GG at the GG Live Performance by Gentle Giant Released 25 Apr 2006 Recorded 5 January 1978 Venue Golders Green Hippodrome, London Genre Progressive rock Length 59:48 Label Alucard GG at the GG is the official release of the Giant's celebrated BBC Sight And Sound concert from January 1978. The audio comes from the BBC Radio 1 Simulcast and the dvd features a commentary track from the entire band. It was the last performance by the band in the UK. Extras include TV film from The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974, promo video footage from 1976 and 1978, a bonus audio CD of the concert and the Old Grey Whistle Test performance. Additionally, there is Super 8 footage from April 1975, filmed in Munster, Germany by Martin Buntrock with audio added by Klaus Buntrock. Personnel Gary Green – guitars, descant recorder, co-lead vocals Kerry Minnear – keyboards, cello, tenor recorder, lead vocals Derek Shulman – lead vocals, treble recorder Ray Shulman – bass, violin, viola, co-lead vocals John Weathers – drums and percussion Track Listing 1. Two Weeks In Spain 2. Free Hand 3. On Reflection 4. I'm Turning Around 5. Just The Same 6. Playing The Game 7. Memories Of Old Days 8. Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It 9. JP Weathers Presents 10. Funny Ways 11. For Nobody 12. Mountain Time Version Control Originally released in a CD +DVD package in 2006, and it’s the only version. You can get it from Amazon, but it’s much cheaper from Burning Shed. The Concert This is the second BBC Sight and Sound production I’ve covered – the second concert on Camel Moondances was the first. It’s 4:3 video, and VHS quality, but just fine for a 70’s concert really. The audio is stereo PCM, so we’re not getting stuck with Dolby Digital for no good reason. They explain that the crowd bought tickets for the event without knowing who they were going to see, so they aren't particularly engaged. “Two Weeks In Spain” From Missing Piece. I’ve never thought of Gentle Giant as having a prominent lead vocalist. I saw them on their Free Hand tour (at the Auditorium Theater in Oct 1975) and I just remember a bunch of musicians playing, some of whom also sang. But here we have Derek Shulman front and center, and he does nothing but sing. Green is far left with an electric guitar, Ray Shulman is between Green and Derek on bass, while Minnear is over on the right with a battery of keyboards. Whethers is in back on drums. Anyway, here they are mostly covering The Missing Piece, which is far from one of their best albums. This song never hit it off with me. “Free Hand” From Free Hand. This is more like it. Same set of instruments, and a much better song. Minnear starts it off, counterpoint vocals from everyone but Whethers. Guitar solo from Green. “On Reflection” From Free Hand. This is even more like it – pretty much what I remember from 1975. They’ve completely changed up the instrumentation: Green has a recorder, Ray has a violin, Minnear has a cello, while Weathers has come forward to play xylophone. After a long instrumental intro, everyone but Weathers returns to their original instruments, and they all sing counterpoint. “I'm Turning Around” From Missing Piece. This song is not too shabby – it’s a Derek ballad. He can do lots better though. “Just The Same” From Free Hand. Finishing out the first side of the album. A little improvisation in the middle and an all around great rendition. “Playing the Game” From The Power and the Glory, an album with nothing but great songs. Derek picks up a mini 3-stringed guitar-like thingy. Ray has a guitar, and Minnear carries the bass line. “Memories of Old Days” From Missing Piece. Minnear starts it out on synth, Green and Ray both with acoustic guitars, Green has 12-string. Derek joins with bass, while Weathers and Minnear switch to electric guitar. There’s actually a close up of Weathers pick work - impressive only because he's the drummer. OK, they’re all very talented musicians, but the song wasn’t that great. “Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It” From Missing Piece. I think the idea here is that the band wants to prove they can play a rock song. No doubt they can. However, Derek’s vocals aren’t especially well suited. Flashing Giant head pops up in back. “Funny Ways” From s/t debut. Introduced by Weathers. Derek on bass, Ray violin, Minnear cello. The ray with horn, Minnear keyboards then xylophone. A pretty far cry from the original, but still very nice. “For Nobody” From Missing Piece. Everyone back to their normal instruments. Nice guitar work from Green, and we’ve got counterpoint vocals again. “Mountain Time” From Missing Piece. A rather unGG-like song that dabbles at southern rock. The credits roll. ______ A very decent collection of songs with a few relative clunkers from A Missing Piece. The show is getting a group of very talented musicians play, and that's enough for top marks. There’s also a collections of videos included as bonus material that are worth mentioning. They are all simulated studio performances, with soundtracks from the album. Three are from Interview, while the other three are from Giant for a Day. Their primary value is simply seeing the group at the time these albums were produced; they look quite different in the Interview videos, but pretty much the same as the concert in the Giant for a Day videos. I’ve actually never heard anything from the latter album before; it's the only studio album of theirs that I don't have. It’s doesn’t seem to be as terrible as its reputation, but I’m not going to run after the rest of the album. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 1 Surround – 1
I haven't got this but I have seen it. I actually like Missing Piece, but it certainly isn't their best album. This is a good, and reasonably good fun too. I keep meaning to pick it up but haven't gotten around to it yet. Love this band. I discovered them in the last 5 or 6 years. We did an album thread a while back... can't link it I'm afraid as I am on my phone.
