The Who Live At Kilburn: 1977 Not really a full review or anything. I'm watching it and enjoying it, and figured if someone wasn't aware of it, it may interest them. The main program is a special concert recorded to get material for The Kids Are Alright video. The concert is excellent, and we get lots of Who faves, Substitute, Can't Explain, Baba O'Riley, some Tommy stuff.... it's a solid collection of tracks. The video quality is very good, the 5.1 isn't earth shattering, but Pete's guitar leans to the right side, Keith's cymbals lean to the left rear, and John is pumping along with the drums up front. I reckon it's a great show, even though there are a couple of spots that are a little loose. This is rock music, so it works. One of the cool things about this is the bonus material, it's another concert from 1969, live at the London Coliseum. The video is a little grainy at times, but it isn't really a distraction for me, the show is kind of historically significant really. The audio is solid, but not any kind of surround specialty or anything. Anyway, if you like/love The Who, then I reckon these two concerts are a very good addition to The Kids Are Alright, which is essential.
Who, The - The Kids Are Alright. It seems that this is OOP and you need to plunk down around $50 to get the 2010 bluray delivered. However, it can also be streamed via Amazon Prime, so let's give that a try. My first observation is that it is first and foremost a documentary that it is put together from historical footage. However, there are many snippets of concert and studio performances, including many full songs. Second, both the audio and video quality are all over the place. There are many black and white clips with very sketchy audio and at the other end of the spectrum there are performances of both "Baba O'Riley" and "We Won't Get Fool Again" that really looks like bluray video and have excellent audio. Everything else is in between, but I'd say it leans more towards VHS quality than DVD. The performance of "A Quick One, While He's Away" from the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus has much better audio and video on the 2019 bluray of that concert. My favorite thing on there was them fooling around with a cover of the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann" featuring Moon on lead vocals. It was all very entertaining, but like most documentaries I don't really need to see it more than once. Streaming seems like the way to go. However, if there is any surround worth hearing (I sort doubt it given the dated nature of the material), I missed it - the stream is stereo only. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 1 to 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 1 to 3 Surround – 1
I wore out this cassette when I was 16. Never really thought of it as a documentary, even the video version.
The soundtrack and the film are really quite different. The many interviews and episodes of guitar and drum bashing included in the film aren't on the soundtrack. Furthermore, there are three songs on the soundtrack that aren't in the film. In fact some of it ended up on the Live at Kilburn video that Mark mentioned at the top of the page. The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack) - Wikipedia
I have been listening to both for a long long time. I have Kilburn too and like it a lot. There is a "hidden" Who Are You 5.1 mix on the Kids DVD but I have never accessed it myself, but have watched it on youtube. Can't seem to find it now though.
Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires Live Performance by The Police Released 11 November 2008 Recorded 1–2 December 2007 Venue River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina Genre New wave, Rock Length 107:51 Label A&M/Cherrytree/Polydor/Universal Producer Robert Orton Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires is a live album and concert video by The Police. It was recorded in December 2007 during the band's reunion tour and was released in November 2008. The album was released in the US exclusively through Best Buy. The concert film was directed and produced by Jim Gable and Ann Kim, of Graying & Balding, Inc. The second DVD contains the 50-minute bonus feature, "Better Than Therapy," directed by Stewart Copeland's son Jordan Copeland, detailing The Police's reunion with behind-the-scenes interviews from the band and road crew, plus two photo galleries of The Police on tour: one shot by guitarist and photographer Andy Summers, and one by photographer Danny Clinch. The DVDs were also released on Blu-ray format. Personnel Sting – bass guitar, lead vocals Andy Summers – guitar, backing vocals Stewart Copeland – drums, percussion, xylophone, backing vocals Track Listing 1. "Message in a Bottle" 2. "Synchronicity II" 3. "Walking on the Moon" 4. "Voices Inside My Head" / "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" 5. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" 6. "Driven to Tears" 7. "Hole in My Life" 8. "Truth Hits Everybody" 9. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" 10. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" 11. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" 12. "Invisible Sun" 13. "Walking in Your Footsteps" 14. "Can't Stand Losing You" / "Reggatta de Blanc" 15. "Roxanne" 16. "King of Pain" 17. "So Lonely" 18. "Every Breath You Take" 19. "Next to You" Version Control The album has a number of releases including a four disc version containing two CDs and two DVDs. The two CDs contain the live album from River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first DVD contains the 109-minute wide-screen concert presented in Dolby Surround and Stereo. I have the bluray. Still available new. Amazon. The Concert It’s excellent widescreen bluray video. The 5.1 comes in both DD and Dolby True HD. However, I think the mastering is a bit on the loud side – had to turn the volume down to listen to it. "Message in a Bottle" From Reggatta de Blanc. Copeland starts the concert off with a gong hit and then Summers walks out to start the song of, then Copeland and Sting join in as the lights go on. It’s huge stage in a huge soccer stadium that seems to be full – must be 80,00 people or so. Sting and Summers are in front with a lot of room to maneuver, Copeland is in back. They all seem to be in really good shape Sting and Copeland are both in their mid fifties, while Summers is in his sixties and would appear to have a beer belly. Sting bass and vocals get most of the center channel, but aren’t completely isolated there. There’s a little reverb in the back – cymbals and a little Summers guitar. Summers is mixed a bit to the right. "Synchronicity II" From Synchronicity. Instead of a row of the bright lights overhead, three screens come on behind the stage that alternate between showing graphics with synchonicity album cover motif and live shots of the band members. There are also a gargantuan set of lights surrounding the entire stage – pretty impressive. A couple of additional screens on either side of that too. Summers moves to the center of the stage for a solo and his guitar moves to the center channel – pretty cool. At the end of the song, Sting addresses the crowd and introduces the band in Spanish. "Walking on the Moon" From Reggatta de Blanc. The screens stick to live shots, Sting vocals pretty much entirely in center channel, but not much in the rear. Summers guitar does seem to reverb right to left. We get an extended version of the song – Sting holds the “Your” in walking back from your house for about 15 seconds at one point. "Voices Inside My Head" / "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" From Zenyatta Mondatta. Sting gets the crowd to clap which shows up in the rear, a soundscape is piped – it’s in front. Another extended version of the second song with another Summers center channel solo in the center, while Sting wanders the stage with his bass. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" From Zenyatta Mondatta. Purple lighting scheme with a pretty much standard rendition of the song. "Driven to Tears" From Zenyatta Mondatta. Summers starts it off with a solo and the mixed across the front, he moves back over to the right after he is done. Lights are blue. After Stings sings, Summers goes back at it again with two more not-on-the-studio-version solos. "Hole in My Life" From Outlandos d'Amour. Sting exhorts some crowd vocals that come in the back speakers. Sting vocals on center. Nothing fancy from Summers, but at the end of the song they start and stop the song several times. "Truth Hits Everybody" From Outlandos d'Amour. Green lights, noticeable backing vocals from Summers. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" From Ghost in the Machine. Copeland starts, then Summers, Sting. Stage is brightly lit. Crowd vocals in the rear. Sting’s vocals seem a little flat. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" From Synchronicity. As it turns out, Copeland has a second set of percussive instruments behind the drum set that plays with mallets. He starts the song off from back there and it’s good show: The tympani really rock the (sub)woofers. Copeland throws his mallets into the crowd and returns to his drums set for a bit then gets back to use another set of mallets. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" From Zenyatta Mondatta. Copeland behind the drums again. Besides Summers being on the right, I think Sting’s bass is on the left. Summers with backing vocals that I can’t really hear. Crowd claps in the rear. "Invisible Sun" From Ghost in the Machine. Summers starts, then Sting, then Copeland. Children’s faces on the screens. "Walking in Your Footsteps" From Synchronicity. Sting has pipes of some sort, and he starts it off, there’s a synth track, Copeland in the back working with mallets again. Summers doesn’t do much until two minutes in. Dinosaur skeletons walking across the screens. "Can't Stand Losing You" / "Reggatta de Blanc" From Outlandos d'Amour/Reggatta de Blanc. Copeland back at the drum set. Summers with audible backing vocals. Crowd vocals in rear on second song. Summers with great solo over on the right. "Roxanne" From Outlandos d'Amour. Yeah, we’ve got red lights. Screens are off. Plus an extended version with spacier guitar from Summers. Sounds like there’s more than one background vocalist, but I don’t see Copeland singing. "King of Pain" From Synchronicity. Copeland starts out with the mallets, but returns to the drums. Very cool blue sinusoid graphics on the stage surround. Summers solo again on the right. Copeland back with the mallets. I note that all the songs with the alternative percussion are from Synchronicity. "So Lonely" From Outlandos d'Amour. Summers gets another turn in the middle while Sting wanders over to the right – but the guitar is mixed across the front with mostly bass in the center. I don’t think “welcome to the Stewart Copeland show” was in the original lyrics. "Every Breath You Take" From Synchronicity. Blue lighting scheme, and it’s the finale for the regular set – they wind it up. "Next to You" From Outlandos d'Amour. The last song was NOT “new wave”, but this one is. Summers gets a solo mixed across the front again with bass in the center. They all come out front and take their bows in front of a very large crowd. _______ This is about as good as a reunion concert gets. The set list is an almost perfect compilation, but not quite – they really should have done “Spirits in a Material World” instead of one of the songs from first album. In fact, it should have been the finale. But anyway, they are still on top of their game, and they stretched out a few songs. The show was OK in a big stadium spectacle sort of way, but getting to see Copeland play was the main treat. Summers too. Even though he’s the main composer, Sting is the third best musician of the bunch. As for the surround mix, I thought they made good use of the center channel and there were some decent crowd vocals in the rear – enough for a point, I suppose. If you like the Police, then this is essential. Music – 3.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
Get All You Deserve Live Performance by Steven Wilson Released 24 September 2012 Recorded 13 April 2012 at Teatro Metropólitan, Mexico City, Mexico Genre Ambient, Progressive rock Label Kscope Director Lasse Hoile Producer Steven Wilson Get All You Deserve is the first live DVD and second live album by progressive rock musician Steven Wilson, released on 24 September 2012. It was filmed at a sold-out show in Mexico City, Mexico, during his Grace for Drowning tour. Personnel Steven Wilson — vocals, guitar, mellotron, piano, other keyboards Adam Holzman — keyboards Marco Minnemann — drums Nick Beggs — bass guitar, stick, backing vocals Niko Tsonev — guitar Theo Travis — saxophone, flute, clarinet, keyboards Track Listing Track times are from the CDs; the intro and outro aren’t on them. 1. Intro ('Citadel') 2. No Twilight Within The Courts Of The Sun 10:23 3. Index 5:01 4. Deform To Form A Star 8:40 5. Sectarian 7:42 6. Postcard 4:53 7. Remainder The Black Dog 10:03 8. Harmony Korine 5:07 9. Abandoner 5:03 10. Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye 6:32 11. Luminol 12:19 12. Veneno Para Las Hadas 7:01 13. No Part Of Me 6:10 14. Raider II 26:02 15. Get All You Deserve 7:23 16. Outro ('Litany') Version Control This was first released in 2012 as a 2CD + DVD set. There was also a deluxe set that contain a bluray in addition. 