Thick as a Brick – Live in Iceland Live Performance by Ian Anderson Released 25 August 2014 Recorded 22 June 2012 Genre Progressive rock Label Eagle Records Thick as a Brick – Live in Iceland is a live album and Blu-ray/DVD by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson. The live concert was recorded in Harpa concert hall, Reykjavík, Iceland on 22 June 2012. Jethro Tull's famous concept album Thick As A Brick was originally released in 1972 and featured one continuous track spread across two sides of an LP telling the story of a young boy called Gerald Bostock. 40 years later in 2012, Jethro Tull s founder and leader Ian Anderson created Thick As A Brick 2 Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock . Following this release Ian Anderson took both albums on the road to perform the complete story of Gerald Bostock and this concert from the tour was filmed in Iceland. The show combines music, video screens and mime to bring Gerald s tale to life as never before and create the definitive presentation of Thick As A Brick. Personnel Ian Anderson – flute, Steel-string guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals Scott Hammond – drums, percussion David Goodier – bass guitar, glockenspiel John O'Hara – keyboards, accordion Florian Opahle – electric guitar Ryan O'Donnell – singing, dance and mime Anna Phoebe – violin Track Listing No. Title Length 1 Thick As A Brick 51:48 2 From A Pebble Thrown 2:56 3 Pebbles Instrumental 3:46 4 Might Have Beens 0:54 5 Upper Sixth Loan Shark 1:21 6 Banker Bets, Banker Wins 4:33 7 Swing It Far 3:33 8 Adrift And Dumfounded 4:25 9 Old School Song 3:24 10 Wootton Bassett Town 3:43 11 Power And Spirit 2:00 12 Give Till It Hurts 1:13 13 Cosy Corner 1:24 14 Shunt And Shuffle 2:13 15 A Change Of Horses 8:02 16 Confessional 3:10 17 Kismet In Suburbia 4:17 18 What-Ifs, Maybes And Might-Have-Beens 5:30 Version Control Besides being released on CD, the concert video is available on either bluray or DVD. I have the bluray. Amazon. Lists the a new DVD for $12 and a used bluray for less than that but it will probably be about the same with shipping. The Concert For some reason this was shot in 1080p, which makes it bluray video quality, but just barely. However, the 5.1 mix is DTS-HD; that makes that the better reason to get the bluray instead of the DVD. “Thick As A Brick” So the first album is all one track. Starts with a video on chapter 1, with the band members in trench coats acting as if they are setting up the stage. Then an unseen Gerald is interviewed by his psychotherapist – Dr. Maximilian Quad, who is played by Anderson. Then we get into it on Chapter 2. O’Hara on keyboards is on the left, Hammonds on drums is on the right. Everyone else is in the center, not staying in any particular position. The surround mix is very nice. It’s semi-ambient, but lead vocals from both Anderson and O’Donnell are isolated in the center. Also, keyboards are sometimes isolated in the rears. O’Donnell actualy does the majority of the singing. Anderson plays acoustic guitar at the outset,but plays flute more than anything else. O’Donell stands off to the side when not singing. Phoebe gets a prerecorded violin stint – both audio and on-screen video. Even though it’s one long track, the performance of the first album features a prostate exam skit at the end of part 1. No, really. I guess he really wants to take care of his audience mainly comprised of elderly males. Hammond gets a long drum solo at the beginning of part 2 (of TAAB 1). The back to normal, with some backing vocals from Goodier The intermission video is also part of the very long chapter 2. It features a tour of the St. Cleve grounds given by Colonel Archibald Parritt, played by Anderson of course. “From A Pebble Thrown” TAAB 2 starts off just like TAAB 1, and we’ve finally gotten to chapter 3. We’ve got individual tracks now. Anderson plays guitar and sings lead., O’Donnell just backing. “Pebbles Instrumental” Anderson switches to flute and O’Donnell sings just a bit. “Might Have Beens” Anderson reciting poetry “Upper Sixth Loan Shark” Goodier starts off playing glockenspiel, Anderson plays acoustic guitar and takes turns singing with O’Hara. “Banker Bets, Banker Wins” A very Tullish track. Anderson still on acoustic guitar, O'Donnell plays the St. Cleve banker. Opahle finally gets a guitar solo. Backing vocals also from O’Hara. The clip definitely goes here: Discrete guitar in the rear at the end. The surround mix is still outstanding. “Swing It Far” O'Hara playing piano, O'Donnell and Anderson share lead vocals. Keys in the rear at the end. “Adrift And Dumfounded” Anderson on acoustic guitar and singing lead. O'Donnell goes off stage. Electric guitar in rear, then another nice Opahle solo in front, and Anderson takes a turn on flute. “Old School Song” More of the same, with keys in the rear. Backing vocals from O’Hara. Ends with flute solo. “Wootton Bassett Town” Starts with guitar solo. Mellotron in rear. Anderson singing mostly, but a little flute too. “Power And Spirit” Starts with piano solo, Goodier with more glockenspiel. “Give Till It Hurts” O'Donnell returns as a priest and helps out with the dialogue. Anderson with acoustic guitar. “Cosy Corner” / “Shunt And Shuffle” Pace picks up, Anderson plays flute. “A Change Of Horses” This is the epic entry of TAAB 2. Starts off with Anderson on flute and O’Hara on accordian. Another guitar solo for Opahle and I think the defrocked O'Donnell has a keyboard. “Confessional” O'Donnell sings lead, Anderson narrates. “Kismet In Suburbia” Anderson with guitar, shares lead with O’Donnell. Goodier starts on glockenspiel before switching to bass. Electric guitar in rear. “What-Ifs, Maybes And Might-Have-Beens” Starts with piano on left and Anderson narration. Then additional keyboards on the right spilling in to rears. O’Donnel sings, a last guitar solo on the right, TAAB 1 ending, band member introductions after conclusion _______ This was a pleasant surprise. While TAAB is a classic, I though the sequel was just OK. But they came off as more or less equal in this presentation. That’s partly because the performance of the first album was a little subpar, but the second album sounded better. The fact that TAAB 2 had the original cast probably has something to do with that. Since it was labeled as “SD definition” video I was expecting less than what I got, which is decent bluray video. I’ve much worse on blurays without the disclaimer. The surround was also surprisingly good; definitely good enough for full marks. The major downer was the silly prostate exam skit in the middle of TAAB 1. The stage show wasn’t especially compelling anyway, but that killed off any chance of getting full marks. Pretty essential for any Tull fan, especially at the bargain price. Music – 2.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 Surround – 3
