelly with piano solo. “Between You And Me” From Anoraknophobia. Another sampler from an album I don’t have. More of a rocker than the last song. Balloons in the audience – did Ayreon steal the idea from them? The balloons have confetti in them that scatters when they are popped. Kelly stops playing in favor of popping balloons. Anyway, flaming guitar solo to end it. “King” From Afraid of Sunlight. I do have this album; in fact I bought it twice in the space of six months – there’s a book set for this one. Hogarth has his pink guitar again. He wears his guitar pick on his forehead again. Hogarth sidles over to play his air guitar next to Rothery’s real one. Very nice end of set. “The Release” From Season’s End. I have this one too. There are some balloons still bouncing about. The pink guitar seems to be plugged in, and we’ve got another rock song.. Once Rothery starts playing, the pink guitar seems to be relegated to air guitar status. “Neverland” From Marbles. Kelly starts it, and then a pretty awesome performance from all to finish it. More confetti, and the light show is worth mentioning for the first time. Great song. _______ Well, as it would probably end up in the also ran section of the Marillion catalog, this doesn’t make me want to run out and buy a copy of Somewhere Else. I’m thinking maybe Holidays in Eden is one I should have, but I guess I’ll wait for the book set. I'm going to try to not buy any more Marillion albums twice, but with my luck they are about to announce Somewhere Else is next with Somewhere in London included as bonus material. They did just rerelease the latter though, so I think I'm safe for a while. Anyway, there are some excellent songs and performances in there and we get to see the band perform in the second decade of the Hogarth era. It is disappointingly bereft of anything from Brave though. With another 6 songs (including 2 from Afraid of Sunlight) and 45 minutes of music, the CDs definitely add some value – those are what I ripped to my stereo collection, and it's going on my phone too. Music – 2 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 (the balloons, confetti and pink guitar didn't impress me) Video quality – 2 Surround – 1