That will do it for me this week. I've got one more that I can do on my laptop for next week. Time for another index. You may have noticed that I broke out a decimal point for the music ratings on the last two. That's because I've become bothered by the fact that simply adding up the 5 individual ratings, as I do in the indexes, doesn't really do a very good job of indicating the relative value of each video to me largely because the music counts for more than any of the other factors. I've decided to fix that by doubling the music score, which essentially makes it a six point scale instead of three, and a perfect score becomes 18 instead of 15. So GG at the GG got a rating of 2.5, which will become a 5 on the index. I'll consider all the 1's to be 1.os, but I'm going to retroactively reevaluate all the 2s and 3s too decide whether they should get a half point deducted or not. I'll do the deductions in the indexes, with another footnote. I'm also going to stop recapitulate the rating system summary every time I do an index. I'll just refer back to this 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. This score is doubled for the purpose of calculating total points for the index. 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: 13& Ayreon - Electric Castle Live and Other Tales / Live Performance / Rating: 14& Band, The – The Last Waltz / Live Performance and Concert Documentary / Rating: 15-17 Beatles, The – A Hard Day’s Night / Movie / Rating: 11-13 Beatles, The – Help! / Movie / Rating: 11-14 Beatles, The – Magical Mystery Tour/ Movie / Rating: 10-12 Beatles, The – Yellow Submarine / Movie / Rating: 17& Beck, Jeff – Performing This Week... Live At Ronnie Scott's / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Big Big Train – Reflectors of Light / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Blackfield – NYC: Live in New York City / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Blue Öyster Cult – Live 1976 / Live Performance / Rating: 9 Blue Öyster Cult – 40th Anniversary - Agents Of Fortune - Live 2016 / Studio Performance / Rating: 14& Camel – Live At The Royal Albert Hall / Live Performance / Rating: 14& Camel – Moondances / Live Performance / Rating: 11-12 Cave, Nick – Once More With Feeling / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Church, The – Future Past Perfect / Live Performance / Rating: 13& Clapton, Eric – The Cream of Eric Clapton / Video Collection / Rating: 12*& Clapton, Eric – Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall / Live Performance / Rating: 16& Cold Chisel – The Last Stand / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Cure, The – Trilogy / Live Performance / Rating: 13-15 Dead Can Dance – Yulunga and Other Stories / Video Collection / Rating: 12-15 Dead Can Dance – Toward the Within / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Depeche Mode – Live in Berlin / Live Performance / Rating: 12& Dido - Live at Brixton Academy / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Dire Straits – Alchemy / Live Performance / Rating: 16* Dream Theater – Distance Over Time / Video Collection /Rating: 13*& Dream Theater – Score / Live Performance /Rating: 13 Dylan, Bob – No Direction Home / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Emerson, Lake & Palmer – 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert / Live Performance / Rating: 14& Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams - The Video Album / Video Collection / Rating: 9 Gabriel, Peter – Secret World Live / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Gabriel, Peter – Play / Video Collection / Rating: 12-15*& Gabriel, Peter – New Blood - Live In London / Live Performance / Rating: 14& Genesis – Pop Shop Live TV 1972 / Studio Performance / Rating: 11* Gentle Giant – GG at the GG / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Gentle Giant – The Power and the Suite / Video Collection / Rating: 16 Gilmour, David – Live in Gdańsk / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Gilmour, David – Live at Pompeii / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Glass, Philip – Koyaanisqatsi / Movie / Rating: 15& Glass, Philip – Powaqqatsi / Movie / Rating: 131 Grateful Dead – The Grateful Dead Movie / Concert Documentary / Rating: 13-14 Green Day – Bullet in a Bible / Live Performance / Rating: 11& Hackett, Steve – The Tokyo Tapes / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Hackett, Steve – Somewhere in South America / Live Performance / Rating: 10 Hendrix, Jimi – Band of Gypsys: Live at The Fillmore East / Concert Documentary / Rating: 10*& Hendrix, Jimi – Live at Woodstock / Live Performance / Rating: 12 INXS - Live Baby Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 13 Iron Maiden – Flight 666 / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Jethro Tull – Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die (The TV Special Edition) / Studio Performance / Rating: 11 Killing Joke – XXV Gathering! / Live Performance / Rating: 11 King Crimson – Déjà Vrooom / Live Performance / Rating: 13 King Crimson – Eyes Wide Open, Part 1 / Live Performance / Rating: 11 King Crimson – Meltdown: Live in Mexico City / Live Performance / Rating: 17 Knopfler, Mark – A Night in London / Studio Performance / Rating: 9& Kraftwerk – 3D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / Video Collection / Rating: 15 Krauss, Allison & Union Station – Live! / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same / Live Performance and Movie / Rating: 14 Lee, Albert – Tearing it Up / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Mannheim Steamroller – Fresh Aire 8 / Video Collection / Rating: 11* Marillion – Fish Tales / Video Collection / Rating: 12-13* Marillion – Recital of the Script / Live Performance / Rating: 13*& Marillion – Somewhere in London / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Marley, Bob & The Wailers – Live! at the Rainbow / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Midnight Oil – Best of Both Worlds / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Midnight Oil – Armistice Day / Live Performance / Rating: 16& Nightwish – Vehicle of Spirit / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Pineapple Thief – Where We Stood / Live Performance / Rating: 17 Pink Floyd – 1970 Devi/ation / Video Collection / Rating: 5 Pink Floyd – 1971 Reverber/ation / Video Collection / Rating: 9& Pink Floyd – Live at Pompeii / Live Performance / Rating: 13-15& Pink Floyd – The Wall / Movie / Rating: 12 Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere... / Live Performance / Rating: 16 - 17 Presley, Elvis – That's The Way It Is (@mark winstanley) R.E.M – Road Movie / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Roxy Music – The High Road / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Rush – Exit ..... Stage Left / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Rush – R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 17 Santana – Santana IV Live At The House Of Blues Las Vegas / Live Performance / Rating: 15& Simple Minds – Acoustic In Concert / Live Performance / Rating: 12-13 Springsteen, Bruce – The River Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Supertramp – Live In Paris '79 / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense / Live Performance / Rating: 14-16 Tangerine Dream – The Video Dream Mixes / Video Collection: Rating: 8 Tool – Vicarious / Video / Rating: 12& Townsend, Devin – Ocean Machine – Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 12-14 Townsend, Devin – Acoustically Inclined in Leeds / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) U2 – Under a Blood Red Sky / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 15 U2 – Rattle and Hum / Studio and Live Performance / Rating: 14-15 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: 16 Various Artists – The Monterey Pop Festival / Live Performance / Rating: 13& Various Artists – Woodstock / Live Performance and Concert Documentary / Rating: 15* Various Artists – Baraka / Movie / Rating: 14 Waters, Roger – In the Flesh - Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Wilson, Steven – Home Invasion / Live Performance / Rating: 18 Winter, Edgar – Reach For It / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Wishbone Ash – Live Dates 3 / Live Performance / Rating: 15& Yello – Live in Berlin / Live Performance (@jamesc) Yes – Yessongs / Live Performance / Rating: 9* Yes – Symphonic Live / Live Performance / Rating: 17 Zappa, Frank – Baby Snakes / Movie and Live Performance / Rating: 9 Zappa, Frank – The Torture Never Stops / Live Performance / Rating: 9 Zimmer, Hans – Live in Prague / Live Performance (@thetman) / Rating: 17& * One point deducted from original rating as a result of video rating scale adjustment. & Half point deducted from music score before doubling Comments on any of the above are always welcome.
I still have issues with your grading system. Sound quality for you is equal to resolution and codec quality. That could be fine, but I don't really need a review to know that a concert on DVD with Dolby Digital audio will sound different than a recent blu-ray disc with DTS-Ma. Sound quality is not simply about the resolution of the audio stream, or the codec used. I also have issues with what you call surround quality. I've heard many discrete quad mixes from the 70s which sound awful. But according to your grading rubric they would get 3 points (as long as there's discrete content in the rear speakers). Again, I don't think that's enough to assess the qualities of a surround mix. It simply doesn't work like that. Mixing in surround is a creative art. It's not discrete vs. ambience only... Of course, I hope you can take this constructively as it was intended when I wrote it. I enjoy your posts but find little value in the numerical marks, that's all. Cheers
Which truly discreet quad mixes don't you like? General observations like that aren't the least bit helpful to anyone, unless you mean all of them, and you prefer just ambiance in the rears.
I said that many of them sound awful, it's not important which ones. This applies to some 5.1 as well. My point was that having discrete information in the rear channels doesn't guarantee the mix is any good. Hope it's clearer now, because I don't understand what you are complaining about.
What you say is mostly true, but I do occasionally downgrade both audio for poor acoustics and surround because I just don’t like it at all. I might try to be more discerning with audio, but I am using two different systems and one is more forgiving than the other. As for surround, I feel like it’s better to stick to objective criteria, but I do depart when something strikes me as odd. I’ve got a Sting concert that has a surround mix that I find to be unbearable. I’ll give that one a 1 even though it meets my criteria for a 2 or maybe even a 3.
By the way, great reviews as usual. I don't watch many concert videos but do enjoy reading your reviews, especially of old DVDs.
I saw the title “GG at the GG” and thought someone had commercially released a concert video of GG Allin. I’m a little disappointed but very relieved.
Not even one example? That is about as weak as your complaints to the OP about his rating system. Lame.
Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood – Live From Madison Square Garden Label: Reprise Records – 517585 B02 Format: Blu-ray, PCM Stereo / dts 5.1 Surround Country: Europe Released: 2009 Genre: Rock, Blues Style: Blues Rock, Classic Rock Live from Madison Square Garden is a 2 CD/2 DVD live album by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood which was released on 19 May 2009 by Duck / Reprise Records. The album is made up of recordings from Clapton and Winwood's performances at Madison Square Garden in February 2008. It is Eric Clapton's ninth live album and Steve Winwood's first live album as a solo artist. The duo performed songs from their time in the band Blind Faith as well as selections from Traffic, Derek and the Dominos, Clapton's and Winwood's solo careers and some rock and blues covers. Their band consisted of Willie Weeks on bass, Ian Thomas on drums and Chris Stainton on keyboards. 1 Had To Cry Today Written-By – Steve Winwood 2 Them Changes Written-By – Buddy Miles 3 Forever Man Written-By – Jerry Williams* 4 Sleeping In The Ground Written-By – Sam Myers 5 Presence Of The Lord Written-By – Eric Clapton 6 Glad Written-By – Steve Winwood 7 Well All Right Written-By – Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Joe Mauldin, Norman Petty 8 Double Trouble Written-By – Otis Rush 9 Pearly Queen Written-By – Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood 10 Tell The Truth Written-By – Robert Whitlock*, Eric Clapton 11 No Face, No Name, No Number Written-By – Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood 12 After Midnight Written-By – J.J. Cale 13 Split Decision Written-By – Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood 14 Rambling On My Mind Written-By – Robert Johnson 15 Georgia On My Mind Written-By – Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell 16 Little Wing Written-By – Jimi Hendrix 17 Voodoo Chile Written-By – Jimi Hendrix 18 CAn't Find My Way Home Written-By – Steve Winwood 19 Dear Mr. Fantasy Written-By – Chris Wood (2), Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood 20 Cocaine Written-By – J.J. Cale -------------------------------------------- I have watched this a couple of times and I really enjoy it. I haven't really watched it with a mind to reviewing it, just enjoying tow old warhorses really do their thing well. I suppose to a degree there are songs I wish they had done that they didn't, but when you look at they way they picked the songs that isn't too surprising. I believe Steve suggested Eric's songs and Eric suggested Steve's songs, which is a very interesting way of going about it. I am a big fan of Clapton and have most of his stuff from over the years, but only a couple of Cream albums. I absolutely love Traffic, and only really discovered them in the last few years. I enjoy Steve Winwood's solo albums, but particularly Arc Of A Diver. Anyway, enough waffle, before I run out of time lets have a look, because I will, probably run out of time. We open with Winwood explaining Clapton's brotherly guidance early on, and then Clapton have a quick little chat too. Then the concert starts. The video quality is top notch, I doubt anyone would be disappointed. We start with Steve and Eric both on guitar playing Had To Cry Today. The sound quality is really very good and clear also. The bass gets a little sub assist. Chris Staiton is on the organ here, and it is in the rears. Steve's vocal is very slightly pitchy in spots, but only slightly, and that reassuringly tells me its live Clapton nailed his lead break of course. Steve plays a bit of a lead break , and then he and Clapton do a nice dual lead thing. It works well. From a technical perspective this is really very good, and I can't see anyone being disappointed. The band is tight, the sound is good. It all works. In between songs there are little anecdotes, not a favourite thing of mine, but it doesn't interfere to much. They had planned to play Them Changes, and before the show Buddy Miles died, and it ended up being a dedication. Steve takes the vocals, and he is warmed up now. Stainton is playing a horn section on the keys in the rears, and it sounds pretty good too. This is a nice mix. Good frequency usage. Good surround feel. You can hear everything. Clapton's guitar may be ever so slightly loud, but not to the point of distraction. Again anecdotes directly related to the upcoming song. Eric launched into Forever Man, a great and under appreciated song. Steve is on the organ on the rears, and takes the second verse. Oddly over the last decade or so Eric's vocals seem to have just gotten better. As tight as shrinking Jean's in the ocean. Really nice sound, nice tight picture. Great show. No anecdotes this time, we move into Sleeping in the Ground. Steve taking the vocal and playing the piano across the front... such a talented guy. Stainton on the organ in the rears. Clapton rolls out another lead, and Winwood rolls out a really nice piano lead, with a more subdued backing band. At this stage Steve is really knocking these vocals all the way home. Again anecdote and we enter The Precense Of The Lord. Clapton on vocals. Steve back on the hammonds in the rears. Steve takes the second verse. We get the instrumental change up, into a sort of blues funk. Clapton gives us a wah lead. We smoothly slide back into the main theme. Steve sings the first part then Steve and Eric do a nice call and response type vocal. Good stuff. Glad, no anecdotes, Steve on the piano, Chris on the organ in the rears. They move into a game-like section and Eric tears it up, in his own particular way. It's nice seeing the little looks and signals that hold everything together. We move straight into Well Alright, Steve on vocals. Stainton takes a synth lead. Really solid version of this track of the Blind Faith album. Anecdote, Steve talking about the discovery of Blues in England. Clapton moves in Double Trouble ... man I always love this. Eric takes the vocal. This is where Claton always shines on lead for me. Slow blues stylings are where his root is at. Steve is rolling the hammond. Clapton just absolutely explodes here, and it's a beautiful thing. They do the get really quiet thing, and wrap it up. Great stuff. No anecdotes and the Pearly Queen comes out. Another excellent version. Look my time is running out, it's nearly 5 and dinner and stuff need making... So I am just going to say, if you like both of these guys, or even if you love one of them, this is an A grade top class concert video, and I reckon (as Tell The Truth comes in, no anecdote) that one will make you a fan of the other. These guys are so comfortable, so professional and so good, this is just wonderful to have as a document of both of them. Still to come that I'm not going to get time for are some more great songs played brilliantly, No Face, No Name..., After Midnight, Split Decision, Clapton solo acoustic Rambling on my Mind, Winwood solo Georgia on my mind, Little Wing, Voodoo Chile, a great Can't Fund My Way Home, Winwood jumps on the guitar Again for Dear Mr Fantasy, and Cocaine to end the night. Well I know the Risky likes to have video footage to go with this, but from what I can tell none of these on youtube are the actual show ... this is a sample of what to expect to some degree, but the video and audio quality is better than this,
You are unnecessarily confrontational and insulting. My point was that having a discrete mix doesn’t imply the mix is any good. And having a wide stereo approach doesn’t mean the mix is bad. I don’t want to provide examples because it becomes a matter of taste then. My point is generic, not specific. You are just provoking for no reason, be polite.