Meat Loaf With The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Label: Warner Music Vision – 5050467-5070-2-9 Format: 2 × DVD, DVD-Video, PAL Country: Europe Released: 2004 Genre: Rock, Pop Style: Power Pop, Pop Rock, Arena Rock Backing Vocals – Carolyn (CC) Coletti-Jablonski Bass, Backing Vocals – Kasim Sulton Drums – John Miceli Guitar – Paul Crook Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Randy Flowers Keyboards, Piano – Mark Alexander Mixed By – Peter Mokran Orchestrated By, Conductor [The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra] – Keith Levenson Vocals – Patti Russo 1-1 Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back) Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-2 Mercury Blues Written-By – Robert L.Geddins*, K.c. Douglas 1-3 Dead Ringer For Love Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-4 Testify Written-By – K.Griffin* 1-5 All Revved Up With No Place To Go Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-6 You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Nights) Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-7 I Couldn't Have Said It Better Written-By – J.Michael*, N.Sixx* 1-8 Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-9 Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire) Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-10 For Crying Out Loud Written-By – J.Steinmann* 1-11 Paradise By The Dashboard Light Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-12 I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) Written-By – J.Steinman* 1-13 Bat Out Of Hell Written-By – J.Steinman* 2-1 Featurette 2-2 Q & A With Meat Loaf 2-3 Pre-Show Ritual 2-4 Photo Gallery --------------------------------- Meatloaf is generally met with a wide variety of responses, everything from "love the guy" to .... well add your own insults ... I have always considered Bat Out Of Hell to be a fantastic album .... personally I don't care that it is ridiculously over the top, that's actually one of the things I love about it.... I wouldn't want that for every album I have, but in my listening world there is always room for something like Bat Out Of Hell. Dead Ringer was also a good album, and The Meat did a few good things here and there through the years. His personality was larger than life, so he was either going to amuse you, or piss you off I guess.... In Australia we just thought he was funny as hell, and didn't take him altogether too seriously, which I think is where some folks get lost with someone like Meatloaf. Steinman and Meatloaf crossed paths around 1973 doing a play called More Than You Deserve, from which the song from the Meatloaf album Dead Ringer comes. The year prior Bette Midler had recorded a demo of Heaven Can Wait, which is a bit of a collectors item now. Steinman seems to have been somewhat wandering around doing bits and pieces in all sorts of plays, in terms of writing music and such, and had some moderate success. Steinman and Meatloaf were doing a workshop for a work in progress called Neverland, loosely based on Peter Pan. They were both touring with National Lampoon, and preparing for the show, and they felt that three songs in particular stood out to them, "Bat Out of Hell", "Heaven Can Wait" and "The Formation of the Pack", which was retitled "All Revved Up With No Place to Go". They decided to try and put together seven songs and make a rock album, and they shopped the idea around ..... they had no takers .... It depends on whose story you believe, but to the best of my understanding Todd Rundgren took the guys under his wing and essentially let them make the album as a favour... He had a studio and the time I guess and so they went to Todd's studio and put these tracks down I get the impression that Steinman was a little like an excitable schoolboy, and Rundgren when talking about it all seems to give the impression that he thought it was all a little too much.... But at the end of the day the formula of Todd's production and Steinman's ideas and Meatloaf's singing produced one of the biggest albums of all time...... and that still irritates some people lol Steinman and Meatloaf had troubles and battles and all the usual stuff that goes along with incredible success, or so it seems, but in the nineties it seems they settled their differences and started working together again... I am no expert in any of this, I'm using a fair bit of speculation ..... Anyway they made some more albums together and they did well, never as well as that stunning debut, but that is hardly surprising. Anyway, in 2003 Meatloaf collapsed during his Couldn't Have Said It Better tour and was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, and his insurers would a=only allow him to perform for and hour and forty five minutes.... This tour made it to Australia and it was organised for the Meatloaf and his Neverland Express to play a concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and it was filmed, and here we are .... You can pick this up for about $9 on discogs Meat Loaf With The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – Bat Out Of Hell Live (2004, DVD) about $30 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Meat-Loaf-Melbourne-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B0002SPQ18 