2 CD + Bluray sets were issues in 2017 and again in 2020. The cover looks like this: The new bluray is still available. Burning Shed Amazon The Concert I know it’s a bluray, but it seems like it might as well be a DVD. The lighting is rather dark, so that may account for it. The 5.1 mix is DTS-HD. "Intro ('Citadel')" From Cenotaph (Bass Communion album). The concert starts with Bass Communion soundscape and a semitransparent screen in front of the stage. Although you also geta partial view of the stage behind, a spooky video is projected onto the screen. After a few minutes, the band takes the stage. "No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun" From Insurgentes. The screen in front of the stage is still there, but there are cameras on both sides of the screen – so some blurry while others are not. Minnemann starts it off, then Beggs (who is sporting pigtails), and Holzman join in. I thought I might learn something about how the sounds in the studio were made, but I don’t think this is the same. I think Holzmann is playing a part that was guitar on the album – it certainly sounds quite different. The drums and bass are both in front, while Holzmann’s synth is in the center channel. But then we do get guitar (Tsoney) in the rear speakers (it’s a true surround mix as I figured it would be), then Travis flute comes in front. About four minutes in Wilson finally comes on, does a little conducting, and then picks up a guitar – he comes in front, as do his vocals. In fact, the rear speakers and the center channel go mostly silent, but I think I heard a little bit of flute plus there was stint of mellotron in the back along with cymbal reverb and crowd noise at the end. "Index" From Grace for Drowning. The screen in front stays in place, but it is more transparent when there is no video. Also, I’ve figured out where everyone is; in front it’s Beggs, Wilson, and Tsoney. In the back it’s Minnemann, and Holzmann, and Travis. Another video to start the song, then drums and vocals in front, keyboards in the rear. After a minute, bass in front (Beggs is playing a Stick I think) and drums move partially to the back mostly in addition to keyboards. Beggs backing vocals in front, flute in surround. "Deform to Form a Star" From Grace for Drowning. Holzmann starts off with piano solo – he’s in center channel again. Wilson also at a keyboard, and he sings from there. Travis plays clarinet then flute. Holzmann mixed to rear after they come in. Bass then drums come in, Wilson finishes and picks up his guitar for a solo. Still just keyboards in the rear. Wilson returns to the keyboard and Tsoney gets a solo too. "Sectarian" From Grace for Drowning. Wilson starts it off with acoustic guitar on the right then Tsoney come in with electric guitar on the right. Then drums, then bass (stick). Just reverb in the rear until Travis joins on clarinet and then some keyboards too. Song stops the restarts with Holzmann with keyboards in center, bass and drums in front to go along, then synth in the rear from Wilson. Holzmann moves to rear as song picks up, Travis plays clarinet and Wilson acoustic guitar in front. "Postcard" From Grace for Drowning. Wilson keyboards and vocals in front. One keyboard part from Holzmann and shaker from Minnemann in rear. Backing vocals from Beggs. Drums and bass come in front. Then ends with keyboards in front, mellotron in rear. "Remainder the Black Dog" From Grace for Drowning. Holzmann starts it off with piano and he’s mixed in surround this time. Then Wilson vocals from the keyboard in front. There’s another video on the screen that’s on top – that’s how most of them have been since the opener – that allows the band to be seen front the crowd, but it also means you don’t get to see much of it in the concert video. Bass and drums then flute come in – the drums are in surround. Holzmann keyboard solo is in front, as is a Tsoney guitar solo. But the flute solo is in the center channel. As the songs picks up, Tsoney gets another solo and Wilson picks his guitar and that’s him in the back I think (might be some bass too). After that over, Wilson goes back the keyboards -and those are in the rear too. Travis with a turn on tenor sax. The song slows down again to just Holzmann piano, but he’s just in front this time. Drums and Tsoney guitar, bass, flute join, also in front – a little reverb in the rear. Wilson conducts then returns to his keyboard which comes in the rear. "Harmony Korine" From Insurgentes. This may be the only song on either Grace For Drowning or Insurgentes that is easy to like the first time you hear it. Tsoney starts it off on the right side, then Wilson guitar on left, Bass drums and Wilson vocals in front, then keyboards in rear. I suspect there was an intermission - the screen has been moved to behind the band and the stage is brightly lit for the first time. Good, I was getting tired of that. I think Beggs backing vocals are in the rear too. Ends as it started with Tsoney guitar on the right. This is an official trailer: "Abandoner" From Insurgentes. Drums then keyboards then Wilson vocals. Then Tsoney guitar on the right side. The keyboards are in surround, rest is in front. Then bass and flute in front. A few minutes in the song picks up with a crash of bass (Beggs is playing stick again), Travis playing tenor sax, and there’s drums (mostly cymbals) in the rear to go along with the keyboards. Songs ends with Wilson guitar on the left. "Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye" From Grace for Drowning. Starts with Wilson guitar and vocals in front. Piano from Holzmann, bass, and backing vocals from Beggs in front. Travis comes up to sit at Wilson’s keyboard to play mellotron in the rear. Safter he finishes singing, Minnemann starts up and Wilson plays a guitar on left, with Tsoney on the right. Dies down to piano solo from Holzmann which gives way to Travis clarinet with mellotron from Wilson in the rear. "Luminol" Previously unreleased, later on The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories). Starts with drums in front and bass on the left side. Synth from Holzmann in center channel – first time in a while that it’s been used. Left and right guitar, flute in front, drums mixed partially to the rear. Left and right vocals from Beggs and Wilson – spilling into the rear. Holzmann moves to mellotron in rear. Flash of sax right rear then bass solo on front. Wilson takes over keyboards in rear, while Holzmann moves back to center channel. Tsoney goes again over on the right. Wilson vocals in front, Beggs backing vocals in rear. Then flute in front, then synth and piano in front, Wilson guitar on left. Flute in rear. Then songs picks up with heavy bass and drums, Wilson mellotron in rear, flute and keyboards in front, Tsoney still over on the right. Piano in center. Tenor sax in front and the drums start showing up in the back. "Veneno Para Las Hadas" From Insurgentes. Tsoney starts with his foot on the pedal on the right. Wilson does likewise on the left, low key bass and drums in front, plus piano in the center. Wilson vocals in front, then Wilson guitar and Beggs vocals in rear, flute in front. Finishes with Wilson guitar in rear. "No Part of Me" From Grace for Drowning. Tsoney might still have his foot on the pedal, but he’s taken some weight off. Beggs has the Stick, Minnemann is tapping his cymbals, and Wilson is mellotroning in the back. A little piano from Holzmann then Wilson vocals. Synth solo from Holzmann in center. Wilson picks up guitar which on left. Drums start showing up in the rear, Travis joins with soprano sax in front, and it ends with the sax fading away. "Raider II" From Grace for Drowning. Wilson tells the crowd to stay quiet and that this is the last song but it lasts for an eternity (it’s 26 minutes). Starts with keyboards and clarinet with the clarinet in surround. Then Wilson vocals. After a few minutes bass drums and Travis join in while Wilson provides mellotron in the rear. Travis switches to flute which is in surround… and it goes from there. Guess I won’t try to narrate the blow by blow for the next 20 minutes. However, I will note that it does have more prog rocky passages than most of the rest of the concert ( “No Twilight” being the other main exception). Also at the end everyone leaves the stage to let Beggs and Minnemann finish the song by themselves. "Get All You Deserve" From Insurgentes. OK, there is one more song – it’s the encore. Wilson vocals in front and piano in center from Holzmann to start. Travis is up front at the mellotron again -in the rear. Tsoney is shoegazing on the right again, stick and bass come in front and Wilson dons wearing the Insurgentes cover mask, picks a guitar and shoegazes on the left side, Travis tenor sax in front. Serious cacophony comes from Beggs stick. "Outro ('Litany')" From Litany (Bass Communion album). A very nice surroundscape that runs with the credits; video showing the crowd. This actually might be the surround highlight of the disc. _______ So this is basically a live performance of Grace for Drowning nearly in it’s entirety (only one song is missing), plus about half of Insurgentes and one other song. Unfortunately, GfD is probably my least favorite Wilson solo album (not counting some of the Bass Communion and IEM stuff. It’s not bad – but there’s much better stuff in his catalog. That’s why I never picked this up until recently. But now the price is right and I figured it would have a good surround mix. In the end, this didn’t really change my opinion of it though. I am still thinking Insurgentes is the better album - most of my favorite sings on the set are from that. The audio is great and while the surround doesn’t keep the rears as busy as some of his other live mixes, it’s still plenty good enough for full marks. However, if it’s surround you want there are 5.1 mixes of both Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning. I feel like there needs to be a video point deduction somewhere. I liked the show well enough (including the spooky video), but the video quality - especially in the first third of the concert was a bit murky, so I’ll go there. Music – 2.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 2 Surround – 3
Soundgarden – Live From The Artists Den Label: UMe – B0030168 59 Format: Blu-ray Country: US Released: 26 Jul 2019 Genre: Rock Style: Alternative Rock 1 Incessant Mace 2 My Wave 3 Been Away Too Long 4 Worse Dreams 5 Jesus Christ Pose 6 Flower 7 Taree 8 Spoonman 9 By Crooked Steps 10 Blind Dogs 11 Rowing 12 Non-State Actor 13 Drawing Flies 14 Hunted Down 15 Black Saturday 16 Bones Of Birds 17 Blow Up The Outside World 18 Fell On Black Days 19 Burden In My Hand 20 A Thousand Days Before 21 Blood On The Valley Floor 22 Rusty Cage 23 New Damage 24 4th Of July 25 Outshined 26 Black Hole Sun 27 Ty Cobb 28 Slaves & Bulldozers 29 Feedbacchanal The first posthumous release from Soundgarden is Live from the Artist's Den, a hefty set documenting a hefty concert originally aired on PBS' long-running series during its sixth season in 2013. At the time Soundgarden gave their Artist's Den concert at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, they were three years deep into their reunion and in the midst of promoting their 2012 comeback album King Animal. All this means is that the stars aligned for Soundgarden to give a concert where they dug deep into their catalog -- a two-and-a-half-hour show, presented in full as a double-CD, quadruple-LP, and single Blu-ray, depending on what format you like. The set list doesn't skimp on the hits, but they're strategically placed, surrounded by deep cuts (the group digs out "Blind Dogs," a song they contributed to the soundtrack of The Basketball Diaries in 1995) and material from King Animal. All the unexpected song selections help give the album a slight edge that contrasts with the exceptionally polished presentation. The band wears its middle age well, sounding focused and more exacting than they did in the '90s, yet still undeniably vigorous. That Soundgarden sustains that energy throughout a marathon is a testament to their strength as musicians, and that Live from the Artist's Den maintains its interest throughout its two and a half hours is a testament to the depth of their catalog. ----------------------------------------- I have only watched this once, while drinking and chilling with a friend, so I haven't really watched it too closely. I thought it would be nice to sit and chill watching a concert this afternoon, and thought I might make a few notes about it in the process. Still available new on Amazon for about twenty bucks https://www.amazon.com/Live-Artists-Den-Blu-ray-Soundgarden/dp/B07RP4VB5D Available on Discogs for about twenty bucks Soundgarden - Live From The Artists Den Soundgarden and Alice In Chains are probably my favourite bands to come out of the grunge scene. Dirt and Badmotorfinger were two of the best rock albums to come out in the nineties. So I was very pleased that we finally got a bluray of Soundgarden. The picture quality is beautiful. Clear, sharp and like you are floating around getting different views live in the room frankly. The mix is solid. Drums and bass up front, with nice sub assist. Kim's guitar is on the left, kind of moving between emphasis in the front and rear, but predominantly in the middle of the side. Chris's guitar, when he plays is on the right side. It sounds like a pretty solid mix to me. The mix is actually, virtually quad with the centre speaker being predominantly ambient, or so it seems. The 5.1 mix is by Chad Bamford. All the band members seem to be playing really solidly. It also seems like there aren't any studio cheats on here. It is just a solid live performance. So far as the mix goes, it seems unlikely that anyone would be disappointed with the surround mix, we have plenty of audio in the rears, and for me it works very well for a live concert. Particularly when we consider the bulk of live surround mixes are predominantly stereo with some crowd noise in the rears. The song Rowing has a taped backing vocal, that is a little annoying, but it isn't a deal breaker. Probably the only downside for me with this, is I am only really familiar with Badmotorfinger and Superunknown... and a couple of songs off Blow Up The Outside World.... so there are more tracks I don't know, than do know here. The concert is very good, the audio and video is very professional, and the band play well.... I am not sure what exactly it is, but the show seems to be very low energy for a band like this .... perhaps it is just my current headspace, I don't know, but it doesn't seem to hit as hard as it should. So far as a live document of the band, it is probably the best quality video concert available, and I think the hardcore Soundgarden fan would like it, but I hate to say I find it slightly lacklustre in spite of all the very good things about it. I'd really like someone else who has this to comment on what they think about it. Spoonman
Live At Earls Court Live Performance by Arcade Fire Released 27 Jan 2017 Recorded 6 June 2014 at Earls Court, London. The Arena was demolished later that year. Genre Rock, Pop Length 142 min Label Eagle Vision, Universal The Reflektor Tapes is a 2015 British documentary film directed by Kahlil Joseph about the making of the album Reflektor by the Canadian band Arcade Fire. In 2017 two disc sets on both DVD and bluray containing the documentary on one disc and a concert video entitled Live at Earls Court on the other were released. The concert was part of the tour following the release of the album Reflektor. This review will cover the concert disc only. Personnel Arcade Fire Win Butler – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesizers Régine Chassagne – lead and backing vocals, synthesizers, piano, accordion, xylophone, drums and percussion Richard Reed Parry - rhythm and lead guitars, piano, electric bass, celeste, drums, backing vocals & percussion Tim Kingsbury – rhythm guitar, electric bass, backing vocals Will Butler – rhythm guitar, electric, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals Jeremy Gara – drums, rhythm guitar Additional Musicians Sarah Neufeld – violin, backing vocals, synthesizers Owen Pallett – violin, piano Matt Bruder – saxophones Stuart Bogie – saxophones Willinson Duprate – percussion Jean Romane Edmond – percussion Track Listing 1. Reflektor 2. Flashbulb Eyes 3. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) 4. Rebellion (Lies) 5. Joan Of Arc 6. Rococo 7. The Suburbs 8. Ready To Start 9. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) 10. Neighborhood #2 (Laika) 11. No Cars Go 12. Haiti 13. We Exist 14. My Body Is A Cage 15. Afterlife 16. It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus) 17. Sprawl II 18. Normal Person 19. Here Comes The Night Time 20. Wake Up Version Control I have the bluray set. Both the DVD and bluray sets are still available. Amazon The Concert It’s a bluray with an ultrawide screen format. The 5.1 mix is DTS-HD. Lead vocals are predominantly in the center channel, but there’s just a little reverb in the rear speakers. “Reflektor” From Reflektor. It seems that Earls Court was used for boxing matches in addition to concerts – there’s a ring out in the middle of the floor and a gut wearing a suit of mirrors is out there to do the introduction. After he is done the stage lights up and there are 12 musicians and several cameramen up there. In front there’s Neufeld, Kingsbury with a guitar, Chassagne as a vocalist, Win Butler as a vocalist, Parry with a guitar, and Will Butler on the right on keyboards. In the back there is Pallett, the two percussionists, two drum sets with one empty, and the two sax players. The drummer on the right is Gara. There is a big screen is back of the stage with live shots. On the sides are groups of four hexagonal screens arranged in a diamond shape. They also usually show live shots. The title track from their latest album leads both the album and the concert. The sax players don’t seem very busy, but everyone else is. Winl and Chassagne take turns singing, with the latter often singing in French (they are from Quebec after all). At the end Chassagne holds up a couple of octagonal mirrors and redirects some light into the crowd. The stage does seem a little overly bright. The saxes come in at the end. Just a little reverb and crowd noise in the rear. I’d have rather had “We Exist” because of the dancers, but this is only clip from the video I could find, and it is my second choice: “Flashbulb Eyes “ From Reflektor. Kingsbury playing bass, Chassagne doing drumming than singing. Neufeld picks up a violin and goes over on the right. Saxes much busier, Win goes out into the crowd to take pictures. Will wears a cubic “hat” that covers his whole head – it’s got an eyeball on each of the four sides. I don’t he really playing with that thing on. “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” From Funeral. Win gets a guitar in addition to lead vocals, Chassagne drums for while longer then goes over to the left front keyboard where this also a xylophone, also with a few background vocals along with the rest of the front row. “Rebellion (Lies)” From Funeral. Will leaves his spot on the right, does some drumming and then goes over to the microphone left of Win. Chassagne playing yet a another central set keyboards located behind them both. Everybody in front backing Win. Will gets spastic on purpose – but keeps banging the drum. “Joan Of Arc” From Reflektor. Will back over on the right on keyboards, Chassagne with a mask and singing in French again along Neufeld, who also still has a violin in her hands. “Rococo” From The Suburbs. Gara starts it off, Parry is at the central keyboard, Chassagne is at the rear left keyboard, Will on the right. Win and Kingsbury both have guitars. Win lead vocals , backing from Chassagne, Kingsbury, and Neufeld. “The Suburbs” From The Suburbs. Neufeld starts it off with violin, Kingsburg playing bass again, Chassagne drumming on the other drum set next to Gara. Pallett is now a violin player has appeared next to Neufeld and saxers. Video going on screen. “Ready To Start” From The Suburbs. Chassagne still drumming plus backing vocals too, Neufeld back on keyboards front left, Pallett still playing violin, sax players have gone off. “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” From Funeral. Winl starts it of on guitar, Will in out front next to him again supplying backing vocals, Chassagne still drumming, Parry on central keyboard, Gara playing guitar, Neufeld on violin. Backing vocals from just about everyone including Gara. Pallet back on left rear keyboard. “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)” From Funeral. Chassagne playing accordian and main backing vocalist, Will drumming objects that are not drums, Parry drumming the central drum, Gara back drumming with a drum set. “No Cars Go” From Neon Bible. Parry back on guitar, Win back on keyboards over on the right. Neufeld still paying violin, one of the sax players has a clarinet (or might be a black alto sax), the other has a bass sax. “Haiti” From Funeral. Parry drumming central drum. Win and Will playing guitar and singing backing vocals, Chassagne lead vocalist singing in both English and French. Lead vocals at the end from one of the percussionists – I’m guessing they are both Haitian. “We Exist” From Reflektor. There’s a dance troupe out in the boxing ring – they are also projecting them up on the screen. Parry back on guitar, Will back on keyboards, Chassagne on central keyboard. The Haitians are just dancing. Hey, they’re reminding me of Roxy here. “My Body Is A Cage” From Neon Bible. Will starts it off acapella. The guy with the mirror suit is back on the center stage. Chassagne is now on the left front keyboards, Parry is drumming on the set next to Gara, sax players are off to start. ”Afterlife” From Reflektor. Mirror jacket guy still out there, sax players come back, Kingsburg playing guitar, Will has put his down. “It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)” From Reflektor. The stage goes dark and keyboards start it off -could be either Win or Pallett. Seven of the dancers (I think there were a few more on “We Exist”) appear on stage in skeleton costumes behind Chassagne, who is co-lead vocalist. Mirror jacket guy is gone. Kingsburg back on bass, Will and Parry back on guitar. The songs dies back to just Will and Chassagne vocals plus drums and bass. “Sprawl II” From The Suburbs. Starts off with synth and violin with the stage is still almost dark. But as the song picks up and we get more light with Pallett having moved up to the left front keyboard, Win is sitting at the central keyboard most playing light percussion, Chassagne comes from off stage to sing lead vocals. End of regular set. “Normal Person “ From Reflektor. Two violins again with Pallet back over on the right. Parry playing bass, Will at the central keyboard, Chassagne percussing with the Haitians, Kingsburg and Win with guitars and Win singing lead, just about everyone else backing. “Here Comes The Night Time” From Reflektor. Chassagne at left front keyboard and plays xylophone over there too, Pallett back at rear left keyboard. Will playing bass, Kingsburg and Parry playing guitar, Win just lead vocals. Will goes spastic again. “Wake Up” From Funeral. Win has a 12-string guitar, Will still on bass, two violinists on the right, sax players mostly clapping but they join end at the end, Parry on the central drum, Chassagne still on the left. _______ I have the last three Arcade Fire albums. I started with The Suburbs, and it’s still my favorite. Reflektor is pretty good too; their last one which produced after this concert is my least favorite. I never heard anything off their first two albums. The first album was heavily represented here and I liked most of it. The finale was a bit of a fizzler for me though. A pretty good show. I was thinking the lighting was too bright at the beginning, but either they toned it down or I got used to it. It was pretty cool to see most of the musicians jumping around and playing different instruments throughout the show. With some use of the center channel and a little reverb, the surround mix wasn’t completely nonexistent, but it’s not worth a point either. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 3 Surround – 1
Elvis Presley – '68 Comeback Special (Deluxe Edition DVD) Label: RCA – 82876 61306 9 Format: 3 × DVD, DVD-Video, PAL Country: Europe Released: 05 Jul 2004 Genre: Rock Style: Rock & Roll, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues Disc One, Chapter One, Elvis : NBS TV Special, Original December 3, 1968 Broadcast (Adapted) 57:08 1-1 Trouble/Guitar Man - Show Opener 1-2 Lawdy Miss Clawdy 1-3 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-4 Something Wrong With My Lip / He's Gotta Be Crazy 1-5 Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog / All Shook Up 1-6 Can't Help Falling In Love 1-7 Jailhouse Rock 1-8 Can I Borrow Your Little Whatchacallit / This Leather Suit's Hot 1-9 Love Me Tender 1-10 Are You Lonesome Tonight? 1-11 Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child / Where Could I Go But To The Lord / Up Above My Head / Saved 1-12 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-13 Blue Christmas 1-14 Man, I Just Work Here / No Strap 1-15 One Night 1-16 Memories 1-17 If I Can Dream - Show Closer 1-18 Credits Roll Disc One, Chapter Two, Black Leather Sitdown Show #1, June 27, 1968 52:11 1-19 Elvis Takes The Stage 1-20 Elvis Introduces Band Mates 1-21 That's All Right 1-22 Heartbreak Hotel 1-23 Love Me 1-24 Swapping Axes / Are We On Television 1-25 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-26 Touching Body With Hands / Rock And Roll Music Is... 1-27 Blue Suede Shoes 1-28 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-29 Something Wrong With My Lip / He's Gotta Be Crazy 1-30 Lawdy Miss Clawdy 1-31 Are You Lonesome Tonight? 1-32 When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 1-33 Blue Christmas 1-34 Trying To Get To You 1-35 One Night / Somebody Pulled The Plug, Man 1-36 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-37 Man, I Just Work Here / No Strap 1-38 One Night 1-39 Memories Disc One, Chapter Three, Black Leather Sitdown Show #2, June 27, 1968 51:30 1-40 Audience Warm Up / Mr Elvis Presley 1-41 Elvis Talks 1-42 Heartbreak Hotel 1-43 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-44 Elvis Refers To Script / Introduces Band Mates 1-45 That's All Right 1-46 Are You Lonesome Tonight? 1-47 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 1-48 Can't Even Touch Myself / You Gonna Get Arrested, Boy 1-49 Blue Suede Shoes 1-50 We Don't Have A Strap / Lines From MacArthur Park 1-51 One Night 1-52 Love Me 1-53 Hanky Flies About / The New Music / My Style Came From... 1-54 Trying To Get To You 1-55 Lawdy Miss Clawdy 1-56 Girl Saves Elvis Tissue Lint / Never Ceases To Amaze Me, Baby 1-57 Santa Clause Is Back In Town 1-58 Blue Christmas 1-59 Tiger Man 1-60 Another Tissue Girl / MacArthur Park Lines 1-61 When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 1-62 Memories Disc Two, Chapter One, Black Leather Stand Up Show #1, June 29, 1968 30:46 2-1 Audience Warm Up / Here's Elvis Presley 2-2 Medley - Heartbreak Hotel / One Night Stand / Sound Goes Out 2-3 Medley - Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog / All Shook Up 2-4 Can't Help Falling In Love 2-5 Jailhouse Rock 2-6 Don't Be Cruel 2-7 Blue Suede Shoes 2-8 Love Me Tender 2-9 Anybody Got A Hankerchief 2-10 Guitar Man Production Number Pickup 2-11 Trouble / Guitar Man 2-12 Baby, What You Want Me To Do / Impromptu Jam 2-13 If I Can Dream / Lip Synch Performance Disc Two, Chapter Two, Black Leather Stand Up Show #2, June 29, 1968 34:24 2-14 Audience Warm Up / And It Stars Elvis Presley 2-15 Heartbreak Hotel - False Start 2-16 Medley - Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog / All Shook Up 2-17 Can't Help Falling In Love 2-18 Jailhouse Rock 2-19 Don't Be Cruel - Moby Dick 2-20 Blue Suede Shoes - False Start, One More Time, Gently 2-21 Blue Suede Shoes 2-22 Can I Borrow Your Little Whatchacallit? / This Leather Suit's Hot 2-23 Love Me Tender 2-24 Guitar Man Production Number Pick Up 2-25 Preperation / Who's That Strange Man Out There, Elvis? 2-26 Trouble - Should I Be On The Microphone Here? 2-27 Trouble - I Got My Lip Hung On The Microphone 2-28 Trouble / Guitar Man 2-29 Lines From Tiptoe Through The Tulips And MacArthur Park 2-30 Trouble / Guitar Man 2-31 If I Can Dream - Lip Synch Performance Disc Two, Chapter Three, Trouble / Guitar Man, TV Show Opener - All Takes And Raw Components, June 30, 1968 26:07 2-32 912 Tag (End Of The Opener) 2-33 919 Incomplete Take, Hard To Move On That God **** Song 2-34 920 Incomplete Take, Slings Chord At End 2-35 921 Incomplete Take, Ran Outta Breath 2-36 922 Incomplete Take, You Watch My Clacker 2-37 923 Incomplete Take 2-38 924 Incomplete Take 2-39 925 Completed Take 2-40 926 Guitar Inserts, Close Up Shots Of Hands And Guitar 2-41 927 Stills, Performance Insert Shots Disc Two, Chapter Four, If I Can Dream, TV Show Closer - All Takes, June 30, 1968 11:09 2-42 915 False Start 2-43 916 Completed Take 2-44 917 Completed Take 2-45 918 Completed Take, Chosen For The TV Special Disc Two, Chapter Five, Huh-Huh-Huh Promo, June 30,1968 1:31 2-46 All Shook Up Disc Two, Chapter Six, Elvis Closing Credits Without Credits Roll, June 30, 1968 1:27 2-47 Closing Credits Disc Two, Chapter Seven, If I Can Cream - Special Music Video 2004, June 30, 1968 3:08 2-48 If I Can Dream Disc Two, Chapter Eight, DVD Credits Roll 2-49 A Little Less Conversation Disc Three, Chapter One, Gospel Production Number - All Takes And Raw Components 50:05 Part 1 - June 28, 1968 Sometime I Feel Like A Motherless Child / Where Could I Go But To The Lord / Up Above My Head 3-1 501 Completed Take, Declared A Good Rehearsal 3-2 502 Incomplete Take, Dance Solo Problem 3-3 503 Completed Take 3-4 504 Incomplete Take, Dance Solo Problem 3-5 505 Incomplete Take, Elvis Misstep On The Stairs 3-6 506 Completed Take Part 2 - June 28, 1968 Up Above My Head / Saved 3-7 507 Incomplete Take 3-8 508 Incomplete Take 3-9 509 Completed Take, Elvis Flings Tambourine To Sky 3-10 510 Completed Take, Elvis Wants Another One 3-11 511 Completed Take, Elvis Gives "Outta Here" Thumb 3-12 512 Completed Take, Waiting For Darlene Part 2 Pickups - June 28, 1968, Saved 3-13 513 Incomplete Take, Problems With Dancers Cue 3-14 514 Incomplete Take 3-15 515 Completed Take, Elvis Misses His "Ho Ho Yeah" 3-16 516 Completed Take 3-17 Part 3 Pickups, June 28, 1968 3-18 517 Completed Take, You Got It! 3-19 518 Erroneous 518 Slate, 601 Called But Not Slated, Cast Chatter 3-20 602 Incomplete Take, Elvis Can't Hear The Playback 3-21 603 Incomplete Take, God ****, Sorry, I Can't Hear It 3-22 604 Completed Take Disc Three, Chapter Two, Guitar Man, Production Number - All Takes And Raw Components 2:01:22 Amusement Pier - Part 1 - June 27,1968, Big Boss Man 3-23 101 Incomplete Take, Match Doesn't Go Out 3-24 102 Incomplete Take 3-25 103 Incomplete Take, Guitar Doesn't Break 3-26 104 Completed Take 3-27 105 Incomplete Take, Guitar Strap Comes Undone 3-28 106 Incomplete Take, Elvis Cracks Up 3-29 107 Completed Take, Guitar Doesn't Break 3-30 108 Completed Take 3-31 109 Completed Take, Guitar Doesn't Quite Break 3-32 110 Completed Take Amusement Pier - Part 2 - June 27,1968, It Hurts Me 3-33 111 Incomplete Take 3-34 112 Incomplete Take, Elvis Splits His Pants 3-35 113 Completed Take 3-36 114 Completed Take 3-37 115 Completed Take 3-38 116 Incomplete Take, Bottle Doesn't Break 3-39 117 Incomplete Take 3-40 118 Incomplete Take, Did I Anticipate? 3-41 119 Incomplete Take, Somebody's Gonna Have Sore Arms Tomorrow 3-42 120 Completed Take Amusement Pier - Part 2 Pickups - June 27,1968, It Hurts Me 3-43 121 Incomplete Take, I Don't Know Upstage From Downstage 3-44 122 Incomplete Take, "Too Blind To See" Is Where You Walk In , Elvis 3-45 123 Incomplete Take 3-46 124 Incomplete Take, God ****! Can I Hear The Track One Time, Please 3-47 125 Incomplete Take, God ****! Sorry, Steve 3-48 126 Completed Take Bordello - Part 1 - June 28, 1968, Let Yourself Go 3-49 605 False Start 601 Slate Label Corrected, Gospel Label Not 3-50 606 Completed Take 3-51 607 Completed Take, Gospel Label On Slate Corrected 3-52 608 Incomplete Take 3-53 609 Completed Take 3-54 610 Completed Take Bordello - Part 3 - June 28, 1968, Let Yourself Go 3-55 611 False Start 3-56 612 Nearly Completed Take 3-57 613 Nearly Completed Take, Gospel Label In Slate Corrected 3-58 614 Completed Take, Did I Miss The Lip Synch On The Very Last Line? 3-59 615 Completed Take 3-60 616 Completed Take 3-61 617 Completed Take Bordello - Insert Shots - June 28, 1968 3-62 619 Grapes (No#618 Slate), Put You Warm, Red Grapes On Mine. 3-63 620 Palms Together, Andy Williams Sings "Downtown" 3-64 621 Dip 3-65 622 Spooning, Phyllis Diller Medley Road #1 - June 30, 1968, Nothingville 3-66 901 No Take, Elvis Wants To Walk This Through 3-67 902 Completed Take 3-68 903 Completed Take Road #2 - June 30, 1968, Guitar Man 3-69 904 Completed Take 3-70 905 Completed Take Road #3 - June 30, 1968, Guitar Man 3-71 906 Incomplete Take, Voice Cracks, God **** 3-72 907 Completed Take, Plus Tax, Wanna Do Another One, Steve? 