Live in Hamburg Live Performance by Wishbone Ash Released 2007 Recorded 23 January 2007 Venue The Fabrik, Hamburg Genre Rock Length 123 min (concert) Label Koch Entertainment Live in Hamburg is a DVD by Wishbone Ash. It shows a concert that was performed on the tour following the release of Clan Destiny. Personnel Andy Powell – guitar, lead vocals Muddy Manninen – guitar, vocals Bob Skeat – bass, piano, clavinet, vocals Ray Weston – drums Track Listing 1 Eyes Wide Open 4:37 2 Healing Ground 4:28 3 The King Will Come 8:05 4 The Warrior 5:20 5 Why Don't We 7:58 6 Dreams Outta Dust 4:04 7 The Raven 5:31 8 Sometime World 7:03 9 Valediction 6:13 10 Sorrel 4:02 11 Capture The Moment 3:03 12 Tales Of The Wise 9:20 13 Almighty Blues 5:55 14 Standing In The Rain 6:01 15 Phoenix 17:56 16 Blind Eye 3:03 17 Ballad Of The Beacon 3:30 Version Control There is just one release, in either NTSC or PAL format. Available from Amazon. The NTSC version that I have is out of print. Discogs. Amazon has the PAL version. I saw Wishbone Ash three times with this line up. I think I picked up the DVD at the merchandise stand at one of the concerts. The Concert It’s DVD video quality, but 4:3 screen format. The audio is dolby digital stereo. Bummer. However, my laptop reports what bitrate the audio is playing at. This one is 256 Kbps; the DCD last week and some of the others I have reviewed were only 128 Kbps. Like mp3s, I guess DD quality can vary. I can definitely tell the difference. “Eyes Wide Open” From Clan Destiny. Small stage, medium sized venue – the balcony surrounds the stage which is very cool.. Powell front and center, Manninen on the left, Skeat on the right, Weston on drums in the back. Powell with lead vocals, Manninen and Powell take turns at lead guitar. From their most recent album, but it sounds like a classic Ash song. “Healing Ground” From Clan Destiny. A bluesy number that is more representative of their 21st century output. Manninen leads off, Powell takes a turn too and covers both the lead locals and background vocals. “The King Will Come” From Argus. Classic song from a classic album that maybe qualifies as progressive folk. Manninen puts his own pretty incredible stamp on it though. Skeat carries the awesome bass line and does the background vocals. “The Warrior” From Argus. Another classic with a little less improvisation from Manninen. This song really needs “Throw Down the Sword” after it, but oh well. “Why Don't We” From Here to Hear. Back to not really classic material, but this album was the last hurrah for the original lineup. Powell has to carry the lead vocals on the Ted Turner song; he also gets the better part of the lead guitar work. “Dreams Outta Dust” From Clan Destiny. Another one from the new album which was IMO the best since Wishbone Ash became the Andy Powell band. The next one was pretty good too. Gorgeous co-lead guitars. “The Raven” From Clan Destiny. Rather dull until the guitar work at the end. “Sometime World” From Argus. Reaping the glory of yesteryear again. Mainninen is great as usual, but the vocals leave something to be desired. “Valediction” From Pilgrimage. One of the concerts I went to around then was a midweek performance at the State Theater in Arlington, VA with an audience of like 50. They played “Vas Dis” with me standing right in front. I was valedicted, or something like that. But in Germany they played this ballad instead. Go figure. Well, it is a great song too, and they do seem to get the vocals right.. “Sorrel” From Wishbone 4. Another ballad, one of the best not found on Argus. I do miss Martin Turner’s vocals. Nothing wrong with the guitar work though. “Capture The Moment” From Clan Destiny. So much for English folk; back to the new album with a touch of the blues. “Tales Of The Wise” From Illuminations. More of the same, but with more reverb. OK, more than a touch of the blues. There’s a reason Manninen gets called Muddy. “Almighty Blues” From Bona Fide. Still working the blues vain, but with a little more twin guitar – Powell can play the blues too. This song really does sound like early Allman Brothers. It came down to “Warrior” and this one; I'll put the video here because it does a better job of showcasing Manninen. ”Standing In The Rain” From Strange Affair. The run of three blues numbers ends with this late 20th century song, which is too bad really. Still some mighty nice guitar licks though. “Phoenix” From s/t debut. Back to the classic era with a vengeance. Manninen with the gorgeous opening guitar solo, Powell’s lead vocals are quite adequate. Definitely a little more bluesy with Mainninen instead of Ted Turner, but that’s not a bad thing. Some improvisation on the drum track from Weston as well. The high point of the concert for me, but I can’t find a video. End of regular set. “Blind Eye” Also from s/t debut. A more faithful reproduction. “Ballad Of The Beacon” From Wishbone 4. Back into English folk mode. I Love this song; it's a great one to finish with. I miss the Martin Turner vocals, but I can’t complain about the guitar work. _______ Even though it was produced in 2007, it’s almost like a VHS production. It sure has a great set list though. Even though I like this lineup better that the one with Birch, but overall I have to go with Live Dates 3 as the better production for sampling classic Wishbone Ash. However, I really enjoyed the concerts I went to with Manninen in the lineup and the Hamburg concert shows why. Music – 3 Sound quality – 2 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 2 Surround – 1 One of these days I may go back and tabulate the bitrates for those that I have reviewed with Dolby Digital. It makes a big difference.
Rush – Rush in Rio / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Looks like it's about time to cover Snakes and Arrows Live.