I have only watched it once, and the wife came in halfway through and when I said what I was watching, she pulled one of those faces ... you know the ones, but she ended up sitting down and watching the rest of it with me, and she said she was amazed, but she actually really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it, but I don't take music as seriously as some may think, I just really enjoy it Anyway, lets see what this is like while I am thinking about it ..... We have DD 2.o DD 5.1 and dts 5.1 The show opens with Meatloaf standing in front of the stage curtain doing what Meatloaf does. He teases the crowd a little, and a beat starts behind the curtain. Meatloaf hits a floor tom with the stick he's holding, the curtain drops and a percussion section kicks in full steam. The guitarist launches into the song Life Is A Lemon and I Want My Money Back.... I had never thought much about this song, but it is actually pretty good. The two female back up singers dressed in red and white play the Angel on one side and Devil on the other, in a kind of show style way, asking him questions.... It's very effective. Meatloaf actually sounds very good. The girls are excellent. The band is tight as a drum. Meatloaf always presents in a kind of acting role, and I reckon it's effective.... I guess it's a love it or hate it deal in that regard. We launch into a very cool uptempo version of Mercury Blues. One thing, Meatloaf is chewing gum, when I was deciding whether to get this or not, some reviewer went on and on about how much they hated that.... I don't care, but if you're gum-ophobic, be warned lol. Solid band. Two good rhythm and lead guitarists. Two excellent female back up singers. The drummer is very solid, and the bass player is right with him. The keyboard player is killing it to. The video quality is excellent dvd quality. I don't think anyone would complain. The guitarists play off each other, run out an excellent harmony part ...they are different style rock guitarists... a meat and potatoes solid straight rock kind of guy, and a more modern flash whizz kid. The keyboard player has a bit of a romp, and then the drummer smashes out a nice solo section.... nothing too long or distracting just some solid playing. Dead Ringer for Love. The girls don't down at a cafe table type thing. One walks off and Meatloaf starts eyeing off Patti Russo, who looks suitably bored. These two have been working together so long, they just work well together. So meatloaf starts singing the song to her. Russo sings her lines back. We have the horn section from the orchestra on this one. This is lighthearted theater with some excellent rock music played by a very good band.... everyone looks like they're having fun. Testify is introduced with some slide guitar, and we kick into it. Meatloaf introduces the Australian Boys Choir. This is pretty good song, and it breaks into a little gospel section about halfway through. We move into a grinding coda with Meat and Russo doing a bit of back and forth vocals. We get a musical interlude with female dancers as the singers ho change. All Revved Up And No Place To Go starts playing. Meatloaf makes a thing about the attractive skimpy dancers, but not too much of a thing and launches in to the song. We get a coda so the dancers can do their thing, and Meatloaf puts on the shy guy routine, Russo comes down with a disapproving look on her face.. The taped intro to Hot Summer Night plays... the intro plays... theater comes in again and Meat tries to explain that the dancing girls weren't really there, and Russo walks off. The orchestra comes in on here. The 5.1 hasn't had too much going on up to this point, but with the orchestra we have a nice full sound. Meat sings it a little differently, but not badly, a little over emotively. Meatloaf has some fun with the audience during the obvious audience singalongs section.... Tells the Melbourne folk they sound like Sydney folk.... he knows these people. He gives them another chance. He walks off, the band and orchestra walk off.... he gets the crowd revved up, and everyone comes back on stage. Over the top, but pretty good showmanship Couldn't Have Said It Better Some neat surround going on in this one. Meatloaf and Russo sound really good together. Don't really know the song, but they did a great job of it. Really nice acoustic playing from the guitarist on the left. The the more flash lead guy plays a nice lead. This is another musical interlude, and another good one, and it slides into Two out of three ain't bad. Meat possibly over emotes this at the start, but it's not bad and it gets back on track quickly enough. Overall a solid live version. Out Of The Frying Pan Another I'm not really familiar with. With the orchestra Meatloaf decides to do For Crying Out Loud, which he hadn't done live since 1978... tells the crowd he's nervous, and I believe him on this one. Aside from occasionally a little too much vibrato, he does a good job. He is obviously into it. There are times during this track it's 1978 again. Paradise By The Dashboard Light This wasn't a single I dont think, but this seems to be the song that most folks I know reference when they talk about this album. They have lots of fun with this.... We get a big band intro. I'd do anything for love I was never a big fan of this, but it comes across well. Bat Out Of Hell This is my song. I still love this track. It's a very good version, it's what I'll posy=t if it is up on youtube, so that's all we need lol There are certainly some things about this that some folks may not like, but at the end of the day Meatloaf is an ageing power singer, who has had all sorts of health and lifestyle issues over the years. I reckon it is a very good show, and I think most of the songs come across very well... I figure if you like this Bat Out Of Hell, you will probably enjoy the whole show. Bat Out Of Hell