3-73 908 False Start 3-74 909 Incomplete Take, Swingin' Little Mother Grabber 3-75 910 Completed Take 3-76 911 Completed Take Alley - June 30,1968, Guitar Man 3-77 1001 Completed Take, My Boy My Boy 3-78 1002 Completed Take, My Boy My Boy 3-79 1003 Incomplete Take, Guitar Strap Comes Undone 3-80 1004 False Start 3-81 1005 Completed Take, My Girl My Girl 3-82 1006 Completed Take, My Girl My Girl Nightclub- June 30,1968, Little Egypt / Trouble 3-83 1007 Incomplete Take, Watch That Cobra Growl And Grin 3-84 1008 No Take, Topless Lady Band, LBJ Imitation, Tinkling Of Tanya, My Belly Me Belly 3-85 1009 Completed Take, Another One For Myself 3-86 1010 Completed Take Discotheque- June 30,1968, Trouble 3-87 1011 Incomplete Take, Sh** 3-88 1012 Completed Take, To Spend One Night Witchoo Supper Club- June 30,1968, Trouble 3-89 1013 Completed Take, I Sho Hope I Got A Little Voice Left 3-90 1014 Incomplete Take, Elvis Eyeballs The Mike And Cracks Up 3-91 1015 Completed Take, More Laughter -------------------------------------------------------------- This is one of my favourite sets ever released. I remembered seeing something on TV once and had no idea what it was, but enjoyed it... It ended up being this. The TV special is all very nice, and well produced and put together, but for me the real gold here are the SitDown shows. Some folks state that they are the inspiration for the MTV Unplugged thing, and that is very possible, but whether or not that is true I don't really know. The thing about the sit down shows is they are so relaxed and for the first time in his career, his guitar was leading the way. Partway through the first sit down show Elvis swaps guitars with Scotty Moore and from then on, you get essentially Elvis playing and singing, just about solo. He is certainly not Jimi Hendrix, but his playing is very solid and holds everything together with good rhythm and some nice runs that give it a bit of colour and texture. This show has become almost a defining moment in Elvis's career these days, or so it seems. I am not sure how how big it was at the time it was done really, but it certainly got him back in the face of the public, and I believe reactions were altogether positive. The story goes that Parker wanted Elvis to do a TV special and sing a couple of Christmas songs. I believe it was Steve Binder who got in Elvis's ear and said, we can make this so much more. Elvis was already trying to get his music career back on the road after being derailed by the infamous Hollywood period, where Elvis was signed into movie contracts, doing movies he didn't really want to do, but threatened with being barred from the entertainment business altogether if he tried to pull out of the movie contracts. Binder and Presley set about trying to organise something a bit special and something a bit different, and of course Parker tried to shut it all down. For the first time in his career, Elvis stood up to Parker and it was accepted that the TV special would go ahead as Binder and Presley envisaged, with a stipulation from Parker that Elvis had to do at least one Christmas song ... Elvis stood up to Parker twice more that I know about ... not so long after this event, when he stood by Chips Moman on the issues Parker raised to try and block Suspicious Minds being a single (royalty issues) from the American Sound Recordings (From Elvis In Memphis, being the quite brilliant and famous album to come from those)..... and also in 1973 when Elvis and Parker got into a fight after his closing night in Vegas, where Elvis had spent the night on stage comically taking hits at the International, Parker, the music, and all the things going on. This concert is available on the FTD release Closing Night, and documents that whole show. It is hilarious and a little sad, because of course Elvis was somewhat effected by the medication that would eventually kill him. It is actually an interesting concert, with some great musical highlights, and plenty of in your face Elvis humour. After the fight, Elvis fired Parker, only to reinstate him after Parker threatened legal action, even though if they had gone through with the legal action, they would have found out how much money Parker had been stealing from Elvis. Anyway, this special is quite remarkable. With the sequenced musical, somewhat reflecting the Hollywood years, but with a powerful soundtrack that really hit home, and the was juxtaposed with songs from the sit down and stand up shows, with Elvis showing he still much more than had it when it came to singing and performing his great catalog in a somewhat jam-style environment. Regardless of how I ended up reviewing this it is an essential piece of rock history, with some remarkable music, and performances from Elvis, and some I suppose, slightly cheesy skit type movie sequences, but they are charming and at the time the bordello scene was cut, due to demands by the TV station I believe... with Elvis again being somewhat labelled a little immoral... to think of that these days is quite bewildering, but anyway. The 3 dvd set is still available quite cheaply Elvis Presley - '68 Comeback Special (Deluxe Edition DVD) This is also available in a 3cd + 2bluray set, which I cannot comment on because I don't have it. https://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Comeback-Special-50th-Anniversary/dp/B07HBG8YJN I am not going to watch all three disc, because I don't have the time, but the meat and potatoes for me are on disc one. Trouble opens us up, and that's always a great way to start. Trouble rolls into Guitar Man, which is like the theme or link song between the sections. The audio comes in DD 5.1, and it isn't bad, with a little bit of stuff in the sides. The video is 4:3 and good dvd quality. We move into the sit down Lawdy Miss Clawdie, and a short burst of Baby what You Want Me to Do. With some somewhat funny banter to round ot out. The we get the big stand up show medley. Elvis just about blows his voice out on Heartbreak Hotel, and we roll through Hound dog and All shook up, as somewhat uptempo, horn adorned punchy updated version. Can't Help Falling In Love follows and serves its purpose well. The surround mix with horns and strings sounds pretty damn good actually. We get Jailhouse Rock, and it is a pretty pumped up version. He borrows a hanky from one of the girls and wipes the sweat from his face, and to her thrills, gives it back. Elvis is starting to relax, and starts throwing on a couple of jokes. It was noted that on the day of filming Elvis started to get paranoid and scared that nobody was interested in him anymore, and Binder, or Bones had to persuade him to go on. We get another chat from the sit down show, and then we move into the Gospel Production Number. I think it's one of the highlights of the show. We get some choreographed dancing. And although not my thing, it is very effective. Again the mix works really pretty well. Where Could I Go But To The Lord, Up Above My Head and saved. The mix is really pretty good. From here we roll back into the sitdown show, and the guys are jamming out. Baby What You Want Me To Do, Blue Christmas, One Night and Memories. One Night has Elvis standing up and his Army buddy, Charlie Hodge holds a mic up for him. Memories was a very good new song written for the special, and as good as it was, it was Outshined by the closer. We move into the Guitar Man production number. Nothingville, Guitar Man, Let Yourself Go, Big Boss Man, It Hurts Me, Little Egypt and Trouble. This is really well done for 68. Let Yourself Go was reinstated to the medley for this set, after being removed from the special. Again mix sounds very good, and I feel like I need to get the bluray. We close with If I Can Dream, which is probably one of the best closers ever written. A powerful and passionate tribute to the recently assassinated MLK... From what I saw of the prices, this is a must have for anyone that loves Elvis, and probably worthwhile for those not sure. That's just the TV special itself, reconstructed to be what it was supposed to be. With the two sit downs and the two stand ups, and a wealth of extras, this is an excellent purchase, in my opinion. For the record, I just ordered the bluray version, in the 50th anniversary set with the two blurays... I want the music in better quality than DD5.1, and maybe it isn't.... and there's nothing wrong with it .... I just wanted the bluray, just in case... to me it's worth it. I'll give you an update
Oxygene: Live In Your Living Room Studio Performance by Jean Michel Jarre Released 26 November 2007 France, 11 December 2007 Worldwide Recorded 2007 at Alfacam Studios in Lint, Belgium Genre Electronic, Ambient Length 80 min (about 60 minutes of performance plus 20 minutes of documentary) Label EMI/Capitol/Aero Productions Oxygène: New Master Recording, also known as Oxygène New Master Recording 2007 and Oxygène (New Master Recording), is a new recording by Jean-Michel Jarre of his album Oxygène. It was released in 2007, marking the 30th anniversary of the original worldwide release. It is his first release on EMI Records. Multidisc releases also included a DVD that included Oxygène — Live in Your Living Room DVD, which was an exclusive private live performance of Oxygène, filmed in Lint, Belgium. To promote this release, Jean-Michel Jarre performed a series of ten Oxygène Live concerts in Paris, inside the Theâtre Marigny, from 12 to 26 December 2007. Jarre performed new 90 minute live performances of Oxygène, complete with new tracks, using only vintage synthesizers and assisted on stage by French musicians Francis Rimbert, Claude Samard and Dominique Perrier. In 2008, The Mail on Sunday newspaper distributed more than 2 million copies of the Oxygène: New Master Recording CD to its readers in the United Kingdom. In that same year, Francis Dreyfus Music said it intended to bring legal action against The Mail on Sunday and EMI, based on the claim that the contents of the CD did not come from the new re-recorded master, but from the original master of which the French label owned the rights Personnel Jean Michel Jarre Claude Samard Francis Rimbert Dominique Perrier Track Listing 1. Prelude 2. Oxygene (Part I) 3. Oxygene (Part II) 4. Oxygene (Part III) 5. Variation I 6. Oxygene (Part IV) 7. Variation II 8. Oxygene (Part V) 9. Variation III 10. Oxygene (Part VI) Version Control The album was released in three different editions: a 5.1 Music Disc edition featuring the new digital master recording of Oxygène a CD and 2D DVD special edition featuring Oxygène — Live in Your Living Room DVD a limited edition CD + 3D DVD featuring Oxygène — Live in Your Living Room DVD in stereoscopic 3D High-Definition, which also includes two pairs of 3D glasses. I have the CD +DVD edition. The 3D edition seems rather silly. See Mark’s review of the 5.1 mix for shopping options. The Performance It’s top notch DVD video, and there is a surround mix but unlike the album 5.1, Dolby Digital is the only option. All in all, it just doesn’t quite as peppy and maybe that’s why. I’m not going track-by-track because I don’t have anything to say about individual tracks that don’t apply to just about all of them. There’s four guys in a studio. Jarre is in front and the other three guys are in back. There’s also a screen in the back with constantly changing pshedleic imagery. Jarre has the most toys. You just have to compare this to a Kraftwerk performance – four guys with synthesizers. The big difference is that Kraftwerk has reworked all their material with digital technology. It looks like these guys are strictly all analog; seems to be be the same equipment that was used thirty years earlier. There are least two instruments that especially worth mentioning. There first is a theremin, which according to wiki is “is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the thereminist (performer). It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928.” It is used on “Oxygene (Part III)” Since I can’t find that track individually, here’s the whole show: The theremin performance starts at about 22:30 The second instrument is the doepfer ribbon controller used on “Variation II”, seems to be a wand like device with a continuous variable frequency response, sort of like the fingerboard used by Jordan Rudess. The Moog Liberation, which is a keyboard synth made to look kind of like a guitar and played standing up seems lame by comparison. It is used on “Oxygene (Part V)”. _________ Since the weird instruments are what make the show, here is a link the part of the documentary that explains them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWxAy2_djik He gets to the theramin last. The surround mix isn’t as good as the studio album mix, but it uses the center channel a lot and the rear channel some too. A better than average mix, but not worth full marks . Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 2 Video presentation – 3 (+1 for the theramin and the ribbon controller) Video quality – 2 Surround – 2
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. Rating System Explained Here AC/DC – Let There Be Rock / Live Performance and Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Anathema – A Moment in Time / Live Performance / Rating: 13 & Anathema – Universal / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Arcade Fire – Live At Earls Court / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Ayreon – Electric Castle Live and Other Tales / Live Performance / Rating: 14 & Ayreon – Ayreon Universe / Live Performance / Rating: 16 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 & Beatles, The – 1+ / Video Collection / Rating: 12-18 Beck, Jeff – Rock 'n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) / Live Performance / Rating: 14-15 Beck, Jeff – Performing This Week... Live At Ronnie Scott's / Live Performance / Rating: 17 Big Big Train – Reflectors of Light / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Big Big Train – Empire / Live Performance / Rating: 17 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 & Blue Öyster Cult – 45th Anniversary - Live in London / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Bruford – Rock Goes to College / Live Performance / Rating: 12 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 and Winwood, Steve – Live From Madison Square Garden / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) /Rating:16 Clapton, Eric – Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall / Live Performance / Rating: 16 & Cliff, Jimmy – The Harder They Come / Movie / Rating: 15 Cocker, Joe – Fire It Up Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) 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& Devo – Hardcore Devo Live! / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Dido – Live at Brixton Academy / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Djabe – The Magic Stag / Video Collection /Rating: 11 Dire Straits – Alchemy / Live Performance / Rating: 16* Doobie Brothers, The – Live From The Beacon Theatre / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Doors, The – Live At The Bowl '68 / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Dream Theater – Score / Live Performance /Rating: 13 Dream Theater – Distance Over Time / Video Collection /Rating: 13*& Dream Theater – Distant Memories - Live In London / Live Performance /Rating: 15 Dylan, Bob – No Direction Home / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Eagles – Live from the Forum MMXVIII / Live Performance /Rating: 14 Emerson, Lake & Palmer – 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert / Live Performance / Rating: 14& Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams - The Video Album / Video Collection / Rating: 9 Ferry, Bryan – Live in Lyon / Live Performance /Rating: 17 Gabriel, Peter – Live in Athens 1987 / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Gabriel, Peter – Secret World Live / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Gabriel, Peter – Play / Video Collection / Rating: 12-15 *& Gabriel, Peter – Growing Up / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Gabriel, Peter – New Blood - Live In London / Live Performance / Rating: 14 & (The J.) Geils Band – House Party Live In Germany / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) 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: 13 Grateful Dead – The Grateful Dead Movie / Concert Documentary / Rating: 13-14 Grateful Dead – The Closing of Winterland / Concert Performance / Rating: 13 Grateful Dead – Rocking The Cradle ~ Egypt 1978 / Concert Performance (@~dave~~wave~) 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 Hackett, Steve – Wuthering Nights: Live In Birmingham / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Hackett, Steve – Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith / Live Performance / Rating: 18 Hendrix, Jimi – Jimi Plays Monterey / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Hendrix, Jimi – Live at Woodstock / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Hendrix, Jimi – Band of Gypsys: Live at The Fillmore East / Concert Documentary / Rating: 10 *& INXS - Live Baby Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 13 Iron Maiden – Flight 666 / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Iron Maiden – The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1: The Early Days / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley) Jarre, Jean Michel – Oxygene: Live In Your Living Room / Studio Performance/ Rating: 14 Jethro Tull – Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die (The TV Special Edition) / Studio Performance / Rating: 11 Kansas – There's Know Place Like Home / Live Performance / Rating: 15-16 Katatonia – Last Fair Day Gone Night / Live Performance / Rating: 13 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 – Eyes Wide Open, Part 2 / Live Performance / Rating: 15 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 Led Zeppelin – DVD, Part 1: Live at The Royal Albert Hall / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Led Zeppelin – DVD, Part 2: 1972-1979 / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Lee, Albert – Tearing it Up / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Magma – Theusz Hamtaahk: Trilogie au Trianon / Live Performance (@Sordel) Magma - Mythes et Legendes Epok 1 / Live Performance (@Sordel) Magma - Mythes et Legendes Epok 2 / Live Performance (@Sordel) Magma - Mythes et Legendes Epok III / Live Performance (@Sordel) Magma - Mythes et Legendes Epok IV / Live Performance (@Sordel) Magma - Mythes et Legendes Epok V / Live Performance (@Sordel) Magma – Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré Trilogie / Live Performance (@Sordel) / Rating: 12 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 Mason, Nick Live – At the Roundhouse / Live Performance / Rating: 13 McCartney, Paul – The McCartney Years, Part 1 ( @mark winstanley) / Rating: 13-14 Midnight Oil – Best of Both Worlds / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Midnight Oil – Armistice Day / Live Performance / Rating: 16& Moody Blues – Lovely to See You: Live / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Nightwish – Vehicle of Spirit / Live Performance / Rating: 14 Opeth – The Roundhouse Tapes / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Pet Shop Boys – Cubism / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Pineapple Thief, The – 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 Pink Floyd – Delicate Sound of Thunder / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Pink Floyd – The Endless River / Video Collection / Rating: 9 Police, The – Every Breath You Take / Video Collection ( @mark winstanley) Police, The – Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires / Live Performance / Rating: 17 Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere... / Live Performance / Rating: 16 - 17 Porcupine Tree – Anesthetize / Live Performance / Rating: 18 Presley, Elvis – That's The Way It Is / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Presley, Elvis – '68 Comeback Special/ Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Pretenders, The – Loose in L.A. / Live Performance / Rating: 14 R.E.M – Road Movie / Live Performance / Rating: 11 Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Rolling Stones & Various Artists – Rock and Roll Circus / Studio Performance / Rating: 14 Roxy Music – The High Road / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Roxy Music – Live at the Apollo / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Rush – Exit ..... Stage Left / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating:14 Rush – Grace Under Pressure Tour / Live Performance / Rating: 13 Rush – R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 17 Rush – Rush in Rio / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Rush – Snakes & Arrows Live / Live Performance / Rating: 16 Rush – Clockwork Angels Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) / Rating: 16 Rush – R40 Live / Live Performance / Rating: 15 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 Soundgarden – Live From The Artists Den / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Springsteen, Bruce – The River Tour / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Steely Dan – Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party / Studio Performance / Rating: 16 Sting – Live in Berlin / Live Performance / Rating: 12 Supertramp – Live In Paris '79 / Live Performance / Rating: 15 Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense / Live Performance / Rating: 14-16 Talking Heads – True Stories / Movie / Rating: 12-14 Tangerine Dream – Live at Coventry Cathedral 1975 / Music Video / Rating: 10 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) / Rating: 11 Townsend, Devin – Order of Magnitude - Empath Live Volume 1 / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Transatlantic – Whirld Tour 2010 / Live Performance / Rating: 12 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 Vai, Steve – Visual Sound Theories (Live With Holland Metropole Orkest) / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) 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 Various Artists – Samsara / Movie / Rating: 13 Waters, Roger – In the Flesh - Live / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Waters, Roger – Us + Them / Live Performance/ Rating: 17 Who, The - The Kids Are Alright / Concert Documentary (@mark winstanley ) / Rating: 11-15 Who, The – Live At Shea Stadium 1982 / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) Wilson, Steven –Get All You Deserve/ Live Performance / Rating: 15 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 & Wishbone Ash – Live in Hamburg / Live Performance / Rating: 13 YACHT - Chain Tripping / Video Collection / 13 Yello – Live in Berlin / Live Performance (@jamesc) / Rating: 16 Yes – Yessongs / Live Performance / Rating: 9 * Yes – Keys To Ascension / Live Performance / Rating: 13 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 Zappa, Frank – The Roxy Movie / Live Performance (@mark winstanley) 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.
The McCartney Years: Volume 3 Concert and Studio Performance by Paul McCartney Released 2007 Recorded Seattle, Washington, 10 June 1976; New York 1991; Pilton, Somerset, England 2004 Genre Rock, Pop Label Warner Rockshow is a 1980 concert film release by Paul McCartney and Wings, filmed during the band's 1976 North American tour. The film features 30 songs from segments of four concerts of the tour: New York, on 25 May (four songs); Seattle, Washington, 10 June (five songs); and Los Angeles, California, 22 June (fifteen songs) and 23 June (six songs).[2] Both the cover of the home video release and McCartney himself in his intro to The McCartney Years DVD acknowledge only the Seattle concert, however. In 2007, a shortened cut with only seven songs was released as part of The McCartney Years DVD set – one of which, a version of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna", was originally left out of the Rockshow home video release. MTV Unplugged is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. Paul McCartney's 1991 appearance was later released on the Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) album. Show producer Alex Coletti went on to say that had McCartney not released it, the concept would have never gained the cult status that it went on to enjoy. Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, in England. Personnel Rockshow Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, bass Linda McCartney – piano, keyboards, backing vocals, percussion Denny Laine – electric guitar, acoustic guitar (side 3), bass (on the songs where McCartney plays piano), backing vocals, piano ("Go Now"), keyboards, percussion ("Spirits of Ancient Egypt"), harmonica ("Time to Hide", lead vocals on "Spirits of Ancient Egypt", "Richard Cory," "Time to Hide", and "Go Now", harmony lead vocal on "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" Jimmy McCulloch – electric and acoustic guitars, bass, backing vocals Joe English – drums, percussion, backing vocals Tony Dorsey – trombone, percussion Howie Casey – saxophone, percussion Steve Howard – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion Thaddeus Richard – saxophone, clarinet, Western concert flute, percussion MTV Unplugged Paul McCartney - vocals, acoustic guitar Linda McCartney – keyboards, backing vocals Robbie McIntosh – acoustic guitar, backing vocals Hamish Stuart - acoustic bass, backing vocals Paul Wickens – piano, shaker Blair Cunningham – drums Glastonbury Paul McCartney – vocals, guitars, bass guitar Rusty Anderson – guitars, backing vocals Brian Ray – guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals Paul Wickens – keyboards, backing vocals Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums, backing vocals Track Listing Rockshow "Venus and Mars" "Rock Show" "Jet" "Maybe I'm Amazed" "Lady Madonna" "Listen to What the Man Said" "Bluebird" MTV Unplugged "I Lost My Little Girl" "Every Night" "And I Love Her" "That Would Be Something" Glastonbury "Jet" "Flaming Pie" "Let Me Roll It" "Blackbird" "Band on the Run" "Back in the U.S.S.R." "Live and Let Die" "Hey Jude" "Yesterday" "Helter Skelter" "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Version Control See Mark’s review on the surround thread for shopping options. The Concerts Rockshow The video is widescreen and the quality is pretty good for it’s vintage, but the stage shots are blurry – have call it VHS quality. The 5.1 audio is DTS. "Venus and Mars" From Venus and Mars. This plays during the opening credits, then Paul sings solo "Rock Show" From Venus and Mars. The stage lights up pink and it’s Armstrong, Laine, and Paul in front. English on drums is just behind them, the horn section and Linda are way back. Paul vocals are in center and there’s lots of reverb in the rear. Laine is playing doubleneck. Goes straight into… "Jet" From Band On the Run. Paul gets close ups like 50% of the screen time. Linda gets a brief solo. Only see the other guys with stage shots. "Maybe I'm Amazed" From McCartney. Paul moves to piano in the back with Linda, Laine playing bass, Armstrong with the guitar solo. "Lady Madonna" Beatles single. Paul still playing piano and singing from the back, but Armstron playing bass over on the right; Laine has the doubleneck on the left. English and Linda with the backing vocals. "Listen to What the Man Said" From Venus and Mars. More piano from Paul and one of the sax guys is busy. Armstrong and Laine have switched places again. "Bluebird" From Band On the Run. Paul back up front with an acoustic guitar. Armstrong also has an acoustic guitar, Linda and Laine backing vocals. Sax solo. MTV Unplugged Definitely DVD quality, still DTS 5.1 "I Lost My Little Girl" The first song written by Paul McCartney, when he was 14, in 1956. Paul has a touch of grey, the stage is way more compact. I think it’s McIntosh, Paul, and Stuart in front; Wickens, Cunningham, and Linda in back. Paul’s vocals are in center, and the acoustic guitars are mixed left and right – more than just reverb in the rear. "Every Night" From McCartney. Same deal – bass, drums leadvocals are in front, but the acoustic guitars are mixed partially to the rear. Backing vocals are in rear too. This is definitely a surround mix. Cr "And I Love Her" From Beatles A Hard Day’s Night. Paul and Stuart with the vocals in front, bass and drums in front, left and right guitars -it’s McIntosh playing lead on the left, Paul on the right. Some piano in front, Linda really not doing very much. "That Would Be Something" From McCartney. McIntosh playing slide with steel guitar. Glastonbury Now we’ve got top notch DVD video, still DTS 5.1 "Jet" From Band On the Run. Anderson front left, McCartney on bass in the middle, Ray with guitar on the right. Keyboards and drums in the rear. McCartney vocals in center, plenty of reverb in the rear. Screens behind the stage showing live shots and historical shots. There are three screens out and lots of flags in the crowd too. "Flaming Pie" From Flaming Pie. The only song in the set I’ve never heard before. It’s short, which is good. "Let Me Roll It" From Band On the Run. McCartney with electric guitar, Ray with the bass. Anderson is mixed to the left and there’s reverb on the left, which makes me think it’s mixed that way. McCartney guitar is on the right, vocals in center, everything else in front. "Blackbird" From The Beatles White album. McCartney all by himself with acoustic guitar in front, vocals center, crowd clapping in the rear. "Band on the Run" From Band On the Run. The band returns and McCartney has the bass again. Left and right guitar in the rear again – Ray has an acoustic guitar. Shots of Linda appear on screen. "Back in the U.S.S.R." From The Beatles White album. Same, but Ray has an electric guitar. "Live and Let Die" From James Bond movie soundtrack. Paul is on piano a little to the back and a little to the right. Ray still to his right. There are strings in surround – an overdub perhaps. Flame throwers on stage, fireworks off stage. "Hey Jude" Beatles single. McCartney still at the piano, nice crowd vocals in the rear. End of regular set. "Yesterday" From Beatles Help!. Paul playing with acoustic guitar. Strings in surround again - still thinking overdub, but maybe it’s Wickens who is back there on keyboards. Crowd vocals in the rear. "Helter Skelter" From The Beatles White album. The rest of the band is back, McCartney with bass, Ray with acoustic guitar. A barrage of photos from the 60’s on screen. Clip goes here: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. McCartney with electric guitar, Ray with bass, left and right guitar spilling into the rear speakers. __________ At the outset, I was thinking the Wings set would be the most interesting to me, but that turned out to be quite wrong. Except for the one clunker (“Flaming Pie”), the Glastonbury set was a high wire act with lots of great performances of both Beatles and Wings tunes. It had the best set list, the best video quality, and the best show. OK, the surround was better on the Unplugged set, but the surround on Glastonbury was worth a point too. Music – 2 to 3 (Glastonbury at the top end) Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 to 3 (Glastonbury is the 3) Video quality – 1 to 2 (Rockshow holding down the low end) Surround – 2 (Unplugged is the highlight, but all three were decent) All in all, The McCartney Years was excellent acquisition for me; all the McCartney I really need on three discs.