Live in Berlin Live Performance by Sting and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra Released 22 November 2010 Recorded 21 September 2010 Venue Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin Genre Rock, pop rock, jazz Length 75:41 (CD), 122:10 (DVD and bluray) Label Deutsche Grammophon (Universal) Sting ... Live in Berlin is a live album and concert film by Sting and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. It was recorded and filmed on 21 September 2010 at the O2 World in Berlin. The concert features live versions of Sting's songs from The Police as well as his solo song catalogue. Personnel Sting – vocals, guitar, composer, producer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Dominic Miller – guitar Ira Coleman – bass Jo Lawry – vocals Branford Marsalis – saxophone Steven Mercurio – conductor, orchestration Track Listing 1 A Thousand Years 2 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 3 Englishman In New York 4 Roxanne 5 When We Dance 6 Russians 7 I Hung My Head 8 Why Should I Cry For You? 9 Whenever I Say Your Name 10 This Cowboy Song 11 Tomorrow We'll See 12 Moon Over Bourbon Street 13 The End Of The Game 14 You Will Be My Ain True Love 15 All Would Envy 16 Mad About You 17 King Of Pain 18 Every Breath You Take 19 Desert Rose 20 She's Too Good For Me 21 Fragile 22 I Was Brought To My Senses (Intro) Version Control This is available in several formats, including CD only, DVD only, CD+DVD, and bluray. I have the bluray. I bought through Amazon, but it was shipped from Europe. Amazon. It’s a little pricey – more than I usually pay for titles on this thread. The Concert We’ve got HD video, DTS-HD audio with a 5.1 mix is by Eliot Scheiner, which led me to anticipate that the surround would be really good. But after listening to about five songs, I decided the surround mix was unbearable. The basic problem is that Sting’s vocals are mixed in surround, coming from all four of the other speakers rather than the center channel. Not only that, they are mixed louder than the background vocals, so you can’t really place the latter anywhere. I finally gave up and switched to stereo, which resulted in Sting’s vocals placed front and center, while Lawry is over on the left. Much much better. “A Thousand Years” From Brand New Day. Back in his Police days, Sting was a composer, a vocalist, and a bass player. However, he has a guitar in his hand for this song; and it doesn’t keep him very busy. There is a bass player, and a couple of drummers, and a female backup singer, and another guitarist. But they don’t seem very busy either. However, the orchestra sounds great, and Sting’s vocals sound just fine too. “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” From The Police – Spirits in a Material World. So, I’m more of a Police fan than a Sting fan. Having New Blood under my belt, I’m thinking the last two will work better with symphonic arrangements that the first three. Falling in the former category, this one works out pretty well. Still seems like the erstwhile rock musicians in front are only pretending to play. Sting just sings. Coleman switches from the electric bass he had on the first song to string bass. “Englishman in New York” From ...Nothing Like the Sun. Branford Marsalis comes out with an alto sax. Sting vocals, the sax, and strings dominate the mix. Can hear Lawry just a bit on the left, plus some crowd vocals. “Roxanne” From The Police - Outlandos d'Amour. Sting with a tiny guitar, but the main guitar in the mix is Miller’s. Why are two drummers needed to produce one tenth of the output of Stewart Copeland. OK, this is exactly what I was worried about; this is a butcher job of the original song. A clarinet solo, really?? Poor Roxanne, her fate is surely sealed now. “When We Dance” 1994 single, appears on Field of Dreams compilation. Sting’s hands are empty again, Miller and Lowry heavily featured for the first time. Miller with acoustic and electric guitars, nice tympani, Coleman still has string bass. “Russians” From Dream of the Blue Turtles. It’s all orchestra to start. Sting comes in with vocals, but the other musicians are mostly sitting this one out. The orchestra takes bows at the end because, yes, this was an orchestral piece. “I Hung My Head” From Mercury Falling. This is supposedly the country song that Sting always wanted to write, but then the orchestra starts it off. Seems like a non sequitur. Anyway, Sting does play a harmonica, and the drummers get slightly spirited. “Why Should I Cry For You?” From The Soul Cages. Yes, it’s all orchestra to start again, but then we get some semi-serious drumming, Coleman still with string bass, Miller with electric guitar, and Sting vocals, Lowry backing. “Whenever I Say Your Name” From Sacred Love. Lead violinist stands up and plays a solo. Lowry co-lead vocalist. Turns into a jazz piece eventually, which shuts up the orchestra momentarily; Marsalis comes out with alto sax again. Finishes with violin solo. “This Cowboy Song” Single. Strings and woodwinds to start, then horns, drums and Sting vocals. Sting has the tiny guitar again, Miller plays electric, so does Coleman for the first time in a while. Miller stands up and plays like a rock musician. Lowry has a guitar too, but I think she only knows one chord. “Tomorrow We'll See” From Brand New Day. All orchestra until Coleman who is back on string bass and Sting join in. “Moon Over Bourbon Street” From Dream of the Blue Turtles. All orchestra and Sting, who has a voodoo doll to keep him bust while he isn’t singing.. “The End Of The Game” From Brand New Day. Sting with the tiny guitar, Miller playing electric, the drummers drum a bit, Coleman string bass, Lowry backing. “You Will Be My Ain True Love” From Cold Stone Mountain soundtrack. Orchestra starts, then violin solo. Lowry sings the part originally sung by Allison Krauss. “All Would Envy “ Single. Miller leads off on acoustic guitar, Coleman string bass, plus horns and then Sting vocals and woodwinds. Horn solo. “Mad