Free Hand Video Collection by Gentle Giant Released 25 June 2021 Genre Progressive rock Label Alucard Mark has already reviewed the quad version of Free Hand that was mixed in 1975 and released in 2002, and that will serve as the introduction here. But there’s a new bluray out that has three different surround mixes, including. It also has video, which is what brings us here today. Version Control I got my CD + bluray package from Amazon for under $20, but it seems that the price has gone up already. Actually I think mine was shipped by importcds anyway, so can also just order from there about as well for about the same price. The Videos So there are four different playback options on the main screen. First there is the Atmos version which has no video whatsoever – just a different fixed graphic for each song. Then there is the “Steven Wilson” mix (the Atmos is too, but whatever) which has three playback options: Stereo LPCM. DTS HD 5.1, and LPCM 5.1. Non-lossy, hires surround. Now that’s what blurays are for. More importantly for this thread, it has videos for each track. The quad version sort of has video too – a rotating album image that has bits of the 5.1 video playing where the tied hands are supposed to be. Rather cool, but the main show is the video with the 5.1. As I often do with videos, I am going to rate the video quality and content separately for each track. Full marks for all the audio that I will opine on tomorrow after Mark covers the 5.1 on surround thread #2. “Just The Same” A collage of moving graphics synchronized with the music. The images include disembodied hands,pictures and some video of band members, desert landscape and lots of other stuff. Many of the images are rather low resolution so it’s not like you really need a bluray with a big screen to appreciate it. Really entertaining though. Clip goes here because it’s the only one available: Video Quality:2, Presentation: 3 “On Reflection” More cartoonish than the first video, also not really high resolution. Occasionally spells out the lyrics too, and shows more band member pictures. Not as good as the first track, but still very entertaining. Video Quality:2, Presentation: 3 “Free Hand” A steady diet of disembodied hands, which are occasionally connected to an arm. A little boring after the first minute. Video Quality:2, Presentation: 2 “Time To Kill” Starts off with a game of pong, of course. Also deliberately very low resolution graphics, harking back to the video monitors of the 70’s. Ok I’ll give full marks for the art: Video Quality:1, Presentation: 3 “His Last Voyage” Starts of with pictures of the band members that morph into each other. The Giant is thrown in there too for good measure. That is then replaced with morphing scenery that is very colorful and hires but never quite gets into focus. Gorgeous and dreamy and it really goes with the song. The surround mix is wonderful too. The high point of the album in just about every way. Video Quality:3, Presentation: 3 “Talybont” A cartoon fox trots through the forest with a bird. Sliding a missing puzzle piece into place unlocks a secret passage which leads to a cartoon giant at the end of the rainbow. Sounds cheesy, but it really isn’t. It’s just gorgeous and magical and goes with the song really well. OK, the missing piece thing seems to be jumping ahead a couple of albums, but I’ll let it go especially since it seems that we’re not going to get a surround mix for that one and it is really cool. Video Quality:2, Presentation: 3 “Mobile” A disembodied hand with some extra psychedelia. A disappointment after the previous two. Video Quality:2, Presentation: 2 _______ Well, three of the videos are good enough to watch just about every time you listen to this classic album; ”Just the Same”, “The Last Voyage”, and “Talybont”. Since they only come with the 5.1 mix (well the SW stereo mix too), that’s going to heavily bias my choice of playback options in the future. But more on that later on some other thread. Music – 3.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2-3 Video quality – 1-3 Surround – 3 (I don’t give 4’s out on this thread)
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park Directed by Chris Hilson[1] Produced by Thom Zimny[1] Starring Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Music by Bruce Springsteen Edited by Thom Zimny[1] Release date June 22, 2010 Running time 172 minutes Country United States Language English London Calling: Live in Hyde Park is a concert video of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's performance during the Hard Rock Calling music festival in Hyde Park, London on June 28, 2009. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray formats by Columbia Records on June 22, 2010. The work takes its name from the rendition of The Clash's "London Calling" that began the concert. Performances of three songs from other shows on the tour are included as extras including one new song, "Wrecking Ball" which Springsteen wrote partially in response to the closing of Giants Stadium. Bruce Springsteen – guitar, lead vocals [also harmonica, played in performance but not listed] Roy Bittan – keyboards [also accordion] Clarence Clemons – saxophone, percussion, vocals [also harmonica and penny whistle] Nils Lofgren – guitar, vocals Garry Tallent – bass guitar Stevie Van Zandt – guitar, vocals [also mandolin] Max Weinberg – drums Additional musicians Soozie Tyrell – violin, vocals [also acoustic guitar, mandolin, percussion] Charlie Giordano – accordion, piano, organ, vocals Curtis King Jr. – vocals, percussion Cindy Mizelle – vocals, percussion Brian Fallon – vocals Curt Ramm – trumpet on "Wrecking Ball" Production Chris Hilson – directing Thom Zimny – directing on "Wrecking Ball", production, editing Bob Clearmountain – mixing Bob Ludwig – audio mastering Aaron Warren – production on "Wrecking Ball" "London Calling" (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones) "Badlands" "Night" "She's the One" "Outlaw Pete" "Out in the Street" "Working on a Dream" "Seeds" "Johnny 99" "Youngstown" "Good Lovin'" (Rudy Clark, Arthur Resnick) "Bobby Jean" "Trapped" (Jimmy Cliff) "No