A Sort of Homecoming Concert Performance by Anathema Recorded 07 March 2015 Venue Liverpool Cathedral, UK Released 27 Oct 2015 Genre Progressive Rock Length 102 Minutes Label K Scope Director Lasse Hoile In March 2015 Anathema played an acoustic tour in the UK that culminated in the show in the Liverpool Cathedral, the band's hometown. It was recorded for A Sort of Homecoming. Personnel Anathema Vincent Cavanagh - Guitar / Vocals Danny Cavanagh - Guitar / Vocals / Keyboards Lee Douglas - Vocals John Douglas - Drums Jamie Cavanagh - Bass Additional Musicians David Wesling - Cello Anna Phoebe - Violin Track Listing 1. The Lost Song, Part 2 6:39 2. Untouchable, Part 1 6:30 3. Untouchable, Part 2 6:25 4. Thin Air 6:45 5. Dreaming Light 6:23 6. Anathema 7:32 7. Ariel 6:08 8. Electricity 3:53 9. Temporary Peace 5:54 10. The Beginning And The End 5:22 11. Distant Satellites 8:04 12. Take Shelter 9:29 13. Internal Landscapes 7:03 14. A Natural Disaster 8:45 15. Fragile Dreams 7:32 Version Control There are DVD, 2CD + DVD, Bluray, and a box set with 2CD + DVD and bluray. I have the standalone bluray. The 2CD+DVD is still available new Amazon, the bluray is OOP Discogs The Concert The picture quality is great and the 5.1 audio is DTS-HD and it’s mixed by Bruce Soord. It’s got a true surround mix. “The Lost Song, Part 1” From Distant Satellites. It’s a very cool cathedral and Daniel starts it off with acoustic guitar in front, Vincent and Lee walk on and there’s crowd noise in the rear. Lee vocals come isolated in center channel, Vincent is sort of playing guitar too, mixed in back I think. But eventually we get backing vocals from both Daniel Vincent in the left and right rear speakers. “Untouchable, Part 1” From Weather Systems. Daniel starts it off again, Vincent is lead in center channel with Daniel vocals rear left again and Lee rear right – that’s the way they are lined up on the stage too BTW. Front and rear guitars again, with Daniel in front Vincent in back. “Untouchable, Part 2” From Weather Systems. Daniels starts it off with piano (OK it’s not really an acoustic piano) in the rear this time. Vincent lead vocals in front. Then Daniel picks up the guitar and goes to front, and Lee sings in the rear and Vincent localized in center. Vincent gets the crowd to contribute some vocals in the rear at the end. “Thin Air” From We're Here Because We're Here. Daniel starts it of by laying a down a beat on a tape loop with his guitar; having seen him do this live it’s really not what I go to see. After that he goes to work on a loop of guitar chords that come in surround. After he does with that there isn’t much left to do but sing – it’s Vincent in the center. There a synth soundscape coming from somewhere too – must be preprogrammed, plus a little extra guitar from Daniel, and Lee vocals on the right, and Daniel on the left. Daniels turns a knob on the floor to back the loops die away. “Dreaming Light” From We're Here Because We're Here. Daniel guitar in front (seems like it’s all live), Vincent vocals center, Lee vocals rear. “Anathema” From Distant Satellites. Lee departs, John, Jamie, Wesley and Phoebe come on. Phoebe is in front, everyone else in back. Daniel piano in front, cello in rear, Vincent lead vocals center. Bass and drums in front – John has a spartan drum set that mostly plays with his hands and Jamie has an acoustic bass. After Vincent is done singing, gorgeous violin solo in rear; John picks up his sticks, Vincent strums a bit in front. Wow, the rear speakers have never sounded so good. “Ariel” From Distant Satellites. Phoebe leaves, Lee comes back. Daniel starts with piano in surround, the Lee vocal front. Light drums in front, cello in rear. Bass in front. Vincent sings last chorus. “Electricity” From A Natural Disaster. Daniel explains that he doesn’t usually sing lead vocals because Vincent is better. He’s right. But anyway he sings lead in front, with piano in rear. Cello in front to start, but moves to rear when drums and bass start up in front. Temporary Peace From A Fine Day to Exit. Daniel starts with guitar in front, Vincent vocals in center, then cello in rear. Low key drums and bass in front, Lee vocals in rear. Ends with cello and Lee in rear. “The Beginning And The End” From Weather Systems. Everyone off except for Daniel and Vincent and it’s tape looping time again. Daniel starts with guitar loop on back then adds beat in front. Vincent sings in center channel, Daniel provides some live guitar in front, then piano both front and rear (there’s only one keyboard but it seems one hand is in front, the other in the rear). “Distant Satellites” From Distant Satellites. A dry ice machine starts up, Lee comes back. The drummer wrote this song, but they are going to do it without him – Daniel tape looping again first with the back beat in front then guitar chords in the rear. Vincent vocals in center. Lee vocals in rear. A very cool synth soundscape in surround is piped in (I wonder if it was overdubbed). The sound dies down then starts up again with a new tape loop and Vincent plays lead with an electric guitar. “Take Shelter” From Distant Satellites. Back to just Daniel with acoustic guitar in surround and Vincent vocals in center. Then there’s some strings and keyboards in the rear that aren’t coming from anyone on stage, and a guitar tape loop. Not much of a live performance at the end. They leave the stage with the tape loop running, and the dry ice machine running with a bit of a light show too. “Internal Landscapes” From Weather Systems. Probably into the encores now, with Vincent, Daniel, John, and Jamie. Bass and drums in front, Vincent vocals in center and Daniel acoustic guitar in the rear. Daniel backing vocals in rear, pluc some acoustic guitar in front from Vincent. Piped in synth soundscape in surround. A Natural Disaster From A Natural Disaster. Lee and Wesley come back on too. Daniel asks the crowd to turn there phone flashlights on. Daniel acoustic guitar in surround and Lee vocals in front, cello in rear. Bass and drums in front, synth soundscape. Vincent vocals in center. Ends with guitar tape loop, Lee vocals, and Daniel piano in the rear. “Fragile Dreams” From Alternative 4. The guys in back all depart. Synth soundscape in rear then more tape loops, first the back beat then guitar, thel live guitar Vincent vocals in center, Lee vocals in rear, also some crowd vocals in rear. Daniel backing vocals in front. Then the tape loop takes over and they leave again with it running. _______ I sort of have the take back about what I said about Universal being the best concert “by far”. Sure, the studio versions of most of the songs are much better. “Anathema” is the clear exception there. The fact that they are playing in a cathedral is very cool, but the fact that it often seemed like you weren;t really watching a live performance was a downer. Nonetheless, the fact that this concert has an excellent surround closes the gap considerably, and again the eponymous track is the one that deserves special mention - I don’t give out 4’s for surround on this thread but that track deserves one. This is the one to rip into the multichannel flac collection. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 Surround – 3
Tommy Movie by The Who Directed by Ken Russell Produced by Ken Russell, Robert Stigwood Screenplay by Ken Russell, Based on Tommy by The Who Music by The Who Cinematography Dick Bush, Ronnie Taylor Edited by Stuart Baird Production company Robert Stigwood Organization Ltd., Hemdale Film Corporation Distributed by Columbia Pictures Release date 19 March 1975 (United States), 26 March 1975 (United Kingdom) Running time 108 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English Tommy is a 1975 British satirical operetta fantasy drama film written and directed by Ken Russell and based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album Tommy about a "psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind" boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader. The film featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including the band members themselves (most notably, lead singer Roger Daltrey, who plays the title role), Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Jack Nicholson. An independent production by Russell and Robert Stigwood, Tommy was released by Columbia Pictures in the US on 19 March 1975 while in the UK it was released on 26 March 1975. Ann-Margret received a Golden Globe Award for her performance and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pete Townshend was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in scoring and adapting the music for the film. The film was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition. In 1975, the film won the award for Rock Movie of the Year in the First Annual Rock Music Awards. Plot In the prologue, set in 1945, a montage displays the honeymoon of Captain Walker and his wife, Nora ("Prologue - 1945"). After his leave ends, Walker goes off to fight in World War II as a bomber pilot, but is shot down during a mission. "Captain Walker" is listed as missing in action and is presumed dead, although—unknown to his family—the badly burnt Walker is in fact alive. Back in England, Nora goes into labour and gives birth to a son, Tommy, on V-E Day. Five years later, Nora has begun a new relationship with Frank, a worker she and Tommy meet on vacation. Tommy looks up to his "Uncle" Frank who expresses his desires to run his own holiday camp someday ("Bernie's Holiday Camp"). In the 1950s, Nora and Frank dream of their future ("1951 / What About the Boy?"), but, late that evening, encounter the returning Captain Walker. He surprises Frank and Nora in bed, leading to a struggle where Frank kills the Captain. The heat of the moment panics Tommy into a psychedelia-like "Amazing Journey", where he outwardly appears "deaf, dumb, and blind". As time passes, Nora and Frank make several fruitless attempts to bring the now older Tommy out of his state ("Eyesight to the Blind" / "The Acid Queen") and keep him in the company of some questionable babysitters ("Cousin Kevin" / "Fiddle About"). They become more and more lethargic at the lack of effect and leave Tommy standing at the mirror one night, allowing him to wander off. He follows a vision of himself to a junkyard pinball machine. Tommy is recognized by Frank and the media as a pinball prodigy ("Extra, Extra, Extra"), which is made even more impressive with his catatonic state. During a championship game, Tommy faces the "Pinball Wizard" with The Who as the backing band. Nora watches her son's televised victory and celebrates his (and her) success and luxury, but finds she can't fully enjoy it due to the extremity of Tommy's condition ("Champagne"). Frank finds a specialist for Tommy, who comes to the conclusion that Tommy's state is triggered emotionally rather than physically. The only hope, he says, is to continue putting Tommy in front of his reflection ("Go to the Mirror!"). Nora's growing frustration prompts her to throw Tommy through the mirror, causing him to snap to full consciousness and run away momentarily ("I'm Free"). Tommy reveals that his experiences have transformed him and decides that he wants to transform the world ("Mother and Son" / "Miracle Cure"). Tommy goes on lecture tours which resemble glam rock gospel shows and spreads a message of enlightenment by hang glider, gaining friends and followers everywhere he goes ("Sally Simpson" / "Sensation"). Tommy and a more enlightened and elated Nora and Frank welcome converts to their house, which quickly becomes too crowded to accommodate everyone. Tommy opens an extension for his religious campus ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp"). The converts, confused about Tommy's odd practices and his family's commercial exploitation of the compound, wrathfully demand Tommy teach them something useful. Tommy does so, deliberately deafening, muting, and blinding everyone, only to inadvertently invoke a riot. The followers kill Nora and Frank and destroy the camp in a fire ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy finds his parents in the debris and mourns before escaping into the mountains from the beginning of the film. He ascends the same peak where his parents celebrated their honeymoon, celebrating the rising sun ("Listening to You"). Cast Ann-Margret as Nora Walker, Tommy's mother who's obsessed with glamour and luxury. Oliver Reed as "Uncle" Frank Hobbs, Nora's brute boyfriend with a (subtle) soft side. Roger Daltrey as Tommy Walker, a naïve and comatosed lad with messianic delusions. Barry Winch as young Tommy and Alison Dowling as young Tommy's singing voice. Elton John as The Pinball Wizard, the cocky pinball champion of the world in 7-foot high boots. Tina Turner as The Acid Queen, an erratic prostitute who deals in prophetic LSD. Eric Clapton as The Preacher, the leader of a Marilyn Monroe-themed cult. Keith Moon as Uncle Ernie, Frank's clownish perverted pimp friend. Paul Nicholas as Cousin Kevin, Tommy's sadomasochist relative with a biker punk aesthetic. Jack Nicholson as The Specialist/Dr A. Quackson, a doctor who helps in curing Tommy and who enchants Nora. Robert Powell as Group Captain Walker, Nora's Royal Air Force pilot late husband. Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon as Themselves as The Who during "Pinball Wizard" Quintaphonic Sound The original release of Tommy used a sound system devised by sound engineer John Mosely called "Quintaphonic Sound". At the time that the film was in production, various "Quadraphonic" (four speaker) sound systems were being marketed to the domestic HiFi market. Some of these were so-called "matrix" systems which combined the four original channels into two which could be recorded on or transmitted by, existing two-channel stereo systems such as LP records or FM radio. John Mosely used one of these systems (QS Regular Matrix from Sansui) to record front left, front right, back left and back right channels on the left and right tracks of a four-track magnetic striped print of the Cinemascope type. A discrete centre channel was also recorded on the centre track of the print. The fourth (surround) track on the striped print was left unused. In addition, John Mosely used dbx noise reduction on the magnetic tracks. Unlike the usual multiple small surround speakers used in cinemas, the Quintaphonic system specified just two rear speakers, but of the same type as those used at the front. Changes from the album Unlike other filmed rock operas (such as that of Pink Floyd's The Wall), the album is never dubbed over the film; the different actors – including Nicholson and Reed, neither of whom was known for his singing ability (Reed's character's songs were cut from Oliver!, and Nicholson's in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever appeared only in the now-lost roadshow version) – perform the songs in character instead of The Who, with the exception of Daltrey as Tommy and where Townshend sings narration in place of recitative. Because of this, all the songs are rerecorded and the song order is shuffled around considerably; this and the addition of several new songs and links creates a more balanced structure of alternating short and long sequences. A large number of songs have new lyrics and instrumentation, and another notable feature is that many of the songs and pieces used on the film soundtrack are alternate versions or mixes from the versions on the soundtrack album. Track Listing (from the soundtrack) 1. "Overture from Tommy" Pete Townshend 5:01 2. "Prologue - 1945" Pete Townshend and John Entwistle 2:55 3. "Captain Walker/It's a Boy" Pete Townshend, Margo Newman and Vicki Brown 2:38 4. "Bernie's Holiday Camp" Oliver Reed, Alison Dowling and Ann-Margret 3:42 5. "1951/What about the Boy?" Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed 2:49 6. "Amazing Journey" Pete Townshend 3:19 7. "Christmas" Ann-Margret, Alison Dowling and Oliver Reed 3:59 8. "Eyesight to the Blind" (Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson) Eric Clapton 3:21 9. "The Acid Queen" Tina Turner 3:47 10. "Do You Think It's Alright? (1)" Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed 0:57 11. "Cousin Kevin" (John Entwistle) Paul Nicholas 3:07 12. "Do You Think It's Alright? (2)" Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed 0:46 13. "Fiddle About" (John Entwistle) Keith Moon 1:40 14. "Do You Think It's Alright? (3)" Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed 0:29 15. "Sparks" Instrumental 3:07 16. "Extra, Extra, Extra" Simon Townshend 0:37 17. "Pinball Wizard" Elton John 5:22 18. "Champagne" Ann-Margret and Roger Daltrey 4:43 19. "There's a Doctor" Oliver Reed and Ann-Margret 0:29 20. "Go to the Mirror" Jack Nicholson, Roger Daltrey and Ann-Margret[2] 3:49 21. "Tommy, Can You Hear Me?" Ann-Margret 0:55 22. "Smash the Mirror!" Ann-Margret 1:22 23. "I'm Free" Roger Daltrey 2:36 24. "Mother and Son" Ann-Margret and Roger Daltrey 2:36 25. "Sensation" Roger Daltrey 2:49 26. "Miracle Cure" Simon Townshend 0:23 27. "Sally Simpson" Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey 5:38 28. "Welcome" Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed 4:15 29. "T.V. Studio" Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed 1:14 30. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon) Keith Moon 1:29 31. "We're Not Gonna Take It" Roger Daltrey with the vocal chorus 4:46 32. "See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You" Roger Daltrey with the vocal chorus 4:19 Version Control There are many versions of both the soundtrack and the movie. I have the 2010 bluray which is still available. Amazon. The Movie In spite of its 1975 origins, the picture quality is great and there is both 5.1 audio and 5.0 audio with DTS-HD. The latter is the original quintophonic – I’m going with that. A lot of the tracks are worse versions that weren’t that good to begin with – Ijust get excited about the songs sung by Ann-Margret and Reed. So, I’m just going to pick out the highlights. "Amazing Journey" This follows "1951/What about the Boy?" on chapter 3. The amusement park romp starts with Townsend vocals in the center channel and woodwind in the rear. The 5.0 is a real surround mix folks. Not completely discrete but bass is in front, keyboards are heavy in the rear. "Eyesight to the Blind" On Chapter 5, we get Eric Clapton as leader of the Marilyn Monroe sect – and Tommy is now played by Roger Daltrey. He’s doing a terrible job of pretending to play, but he still sounds great with lead vocals in center channel and guitar in front. There’s another guitar in back – I guess that’s Pete. "The Acid Queen" On chapter 6 no, I can’t get excited about Tina Turner’s vocals; Daltrey did it better. But the back speakers really light up with guitar bass and drums. Still some keyboards left over for the front. The mix sounds SQish, but still it’s very cool. "Sparks" On chapter 8, Tommy gets his first pinball experience with another great quintasonic soundtrack – all instrumental this time. Lots of drums and guitar in the back. A few pinball sound effects from the movie in front, but they fit right in really. "Pinball Wizard" On Chapter 9 Elton John’s pinball machine has a built-in keyboard. How cool is that. Plus, all four Who band members make an appearance. Seems like the place to put the video clip: The video quality on the bluray is much better. The surround on this track isn’t as good as some of the others, but there’s some nice audience vocals in the rear. " Champagne" Chapter 10 isn’t easy to watch, but there’s a pretty good quintasonic three minutes in there, A-Ms vocals notwithstanding. "Go to the Mirror" on chapter 11 is more of the same, but I can’t recommend it for musical purposes. "I'm Free" But next on chapter 11, this sounds like it could be the original song with a cool quintasonic soundtrack and a video of Daltrey running on the beach. Sally Simpson” On Chapter 13, nice rendition that starts off with Townsend lead vocals in the center, backing vocals from Daltrey in front, piano in surround. Daltrey lead vocals in center second half, and percussion in the rear. The video is weird though. “Sensation” On chapter 14, Mostly Daltrey in the center channel, horns in the rear. This seems to come in a different place than it does on the soundtrack. A few movie sound effects in there that it would be better without. "We're Not Gonna Take It" On chapter 16, this starts of like the normal song with Daltrey singing lead in center. In addition to some strings in the rear there’s some pinball clatter. But when the pinball disciples decide not to take, they take over the chorus in surround. They don’t as good just saying. "See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You" But Daltrey gets the center channel back for “See Me, Feel Me”, with guitar in front, keyboards in the rear. But a non-Who chorus singing in surround take over for the finale before Daltrey comes returns in the center channel. Horns in front, keys in the rear as the credits roll. _______ I have more or less the same opinion of both Tommy and Quadrophenia – they both have enough great music to maybe rival Who’s Next, but they are padded out with enough other stuff to make them long enough for a libretto. This movie is wall-to-wall music, but there’s only about half of it that I really want to listen to. There’s probably not more than half of it that I really want to watch either. But there are parts where it all comes together – “Eyesight to the Blind”, “Pinball Wizard”, “I’m Free” and “Listening to You” are all great. The 5.0 quintophonic soundtrack may be a little muddy compared to the more front loaded 5.1, but it definitely has much better surround. It’s not in the same category as those few concert videos with discrete mixing in the rear, but it’s still much better than average. I’d probably rip some or all of it were it not for the fact that I already have a 5.1 of the studio album. But if you want a rock movie with quintophonic sound, this is your one and only chance. Music – 2.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
Still Growing Up: Live Concert Performance by Peter Gabriel Released Nov. 22, 2005 Recorded July 2004 Genre Rock Length 206 mins Label Geffen (US & Canada) Virgin Video Director Hamish Hamilton Producer Ian Stewart Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped is a DVD film by Hamish Hamilton and Peter Gabriel. It features several live performances from Gabriel's 2004 Still Growing Up tour. The film aims to show Gabriel in a more intimate setting, discarding many of the stage antics featured in Growing Up Live. Personnel Peter Gabriel – vocals, keyboards Richard Evans – guitar, mandolin, whistle, vocals Melanie Gabriel – vocals Tony Levin – bass guitar, vocals Ged Lynch – drums David Rhodes – guitar, vocals Rachel Z – keyboards, vocals Track Listing 1. "The Feeling Begins" – 5:00 2. "Red Rain" – 6:14 3. "Secret World" – 9:20 4. "White Ashes" – 4:44 5. "Games Without Frontiers" – 6:06 6. "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" – 6:30 7. "The Tower That Ate People" – 5:11 8. "San Jacinto" – 8:27 9. "Digging in the Dirt" – 7:40 10. "Solsbury Hill" – 4:45 11. "Sledgehammer" – 5:12 12. "Come Talk To Me" – 9:40 13. "Biko" – 8:59 Version Control This was originally released in 2005 on DVD. But the reason I have it is because it is also included as bonus material with the Growing Up Live bluray. While the “Unwrapped” documentary is included on the bluray, Still Growing Up: Live is on a separate DVD (it’s not bluray). The Concert Good but not great DVD-quality video and DTS 5.1 is the audio option I will be going with. "The Feeling Begins" From Passion soundtrack. All preprogrammed except for Levon Minassian playing the doudouk. This must be from the Festival de Nîmes on July 23, 2004 because that the only place this was played. "Red Rain” From So. This is from a performance is in Nice, France on July 22, 2004. It seems to be a normal stage without all the overhead apparatus used for Growing Up Live. PG is on a keyboard front left, the two guitar players in the middle, and Levin over on the right. In back it’s Melanie, Lynch and Rachel Z. PG’s lead vocals are in front, and does seem like there’s some guitar keyboards in the rear – I would call it a mix, not just reverb. "Secret World" From Us. Yep, this is a different place. I think it’s from the Paleo Festival in Switzerland the previous night – July 21st. PG introduces the song in French. The two guitar players are on the right this time, Levin is next to PG. Evans is playing the whistles at the start – and it’s comes mostly in the rear. Keyboards and backing vocals from Melanie in the rear too. Rhodes guitar solo gets moved around from far left to far right. Very nice surround track. "White Ashes" From OVO. Still at Paleo, another intro in French. Synth slides around all four speakers, Peter in center, backing vocals in the rear again, bass and drums in front, some extra percussion in rear. "Games Without Frontiers" From PG III. Different place again with a circular stage and it looks like the big balloon from the Growing Up tour is out there. Both of the Gabriels are riding Segways. Drums are mixed on the left, keyboards on the right, and backing vocals from Melanie, Rachel in the rear. Crowd vocals come in front. The Segways steal this show: "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" 2003 single. Same venue as before, drums and backing vocals in the rear. But, the Gabriels have given up the Segways, Melanie is working in front. "The Tower That Ate People" From OVO. Back to the Paleo. Most of the camera shot are close up so you don’t get to see the whole stage very much. Percussion, backing vocals and keyboards and guitar all make an appearance in the rear speakers. "San Jacinto" From Security. Still Paleo, guitar and backing vocals in rear, synth in surround. "Digging in the Dirt" From Us. PG starts out on keyboards and those are in the rears. There is a circular ramp in front of the stage that PG takes a trip around – it’s not a circular stage though because there is crowd in the middle. Some guitar after that. Most of the backing vocals are in front, but Melanie is in the back at the end. Lots of split screen shots. "Solsbury Hill" From s/t debut. PG on keyboards. Mostly crowd noise and vocals in the rear, but there are left and right guitars spilling into the rear a bit. PG leads the whole front row in a tour around the circle. "Sledgehammer" From So. Starts off with a little percussion and guitar in front and excellent crowd vocals in the rear. Then the song takes off – PG has his his lightbulb suit on. Prerecorded horns, backing vocals, crowd vocals in the rear. Rachel comes up front with a portable keyboard, PG takes another trip to the top of the circle. "Come Talk To Me" From Us. Back on the circular stage. Evans playing the whistle again, but this time it’s in front. Percussion in the rear, Melanie vocals on the left. Prerecorded African vocals in rear. Set finale "Biko" From PG III. Back to the Paleo for the encore. Lynch drums while PG delivers another French intro. Just reverb and crowd vocals in the rear. Evans whistle in front. Finishes with drum solo and crowd vocals in the rear. Even though this tour occurred soon after the release of Up, it has nothing from that album. Besides having two songs from OVO and a recent single, the set list is dominated by earlier material. There is little overlap with Growing Up Live, so it is a nice companion disc. However, the video quality and the show itself are nowhere near as good as either Secret World Live or Growing Up Live. The lighting is a little on the dark side plus the camera shots are either very close up or very far away which makes it hard to tell what’s going on much of the time. Not much of a stage show, but the Segways were cool. However, the surround mix for this concert is the best of the bunch. Most of the tracks have backing vocals and often some other instrument mixed to the rears. The ones that don’t have very good crowd vocals. The end story is that the audio outshines the video; I think I’ll rip the multichannel audio. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 2 Surround – 3
Part of my adolescence.. Saw it a few times when released, then ran off to the Navy and never looked back.. Sure some of it's cheesey, but the fact that they did things out of the norm were fantastic. How do i not think of Ann Margaret ?
Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind Concert Performance by King Crimson Released 2 September 2016 Recorded September–December 2015 Venues UK, Canada, and Japan Genre Progressive rock, art rock Length 161:21 Label DGM Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind is a box set of live performances by King Crimson, released on 2 September 2016. It is the first full-length release by the seven member incarnation of the group that formed in 2013. The box set was recorded during King Crimson's 2015 tours of Japan, Canada and France, mostly in Takamatsu, Japan. The material performed is mostly from the 1969–1974 period, and most had not been performed live since the 1970s, although the songs were rearranged to suit the current line-up. Also included are some pieces from 1995 and onward, alongside new material. The title is derived from a song of the same name that the band has been playing in concert. Personnel Pat Mastelotto – drums, electronic drums, percussion Bill Rieflin – drums, electronic drum, percussion, sampled Mellotron, synthesizer Gavin Harrison – drums, electronic drums, percussion, audio pre-production Mel Collins – saxophones, flutes Tony Levin – bass, extended-range bass, funk fingers, electric upright bass, Chapman Stick, backing vocals Jakko Jakszyk – guitar, voice, flute, audio pre-production Robert Fripp – guitar, guitar synth, keyboards, Soundscapes, production, mixing, additional footage Track Listing 1. "Threshold Soundscape" 2. "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Part One" 3. "Pictures of a City" 4. "Peace" 5. "Radical Action (to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind)" 6. "Meltdown" 7. "Radical Action II" 8. "Level Five" 9. "Epitaph" 10. "The Hell Hounds of Krim" 11. "The ConstruKction of Light" (Part I only) 12. "A Scarcity of Miracles" 13. "Red" 14. "Backstage Adventures of the Crimson Kind" 15. "VROOOM" 16. "Banshee Legs Bell Hassle" 17. "Easy Money" 18. "Interlude" 19. "The Letters" 20. "Sailor's Tale" 21. "The Light of Day" 22. "The Talking Drum" 23. "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Part Two" 24. "Starless" 25. "Devil Dogs of Tessellation Row" 26. "The Court of the Crimson King" 27. "21st Century Schizoid Man" Version Control The set was released in two editions: a 4-disc standard edition featuring the complete concert in one Blu-ray disc and three CDs (individually themed "virtual studio albums" with no audible audience); and a 6-disc deluxe limited edition, featuring the same as the standard edition plus two DVDs with the complete concert and an expanded booklet. The Blu-ray disc has a "picture off" mode which allows listening to the music without the video. I accidentally preordered this twice and ended up with both the versions. I gave the DVD edition to my brother. Still available new. Amazon. The Concert Crystal clear video quality, the audio choices are LPCM stereo, DTS-HD 5.1, and LPCM 5.1. I’ll go with the latter. "Threshold Soundscape" This starts off playing in surround with an empty stage, the band is shown getting ready off-stage in a sub-frame in the upper left-hand corner, and then they go out on the stage. The three drummers are in front: Mastoletto, Rieflin, and Harrison. In back it’s Collins, Levin, Jaksyck, and Fripp. Collins plays a little flute to with the soundscape. "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Part One" From Larks' Tongues in Aspic. After a little tuning, Mastoletto and Harrison start it off with harmonic percussion – and they are mixed far left and right - more or less equally distributed front and back. Rieflin is doing something too – I think it’s the higher pitched synthetic chimes in front. Then Mastoletto switches to a shaker, The Fripp guitar comes in right front soon joined by Jaksyck left front, then Levin on Stick in front, then Collins on tenor sax far left spilling into the rear. This seems another stage envelope scheme like Meltdown: Live in Mexico City, except there middle drummer Stracey was in the rear; here I think Rieflin is in front. Collins with flute solo near the end. Levin switches to upright bass and plays with bow. Lots of double-imaging with one or more band members superimposed over a shot of the entire band. "Pictures of a City" From In the Wake of Poseidon. Collins with a bass sax, Levin with plain old electric bass. We get Jaksyck vocals for the first time in front – I don’t think the center channel is being used at all. Using split Levin with a five string electric bass, Collins with bass sax. Jaksyck vocals in front – center channel isn’t used. A split screen is used instead of superimposition to show Fripp fretwork – I like that much better. Collins takes up tenor sax near the end, but returns to the bass sax. "Peace" From In the Wake of Poseidon. Starts out with soundscape in surround and Jaksyck vocals in front. Jaksyck guitar in front replaces soundscape. "Radical Action (to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind)" New song. Fripp starts it of with guitar in front, then the drummers join in, then Levin. When Jaksyck guitar starts in on left, Fripp goes to right. Collins flute far left. Video editors using superimposition again. "Meltdown" New song. Left and right guitar plus the drummers, then Jaksyck vocals and Levin bass in front. Collins play several different saxes, and there’s some mellotron which I think is coming from Rieflin - he’s got a keyboard and not quite so many drums as the other two guys. More superimposition. "Radical Action II" New song. Starts out with the three drummers, then two guitars and bass. Collin plays a little bass sax. "Level Five" From The Power to Believe. Well here’s one from the Belew era, but it’s an instrumental. I don’t think Jaksyck can cover Belew. Two guitars and Mastoletto to start, then the other two drummers and Levin with Stick join in, Collins with baritone sax I think. Both split screen and superimposition used. Rieflin switches to synth to generate fuzzy noise for a bit, Collins switches to tenor sax for a solo. "Epitaph" From In the Court of the Crimson King. Left and right guitar plus mellotron in surround from Rieflin. Jaksyck vocals in front, light drumming from Mastoletto, Levin back on the electric bass. Collins comes in with a soprano sax and Harrison starts drumming too. "The Hell Hounds of Krim" New song / drum solo. Well, it’s a drum trio. Harrison starts it off. The ConstruKction of Light" (Part I only) From The ConstruKction of Light. The drummers and Levin on Stick start it off with split screen. Then left and right guitars join in while the drums go silent then return. Collins eventually joins with a flute, and comes in a second time on tenor sax. Rieflin takes a break from the drums to play keyboards. Collins back on flute at the end. "A Scarcity of Miracles" From Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins A Scarcity of Miracles. Starts out with soundscape from Fripp in guitar and Rieflin on mellotron. Collins joins on soprano sax. Then Levin, Mastoletto and Harrison join in, little guitar from Jakszyk too. Then vocals from Jakszyk. Fripp switches to mellotron, backing vocals from Levin. "Red" From Red. Everyone but Collins at the start, Rieflin drumming. Collins joins first with soprano sax, then flute, then back to sax. "VROOOM" From Thrak. Collins with bass sax, Levin with upright bass playing by hand. Left and right guitars plus three drummers. Collins switches to flute then back to sax. "Banshee Legs Bell Hassle" New song / drum solo. Both Mastoletto and Rieflin have a circular drum synth that is able to simulate harmonic percussion. "Easy Money" From Larks' Tongues in Aspic. Whole band excepting Collins at the outset, with Jakszyk vocals and Rieflin at the keyboard – mellotron in surround, more in the back I think. Levin playing 5-string bass. Collins has a baritone sax that he blows into occasionally. "Interlude" New song. Levin back on upright bass, Rieflin on mellotron, Collins flute, Jakszyk also with flute, so we’ve got left and right flutes. Levin picks up bow. "The Letters" From Islands. Jakszyk starts out with guitar and vocals, Rieflin mellotron, Fripp guitar. Levin still with upright, back to plucking, Collins bass sax. Mastolleto and Harrison both drum a little, Rielfin picks up sticks too. Collins sax solo, before switching to flute. Jakszyk ends it acapella. "Sailor's Tale" From Islands. Collins with a tenor sax, Levin with regular bass, three drummers, two guitars. Collins leading, then it slows down to bass, two guitars, Mastoletto, and Rieflin switches to mellotron heavy in the back again, then Harrison and Collins return too. Finishes with just the mellotron. "The Light of Day" From Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins A Scarcity of Miracles. Starts with Fripp guitar and Rieflin mellotron, then Jakszyk vocals, Collins soprano sax, backing vocals from Levin, some drumming from Harrison, plus a little bass from Levin. "The Talking Drum" From Larks' Tongues in Aspic. Mastoletto with a shaker, Harrison playing with his hands, Fripp and Rieflin both on mellotron. Mastoletto all plays his drum synth with his hands, then Levin starts in with the heavy bass line, then Jakszyk guitar and Collins tenor sax join in as Mastolletto and Harrison pick up their sticks. "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Part Two" From Larks' Tongues in Aspic. Starts out with Fripp guitar and preprogrammed sound effects. Then everyone else except Collins – three drummers. Collins gets tenor sax solo. "Starless" From Red. Reiflin mellotron in surround and Mastoletto on left start it off, then Levin bass, Fripp guitar across the front. Then Jakszyk vocals and Collins soprano sax. Then stops and restarts with Levin bass, Fripp guitar in front and Mastoletto exotic percussion, then the other two drummers join. Jakszyk joins with guitar on left as Fripp goes to right, Mastoletto picks up sticks too, and Collins back with more soprano sax. Rieflin switches to mellotron in surround. End of set. "Devil Dogs of Tessellation Row" New song / drum solo. Synchronized drumming. "The Court of the Crimson King" From In the Court of the Crimson King. Rieflin with the mellotron, Levin covers Lake bass, Jakszyk covers Lake vocals, Collins with flute, left and right guitars and drums. "21st Century Schizoid Man" From In the Court of the Crimson King. They start in unison – Collins with alto sax, three drummers. Harrison drum solo mixed in front, and a really tight finale. I couldn't find a clip for this concert. _________ This concert is very similar to Meltdown: Live in Mexico City. They have almost the same lineup and the set lists have considerable overlap. I have to give the nod to the later one largely because the surround is better. The frequent use of superimposed images was a little annoying, but as with Meltdown there is the option to play with the video off. The 5.1 mix here is very nice and definitely better than average, but it just doesn’t have as much going on in the rear speakers. But this one has more new material, a couple of songs from A Scarcity of Miracles, and a few songs from the second Belew era, albeit without any vocals. So, a serious Crimson fan needs them both. Music – 3.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
I suggested the below titles on the "Surrounded on Sundays" as I forgot about this one devoted to concert videos. My apologies as this is a really good thread in it's own right. Eric Clapton Crossroads shows. Always fun to watch from start to finish, if you have the time. Each rendition features great guests. Looking forward to picking up the 2019 show. Black Sabbath's The End. Excellent representation of the later Ozzy fronted Sabbath. Heaven and Hell live at Radio City. Excellent representation of the Dio fronted Sabbath. Very underrated lineup. Scorpions unplugged. Great take on their music and very good audio and video, Rolling Stones releases from the last several years. My personal favorite is the Stripped collection. Also, I'd like to add that, in my opinion, the Eagles Hell Freezes Over reunion show from 1994 is way better than the most recent Live from the Forum show. There's just something about Vince Gill singing New Kid in Town that rubs me the wrong way. Video and audio from both shows are outstanding as that's what we've come to expect from the Eagles camp. But, if you want to see the Eagles in as close to their original lineup as you can, and catch them still at the top of their game the Hell Freeze Over would be the better choice. It's also a pretty good deal at $20 from Amazon. PS, would love to see a remastered video of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne from their show on Don Kirchner's Rock Concert.
I ordered The End. However, I lost interest in Black Sabbath after about 8 albums, so I'm less keen on the other one. I can imagine getting Hell Freezes over at some point though. If you would like to post a review of any of those on here, have at it - I'll put them in the index.
Some Girls: Live in Texas '78 Live album by The Rolling Stones Released 18 November 2011 Recorded 18 July 1978 Venue Will Rogers Auditorium, Fort Worth, Texas, United States Genre Rock Length DVD: 85:00 Bonus features: 41:00 CD: 79:58 Language English Label Polydor Eagle Rock Entertainment Some Girls: Live in Texas '78 is a live concert film by The Rolling Stones released in 2011. This live performance was recorded and filmed in 16 mm during one show at the Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas on 18 July 1978, during their US Tour 1978 in support of their album Some Girls. The concert film was released on DVD/Blu-ray Disc, Combo (DVD & CD set) and (Blu-ray Disc & CD set) on 18 November 2011.[1] Originally the CD was exclusive to the combo sets, but in June 2017, the CD was made available separately for the first time. Mick Jagger – lead vocals, guitar, electric piano Keith Richards – guitars, backing and lead vocals Ronnie Wood – guitars, backing vocals, pedal steel guitar Bill Wyman – bass guitar Charlie Watts – drums Additional personnel Ian Stewart – piano Ian McLagan – organ, electric and acoustic pianos, backing vocals Doug Kershaw – violin on "Far Away Eyes" Original 1978 production crew Jerry Carraway Live sound recording by BJ Schiller 24 track recording by Michael Garvey Produced by Jack Calmes Directed by Lynn Lenau Calmes Lead cameraman: Phillip Thomas Camera operator: Jerry Calloway Camera operator: Richard Kooris Camera operator: Philip Pheiffer Film loader: Bob Hall Assistant camera: Michael McClary Assistant camera: Wes Dempster 2011 production Audio mix by Bob Clearmountain Director of film production Phil Davey "Let It Rock" (Chuck Berry) "All Down the Line" "Honky Tonk Women" "Star Star" "When the Whip Comes Down" "Beast of Burden" "Miss You" "Just My Imagination" (Whitfield/Strong) "Shattered" "Respectable" "Far Away Eyes" "Love in Vain" (Robert Johnson) "Tumbling Dice" "Happy" "Sweet Little Sixteen" (Chuck Berry) "Brown Sugar" "Jumpin' Jack Flash" ---------------------------------------------------------- So lets have a look at this bluray and see what it has. Nobody needs any introduction to the Rolling Stones, I wouldn't think, so no BS, lets just get into it. Amazon - $12.30 https://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Stones-Girls-Texas-Blu-ray/dp/B005OGYH9U Walmart (3 copies left) $9.99 https://www.walmart.com/ip/ROLLING-STONES-SOME-GIRLS-LIVE-IN-TEXAS-78-BLU-RAY-Blu-ray/182481471 Audio mix Bob Clearmountain Mastering Mazden Murad We open with two smallish boxes with fans going to the show. This is a very quick atmosphere setting type thing, and doesn't overstay its welcome. Then we pretty much bowl straight into it. The video is a little grainy at times, but it is certainly solid, and doesn't bother me at all. The audio mix seems pretty decent to me. We have drums, bass and Mick up front. Keith is on the right side and Ron is on the left side. Let it rock and All down the line come over very well. Honky Tonk women is excellent as always. Star star comes in really well too. The band is the Stones... it is ever so slightly sloppy, but that is what this is supposed to be. Don't misread that, the playing is good, and the sound is good, but this is what the Stones have always done. Mick songs with Keith here and there, and with Ronnie here and there. It is kind of funny seeing Charlie looking so young and clean cut, and his playing is excellent. When the whip comes down rolls on into town. Mick is wielding a guitar here, and that always seems odd to me. You can hear his guitar too. I think the video is put together pretty well actually. We don't get the modern rapid fire edits, we get some nice length stage shots of the guys rocking out. Ronnie lays down a really nice lead here too. Bill's bass has a good presence, and has a little sub assist I believe. Mick probably does get a little more screen time, but that is common for the singer. I think we do get a good coverage of the show though, and it's solid. Beast of burdon is suitably smooth, in a Stones way. Mick is singing pretty well too... Ronnie lays down another nice lead. We get one of those very Stones scenarios where in the play out Ron and Keith are both doing their own little dual lead thing, that weaves another type of rhythm guitar altogether. This is a really good show.... for some reason, in my head I had thought it was a lesser performance, but that just isn't the case. Miss you rolls around. We catch a glimpse of one of the keyboard players in the back to the left. The keys are up front. I think the mix is really very good to my ears. It comes over as balanced and fully formed. The guys run a pretty cool harmony run on the guitars during the bridge. With Mick getting a little more active we get a pan left and both keyboard players are together on the left. There are some really nice rock and roll jams on here. Just my imagination and Shattered both come across very well also. Again we get that live jam Stones thing that they do so well. Shattered has never really been a favourite, but it comes over well. Respectable has always been a favourite and we roll in hard and fast, after Mick tells the audience the the band are a little low on energy from shagging all night. Mick jumps on the piano for Far Away Eyes. Then he move over to the electric piano. Ronnie is on the pedal steel. Keith is doing some pretty good bvox. On the whole this is good, but a little ragged. Love in vain is good, but it's hard to beat the Ladies and Gentlemen version of this, for video. Ronnie rolls on some slide on a danelectro? Tumblin' Dice has Mick finally taking his jacket off... he has this brace and hand sling thing on his right arm.... anyone know what that's all about? Happy is one of my favourites, and we get a nice lively version. Keith gives us a solid vocal, but Mick takes most of the choruses. Sweet little sixteen is a suitable cover of Chuck Berry, who seems like the logical root of the Stones. Brown Sugar and Jumpin Jack Flash take us out with a bang. Mick gets very animated for these two tracks ... On the bonus side of things, we get an interview with Mick from 2011, Mick and Dan Aykroyd doing Tomorrow on SNL, and the Stones doing Beast of burdon, Respectable and Shattered... and we finish up with ABC 20/20 interviews with the band. At the end of the day this is a solid show, and a very good bluray. I reckon most Stones and raw rock and roll fans will really enjoy this. The video is very acceptable, and I think the audio comes over well. The keyboards don't get too much volume in the mix, but they are there when they need to be. I think the surround isn't amazing, but it works very well, and it is worth the effort. The guitars are quite bright and aggressive. All in all a good purchase, and I'm happy with it.. It looks like perhaps this one is starting to run down in stock numbers, so if it interests you, it may pay to move more quickly than slowly.
Great review as always Mark! This one of my favorite live Stones releases to watch. I love this era of the band and this show captures this perfectly. The bonuses are all worthy additions too.