About You” From The Soul Cages. An eastern theme with woodwinds, Marsalis is back again. Miller electric, Lowry backing. “King Of Pain” From The Police – Synchronicity. This starts out as an orchestral piece, but Miller and the drummers jump in. Copeland could do better with just one hand I think. Also, I just don’t think the string bass cuts it. “Every Breath You Take” From The Police – Synchronicity. All orchestra and Sting to start, but then we’ve got drums and Miller covering the Andy Summers bit, Coleman on electric bass. Lowry, Miller and crowd sing backing. Marsalis out for another round. Band intros. “Desert Rose” From Brand New Day. More eastern themed percussion and woodwinds. Marsalis saunters out again. Best thing on here. Since I’ve struck out on finding an embeddable video for this release, here’s a link: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgg1cg They all take bows, either because that was really good or it’s the end of the set. “She's Too Good For Me” From Ten Summoner's Tales. Miller starts out on electric guitar, then orchestra joins. Sting with an electric guitar. Miller and Lowry backing vocals. “Fragile“ From ...Nothing Like the Sun. Sting switches to the little acoustic guitar and starts it off. The orchestra and Miller help out a bit, but it’s very nearly a Sting solo piece. “I Was Brought To My Senses (Intro)” From Mercury Falling. Stings sings acapella. _______ Well, this was rather disappointing. I love rock concerts with backing orchestra – I’ve covered lots of those on this thread already, and another one is coming tomorrow. But like New Blood from Peter Gabriel, this is more like orchestra instead of a rock concert. Also, with lead vocals in surround. the 5.1 mix rubbed me the wrong way. Sting gives introductions to most of the songs, but I didn’t find those especially interesting either. The audio and video quality are great though. Music – 1.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 Surround – 1
I think I have this... if it is the one I am thinking of... Are all the songs really rearranged a lot. If so, that is what I didn't like. I was looking forward to all these great songs, and really disliked the versions... if it is the same one. Watched half of it, or less, once, and was really disappointed.
Sounds like it. It took some effort to watch the whole thing. But "Desert Rose" is good - might want to dig it out just for that.
Wow, like you guys, I was pretty excited when I heard about a Sting orchestral live album with that track list but I think I've played the CD twice since it came out. How does one screw up a sure thing like that?! I didn't know that Scheiner did the surround mix on the Blu-ray... that may be the first bad review I've seen of one of his mixes. It sounds like maybe there was outside interference though.
Preorder alert: Steve Hackett Selling England by the Pound and Spectral Mornings live at the Hammersmith 5.1 mixed by Steven Wilson Available from Burning Shed, but the shipping to the U.S. is nasty. Hopefully it will show up on Amazon soon.
Growing Up Live Live Performance by Peter Gabriel Released 3 November 2003 Recorded 8 & 9 May 2003 at the Fila Forum, Milan, Italy Genre Rock Length 134 mins Label Geffen (US & Canada) Virgin Video Director Hamish Hamilton Producer Ian Stewart Growing Up Live is a concert film by Hamish Hamilton and Peter Gabriel. It features a live performance from Gabriel's 2003 "Growing Up" tour. The concert is notable for its dynamic set design by Robert Lepage. Also of note is the addition of Melanie Gabriel, his daughter, for backing vocals in this concert footage. Bonus features include Tony Levin's photo album selections and an interview with Peter Gabriel about the story of Growing Up. Personnel Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, keyboards. Richard Evans – guitars, mandolin, whistles, backing vocals. Melanie Gabriel – lead and backing vocals. Tony Levin – bass, electric upright bass, backing vocals. Ged Lynch – drums, percussions. David Rhodes – guitars, backing vocals. Rachel Z – keyboards, backing vocals. Special Guests The Blind Boys of Alabama – additional backup vocals for "Sky Blue". Sevara Nazarkhan – additional backup vocals for "In Your Eyes". Toir Kuziyev - doutar (long necked oud) on "In Your Eyes". Track Listing "Here Comes the Flood" – 8:37 "Darkness" – 8:39 "Red Rain" – 6:14 "Secret World" – 9:06 "Sky Blue" – 7:47 "Downside Up" – 7:36 "The Barry Williams Show" – 9:19 "More than This" – 6:09 "Mercy Street" – 7:39 "Digging in the Dirt" – 7:36 "Growing Up" – 6:14 "Animal Nation" – 8:12 "Solsbury Hill" – 4:45 "Sledgehammer" – 4:59 "Signal to Noise" – 9:39 "In Your Eyes" – 11:34 "Father, Son" – 6:15 Version Control The concert was originally released on DVD in 2003, with multiple internationals editions. I gave that up for the bluray edition that was released in 2016. That version comes with a second DVD entitled Still Growing Up Live that contains additional performances from the same tour with a track list that is almost entirely different. I will cover that some other day. The bluray is still available new, while used copies of the original DVD are rather cheap. Amazon. The Concert We’ve got crystal clear bluray video and DTS-HD 5.1 surround. "Here Comes the Flood” From s/t debut. Gabriel walks out onto a dark stage by himself –vocals in the center channel and piano ins surround. "Darkness" From Up. The band comes on and the stage lights up. We can now see that it’s a circular stage in the middle of an arena, and the performers are mostly arranged in a circle. However, there’s a tent in the middle that presumably has drummer underneath because someone is playing drums somewhere. Melanie Gabriel (PG’s daughter) is also in the middle and Peter roams when not playing keyboards. There’Baldness seems to be all the rage – PG, Levin, Evans, Rhodes and Lynch all have next to no hair on their heads; I think only PG and Levin got that way naturally. There are also cameramen in orange jump suits roaming