Surrender" "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" "The Promised Land" "Racing in the Street" "Radio Nowhere" "Lonesome Day" "The Rising" "Born to Run" "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" "Hard Times (Come Again No More)" (Stephen Foster) "Jungleland" "American Land" "Glory Days" "Dancing in the Dark" ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is a monster show that goes for nearly three hours, and I'm not sure if I'll get through it all .... but we'll get where we get. I have enjoyed watching this a couple of times, and the main thing that sticks out in my memory is Springsteen pulling signs out of the audience as requests for the band to play.... Bluray available on Amazon for about $14 Amazon.com: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: London Calling - Live in Hyde Park: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Movies & TV Available on discogs from about $15 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – London Calling: Live In Hyde Park (2010, Blu-ray) Mixed by Bob Clearmountain Mastered by Bob Ludwig Audio options pcm stereo Dd 5.1 Pcm 5.1 The picture quality is brilliant. London Calling Bruce opens us up with a fist punching the opening chords. Bruce punches out the first verse. Little Steven kinda struggles with the second verse. Springsteen squeezes out a nice lead break... Bruce looks serious racing back to swap guitars at the end of the song, and getting straight back into position to launch into Badlands This is a high pitched vocal, and age has compromised the Boss just a little, but this is rock and roll, and this is a ballsy solid version of the song. Again Bruce punches out a nice lead break. The crowd is huge and ecstatic, Bruce taunts them "is there anybody alive out there!" We hit a reprise with the crowd singing the melody in the tradition oh ooooohh ooh oh. And again we burst straight into Night Another solid no bs version. When the sing get to the held finish, Bruce is shouting, pointing and directing the band as to what's coming next. She's The One We get a nice lighter opening until the first she's the one line, to which the crowd gives us the preceding ooooh. Then we break into the full punching band. Most of the audio is up front, but we do have stuff in the sides, giving us a pretty solid live surround feel. It's currently broad daylight. Bruce throws his guitar to someone and blows the outro of she's the one on the harp. We finally get a short break in the aural assault until the 1,2,3,4 Outlaw Pete Clarence blow the opening harmonica. With a less aggressive opening it seems we have a good 180 degree audio field. This isn't a song I'm very familiar with, I only go up to Tunnel Of love with the albums, but it's a good Springsteen track and comes across very well. I'm going to suggest this has no overdubs, it is raw pummeling, uncompromising rock music. It looks fantastic and sounds really good. Again Bruce yells out the next track. Out On The Street Springsteen's sweating up a storm, and heads down the front to interact with the crowd. After running up and down in front of the crowd, Springsteen makes like he can't get back up the stairs. Then at the end of the songs jokes about "get me an elevator, I'm f'n sixty" We roll straight into Working On a Dream The crowd sways, hands in the air. Clarence gives us a whistling lead break. Finally Bruce says hello London and moves into one of his rock and roll sermons. Seeds Solid track with some jamming, and more Bruce lead guitar. Johnny 99 We get a Chuck Berry boogie version here, with Nils on lap steel. Suzie takes a lead on the fiddle, Roy bashes out some rock piano, and Nils slides us back into the vocals. We get some more jamming and Stevie take a nice lead. Youngstown The keys and violin lead us in. Then the story kicks in.... this is a layer song I know and love. Nils lays out a really nice lead... it's easy to forget what a great guitarist Nils is/was in the anonymity of the E Street Band. Good Lovin The music plays, Bruce heads down the stairs and starts collecting songs from the crowd. He goes back up the stairs and lays his choices down, and they move into the cover. During the rev up ending Bruce picks up one of the songs he pulled from the crowd, shows it to the band, and they move into Bobby Jean Really solid version of the Born In The USA track. Clarence plays the outro. Bruce and Nils wave their guitars, leading the crowd in a wave. Another piece of cardboard with a song, shown to the band. Trapped I think this was on the We Are The World album or something. I think the first time I heard it was the live box. Great track. Really nice use of dynamics between the verses and chorus. Clarence blows out a lead... Another piece of cardboard, and Springsteen calls for Brian from Gaslight Anthem... No Surrender My favourite BITUSA track. Bruce takes the first verse. Brian takes the second. They share the last. They obviously worked out an arrangement prior, but they're having a ton of fun, and it comes over really well. Waiting on a Sunny Day No card here, either singers choice, or more likely part of the predetermined set. Bruce heads down the stairs again to be with his crowd. Bruce throws his acoustic a good distance to his roadie... and it is caught. The crowd is loving this. We get a crowd singalong.... Bruce puts the mic in front of a little kids face and with some encouragement he sings ... Springsteen has to wrestle himself back out of the crowd.... runs back up the stairs. Promised Land Comes straight in. Good version. Clarence sax lead. Bruce plays the harmonica part. The crowd sing blow away, during the appropriate section... It kind of surprises me how well the London audience knows these songs. Bruce blows us out with the harp... and he's down the front again. He runs back up the stairs. He signals the band to roll the ending on and tells them next is Racing in the Street Piano and vocal opening. He brings the band in with some hand signals. A somewhat solemn version. With a building outro with