about, and an eerie overhead round projection screen. PG vocals are in the center, synth is in surround, and there’s some guitar back there sometimes too. Evans playing acoustic guitar. One of the periodic screeches that one would presume to be a synthesizer seems to emanating from MG’s mouth. "Red Rain" From So. Drummer Lynch is uncovered. Heavy synth in the back, and it’s not just reverb – it’s mixed that way. It’s a round arena, so there is no natural “rear”. Crowd noise is in surround. PG lead vocals in center, MG and RZ backing vocals in front. "Secret World" From Us. The drum set gets moved from the middle to the edge of the circle, Evans switches to a pipe of some sort, I guess that’s the whistle. Even though he sings into a stationary mike most of the time, PG also wears a mike to he can roam, and in the case of this song twirl – all the other musicians do their share of twirling too. Just crowd clapping in the rears on this one. "Sky Blue" From Up. An air balloon appears in the middle of the stage – now we know why the drums had to move. Evan playing acoustic again. Background vocals from MG in front again, not much in the rears. A quartet of background singers (four of the Blind Boys from Alabama) pops in the middle of the stage, and I dare say they are mixed to back a bit. "Downside Up" From Ovo. The Blind Men leave, the balloon remains. MG gets lead vocals but not the center channel, PG backing in center. The balloon disappears upward, the circle above descends and the Gabriels both attach themselves to it before it goes back up. The end result is that both Gabriels tread the circle upside down while singing. Levin looks mysterious. OK, you have to see this: "The Barry Williams Show" From Up. The Gabriels detach themselves from the overhead structure, which then descends to the stage to serve as center scaffolding, and PG has a camera to play with. This present s an opportunity for an endless parade of camera tricks. The horns (must be synth or preprogrammed) make an appearance in the rear speakers. "More than This" From Up. The balloon descends the extremely versatile overhead device, and then gives birth to a solar-looking sphere – it must have a projector inside it. That’s more spectacular than the music – I guess I’m just disappointed that it isn’t the Roxy Music song. "Mercy Street" From So. A small boat is brought out onto the stage. Starts out with PG, MG, RX, Levin, Lynch, and Evans singing acapella. The sphere now looks like Earth. MG rides in the boat, Evans plays whistle from the edge of the stage, the outer part of which is now rotating. PG, MG, Levin, and Rhodes also on the rotating part. "Digging in the Dirt" From Us. The sphere loses a layer and becomes a very large round chandelier. The rear speakers that have been relatively silent for a while perk up with some discrete synth. Audience back up vocals in the rear too. "Growing Up" From Up. The chandelier descends, turns blue, and PG goes inside it. It then detaches from the overhead apparatus, and PG starts rolling around the stage in it. It bounces too. Pretty amazing, but I’ve already burned the video. Synth and guitar in the rears. Synchronized bouncing from Gabriel inside the bubble and Rhodes who is outside it. The camera turns the stage upside down. "Animal Nation" From Wild Thornberrys Movie. The bubble gets taken halfway downstairs. Rachel Z with strapped on keyboard. There’s some harmonic percussion that must be preprogrammed. After song is over, crowd continues with background vocals on their own as Gabriel introduces the band. "Solsbury Hill" From s/t debut. Now that the stage is all cleaned up, we get a more or less normal light show. PG also has room to ride a bike around while he sings, and the outer stage is rotating again. Guitar in the rear. "Sledgehammer" From So. The band plays low key in the dark while the technicians are busy again. Then the lights go on and the song really starts. PG has a light suit on; the stage periodically goes dark to show it off. His mobility is limited though because he’s plugged in. Choreogtaphy from Levin, PD, and Rhodes on one side of the stage and MG, RZ, and Evans on the other. "Signal to Noise" From Up. Lit cylinder that first appeared back on the “Barry Williams Show” descends from the versatile overhead apparatus. Synth in the rear, Evans on electric guitar. PG goes downstairs to hang with the technicians., the rest of the bands follows – the preprogammed song finale plays outs without them. "In Your Eyes" From So. The drum set returns to the middle of the stage, and we’ve got Nazarkhan (back up vocals) and Kuziyev (doutar) as special guests. Levin does the bass vocals, and he has either a guitar or a six string bass. Doutar in surround, now that doesn’t happen very often. Keyboards and backing vocals back there too. "Father, Son" From Ovo. Concert finishes the way it started, with PG going solo. Lead vocals in center, piano in surround. No wait, Levin is still out there. Bit he’s no in the darkThe stage under the piano is rotating this time, I don’t think it was before. Credits run with audio from technicians and Gabriel taking the bubble for a ride in the plaza outside. _______ A fantastic stage show, even better than Secret World Live. The versatile overhead apparatus is an engineering marvel. The video quality is much better too. But Up just isn’t as good of an album as it’s predecessors, so the set list isn’t quite as strong. Like Secret World Live, the surround mix is above average, but it doesn’t use the rears consistently enough to earn top marks. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
Great disc. I probably slightly prefer Secret World Live, but this one has more elements of fun in it.
I was just listening to the acoustic tracks from this release last nite. I've said this before, but this Blu Ray represents the best value ever in surround sound music. Hell, it would be a great deal even without the concert, which includs two surround mixes and both the 'film' and the concert.