Roy hanging out the keys. Radio Nowhere/Lonesome Day/The Rising Skipped these, the day's disappearing Born To Run The crowd obviously knows this and you can hear them singing along. Bruce is down the front again and everyone takes a slap at his guitar He trots up the stairs again feigns collapsing at the top. Him and Stevie make their way to the mic for the iconic count in. Rosalita Gets a big cheer from the crowd. Solid as ever. Hard Times come again no more A somewhat blues/gospel opening. Leading into a sort of folk/blues/rock. Good stuff. Jungleland Opens with a piano and violin intro, and then the now legendary piano theme. A classic Springsteen track that gets a great version here. It's getting dark in the night now. American Land Starts like an Irish folk song with almost Bo Diddley drums, then bursts into a solid rock-folk. Glory Days Solid version here, and Bruce and Stevie have a ton of fun with the outro. Dancing in the Dark It's a solid finish.... Bruce swings the guitar round his neck a dozen times like a young metal guitarist and it's a wrap. The crowd loved this a lot, and not surprisingly either. It's a mammoth feat to get through this whole concert movie, just because three hours is hard to find too often, but it is well worth it if You like Springsteen. There is barely a moments pause in the whole show. I think the a/v quality is very good-excellent, and the performance really is a performance... a little bit of clowning, a little bit of acting, a little bit of seriousness.... It's all there. Springsteen is probably the artists I never got to see that I regret the most. I have several of his concert movies and they are all worth getting in my opinion, but I have always liked his music, so there's that. This bluray is a solid rock concert, from an older rocker.... It is seemingly straight up live. There are a few rough bits, but only in the sense that this is a rock show and the main attraction is sixty years old. I don't think anyone that likes rock shows, and Springsteen would be disappointed in this
Woodstock - 40th Anniversary, 3 Disc Edition. I was persuaded to upgrade from my 2009 2-disc set for two reasons - a third disc of extra concert performances plus better video for the first disc containing the original movie. Unfortunately, I have to report that the video on the movie disc seems to be exactly the same. It's still mini wide screen that still a little grainy nonetheless. It's still a great movie and concert disc that bears watching multiple times, but I'm going to have to stick with by video quality rating of 1. The second (also the same as the 2009 disc 2) and third discs do have better video quality than the first though. Even though the screen format is 4:3, I can say it's DVD quality. Anyway, the 3-disc does have 16 extra songs. Starts off with Melanie who wasn't to be seen in 2009 set at all, and then gives us more Santana, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, CSN, Hendrix, and well let's just say it's time for an updated Woodstock weekend: The Concert The hyperlinks for each artist lead to additional information about each set. Richie Havens We’re already on track 10 before Richie steps on the stage with his acoustic guitar. He plays “Handsome Johnny” and “Freedom”. It’s basically mono – guitar and vocal both come from the center channel; there’s a little reverb and conga (from his one accompanist, Daniel Ben Zebulon) in the other four speakers. Melanie Safka Melanie played at 1 am instead of The Incredible String Band who refused to play while it was raining. The fifth and sixth songs ("Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Tuning My Guitar" from her seven song set appear on disc 3. Acoustic guitar in front, lead vocals in center. Arlo Guthrie Fast forward to track 27 to find Arlo playing “Coming Into Los Angeles”. He’s playing at night, but you don’t learn that from the film until track 28 – most of the video shown while he is playing is daytime footage of the crowd smoking marijuana. Mix is stereo with a little reverb, not much in center. Joan Baez The first night finishes with pregnant Joan. On the film, she sings “Joe Hill” (track 14) and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (track 15) in mono acapella. If you put in the second disc, you also get the Willie Nelson cover “One Day at a Time” played with two other male singer/guitarists – Richard Festinger and Jeffrey Shurtleff. That song was played between the two songs seen in the film, and the video uses all five speakers with lots of reverb. Seems like Joan’s voice is primarily in center channel. There are still two more songs on the third disc - "Oh Happy Day" and "I Shall Be Released", which were the first and third songs in her set sung solo with acoustic guitar. All in front, no surround. Country Joe McDonald Now let’s sleep through Quill and wake up on the second day to Country Joe playing without his Fish. He is on the second disc, where Joe is playing “Flying High” solo. Voice is centered a bit perhaps, nothing out the back. Santana An early afternoon concert seems like a low billing spot for then, but only their first album had been released at this point – most of the eight songs they played were from that. We get three. “Evil Ways” is on the disc 2, "Persuasion" in on disc 3, while “Soul Sacrifice” can be found on Track 39. Evil Ways and "Persuasion" have the better video quality, but Soul Sacrifice has 3-screen video that often shows both the band and the crowd at once. Some of the crowd shots are among the most memorable in the film. Like the naked guy dancing with a sheep in his arms – you just can’t unsee that. The mix on “Evil Ways” is pretty close to stereo, but there is lots of drum reverb in the back on “Soul sacrifice”” and it seems like Carlos is featured a bit in the middle. John Sebastian He plays one song “Younger Generation” at Track 35 of the movie. He talks for several minutes, but the eventually gets around to a solo performance with crowd shots of young children in the crown. Vocals are in the center channel, with guitar in stereo. Canned Heat Skipping over another two names on the band list. Canned heat only played 7 songs at Woodstock, but we get to hear at least parts of five of them. However, we will need to work to put them all together. “I’m Her Man” is on disc #2, the audio from “Going Up the Country” is way back at track 5 of the movie, while concert footage of “A Change is Gonna Come” is on track 13, "Woodstock Boogie" is on disc 3 with some excellent guitar work from Alan Wilson, then we go back to disc 2 for “On the Road Again”. Their set started at 7:30 pm – it was daylight when they started and night when they finished. Lead vocals from Bob Hite are featured in center, with just a smidge of reverb in the back. Unlike the harmonica on the others, the flute on “Going Up” is mixed in surround. Mountain They don’t appear in the movie at all, but there are two tracks on the second disc of them playing at night – “Beside the Sea” and “Southbound Train”. A 4:3 screen with a stereo mix. Grateful Dead They don’t play in the movie at all; that is probably because they had a number of problems including a member of the audience who took a turn at lead vocals and electrical issues; they kept getting shocked while playing and the amps overloaded at the end of the fifth song, cutting the set short. However, disc number 3 has the second song from the set - "Mama Tried", the second disc shows an epic 37+ minute version of “Turn on Your Love Light”. It’s not entirely clear that it was ever going to end if the amps hadn’t ended it for them. Stereo recording with a little crowd noise in the back. Creedence Clearwater Revival This seems even more inexplicable. No Creedence in the film? Fortunately, the second disc comes to the rescue again with “Born On the Bayou”, “I Put a Spell On You” and Keep on Chooglin”. John though the Dead sabotaged their career by playing for too long, but this is a good performance. Seems like it’s mostly stereo with a little guitar reverb. Janis Joplin Back to the movie disc (track 41) where we must be in the wee hours of the morning. Janis sings one song “Work me, Lord”. She gets the center channel all to herself, while the Kozmic Blues band is in stereo, A little reverb in the back. Sly and the Family Stone Now let’s back up to Track 40 for Sly doing “I Want to Take You Higher”. Sly vocals and harmonica are in the center channel along with the horn, the rest of the band in stereo, and just a little reverb. The Who The British invaders flew over to start playing at five in the morning. That’s OK, it was midmorning for them, right? We get five songs from their set where they played Tommy in its entirety. "Sparks" and "Pinball Wizard" both appear on disc 3 , and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is in both the movie at track 16 and the second disc – the latter has some missing footage at the beginning. “Summertime Blues” is in the movie at track 17, while the encore of “My Generation” is on the second disc. The two movie tracks have a split screen while the bonus tracks don’t. It’s pretty much all stereo with a little reverb, but Entwhistle gets the center channel for his raspy vocals on “Summertime Blues”. At the end of both the movie and bonus footage, Townsend smashes his guitar and throws it to the audience at the end. The sun had already started to come up by the time The Who finished. Jefferson Airplane Time for Sunday morning maniac music. JA were supposed to be the last act on Saturday, but we’re running behind – they start playing at about 8 Sunday morning. Their setlist is represented by two songs in the movie plus thee more on the bonus discs. “3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds” is on the second disc and unlike most of the bonus disc footage this one pans to the crowd quite a bit. They aren’t all awake. Movie track 31 actually starts with the set intro of “The Other Side of This Life”, but then switches to “Won’t You Try”, where co-lead vocalists Balin and Slick share the center channel Track 34 is the Jorma Kaukonen song “Uncle Same Blues”, with Grace watching; Jorma vocals and guitar are in center. Both the movie tracks use split screen, and just have a little reverb in the back. We finish with two on the third disc, first "Volunteers" with Slick and Balin vocals then another quasi-Hot Tuna song "Come Back Baby" with Kaukonen on vocals. As a great reason to get the three disc version, the clip goes here: Joe Cocker The real Sunday schedule started up at 2:00 pm with Joe Cocker who probably helped his musical career more than anybody here. “Something's Coming On” appears on the bonus disc with the 4:3 split screen. Joe is in the center channel, guitar solos are on the left. However, it was his finale of “With A Little Help From My Friends” shown at track 22 of the movie that he is really famous for. It also usually has split screen, with one camera for Joe and another for his bandmates. Country Joe and the Fish There was a storm between Cocker and Country – tracks 23-25 cover that. On the first one, the announcer wildly underestimates the amount of time that it will take to get Joe (with the Fish this time back on stage). In the film, it’s just a short trip up to track 26 for “Rock and Soul Music”, which mostly features the band rather than Joe. For some reason, they seem to all be mixed to center, so this sounds like a mono recording. Then on disc 3 we get "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine". On track 36 is where we get his big hit song “I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag” that was played as an encore. Lots of footage of the crowd while Joe is singing and the band is playing– the crowd are singing along from the rear speakers. Ten Years After Their performance was also hindered by technical issues. They only played six songs, and only the last one was recorded. “Going Home” can be found on movie track 29. This features a triple screen, Alvin’s vocals are in center, everything else is stereo, with reverb in the back. Johnny Winter Skipping over The Band for whom there is no video (don’t know why), we get to Johnny Winter, who started playing around midnight. “Mean Town Blues” is on the second disc with the 4:3 screen. This seems to be a mono recording – it’s just about all from the center channel. That may be because it’s mostly all about Johnny – a majority of the track is guitar solo. But it still sounds good; I love Johnny – sure wish there were more of him. This is the highlight of the second disc IMO. Edgar is on the stage too, but we don’t see him or much of the other two band members either. Edgar sang lead on one of the other songs (“Tobacco Road”). Damn, I wish I could see that. Crosby, Stills & Nash Skipping over BS&T, who are also a video no-show, it’s on to CS&N who started played around 3 am. They did a 9 song acoustic set with just the threesome, a five song electric set with a full band, and then a 2 song acoustic encore. Their songs are well represented in the movie, but we must hunt around to find them. The opener “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is at track 28, and it is the only one that has concert footage of them playing. Stephen Stills is featured in the center channel. "Helplessly Hoping" and "Marrakesh Express" are both on disc 3. The electric set is heard much earlier in the film. “Long Time Gone” is heard on track 3 that mostly shows landscape footage of upstate New York, and ending with some footage of the stage being constructed. “Wooden Ships” is heard on track 6 that shows video of the stage still being worked on at night. On those two tracks the varying lead vocalists also get the center. The film credits roll on track 49 with the song “Woodstock”, which is a cover of a Joni Mitchell song from the CSN&Y album Déjà Vu, and not from the concert. The encore song “Cost Of Freedom” is the soundtrack to a coda added to the movie in the director’s cut (track 50) – it is a very brief eulogy to a long list of people – Hendrix and Joplin are near the end. Paul Butterfield It’s now dawn on Monday. Seems like a good time to play “Morning Sunrise”, which can be found on the second disc with the 4:3 screen. This blues number has Butterfield vocals in center plus horns with lotst of reverb. The closer "Everything's Going to be Alright" is on the third disc and features a long solo from guitarist Howard Feiten, also with lots of reverb, especially from the horns. Sha Na Na It’s now 7:30 am, and if you are going to play a 50’s “Happy Days” soundtrack this is as good a place as any. Apparently these guys are here at the behest of Jimi Hendrix, who comes on next. “Teen Angel” is on the second disc. This is a solo vocal and features a number of shots of the crowd many of whom seem thoroughly flabbergasted by the tale of a prom queen who met an early demise. But Jimi and others seem amused. "Book of Love" is on the third disc, and the crowd still seems somewhat perplexed. The movie shows “At the Hop” at track 20. It’s all mini-widescreen with the vocals in the center channel, except there are some surround shenanigans at the end. Jimi Hendrix The concert ends at around 11:00 am with Jimi, and so does the film. "Spanish Castle Magic" is on the third disc, while “Voodoo Child”, “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Purple Haze” are on movie tracks 45-47. There are big gaps in the crowd as many people have left already, but Hendrix puts on an amazing performance. His video is also all mini widescreen, with his guitar and vocals in the center channel. On “Star-Spangled Banner” Hendrix plays solo, and this track has tons of reverb in the back channels. If that isn't enough, most of the Hendrix set is available as a separate release. In summary, I'm going to mostly stick to my original ratings for the two-disc version, but I will give the second and third discs a 2 for video quality: Music – 3 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 1-2 Surround – 2 However, I will add that any shortcomings in the video are arguably outweighed by quantity. $15 for the three disc set was a fantastic deal, plus it came with an iron-on patch that I intend to put on my disc golf bag.
I don't know if there's a licensing issue, but it seems to me, that it's about time the complete concert videos were released in order, instead of these pieces together releases. Woodstock is probably the most famous concert in history. They obviously filmed most/all of it.... it should get a proper, in order release.... in my opinion.
The first problem is that the movie itself is not arranged in chronological order. The two bonus discs are, but they are independent of each other. It does seem like the 2014 edition could have easily put all the bonus material in chronological order. If I just want to see the two extra Santana tracks (which are both really great) I have to slide in two different discs. Maybe the thing to do is to forget about the movie and just present all available video in 4:3 with DVD quality in chronological order. Seems like they could get up to 5+ discs easily. Sure, I'd buy it again.
The End: Live in Birmingham Live Performance by Black Sabbath Released 17 November 2017 Recorded 4 February 2017 in Birmingham, England Genre Heavy metal Length 108:06 Label Eagle Vision Producer Jeremy Azis The End: Live in Birmingham is a live album and film by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It features the final performance from their The End Tour, recorded in Birmingham, England on 4 February 2017. The film documents the Black Sabbath final show at the Genting Arena in the band's hometown of Birmingham. Personnel Black Sabbath Tony Iommi – guitars Geezer Butler – bass Ozzy Osbourne – vocals Additional musicians Adam Wakeman – keyboards Tommy Clufetos – drums Track Listing All songs written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward. No. Title Length 1. "Black Sabbath" 7:26 2. "Fairies Wear Boots" 6:28 3. "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" 7:04 4. "After Forever" 6:26 5. "Into the Void" 7:07 6. "Snowblind" 6:39 7. "Band Intros" 1:32 8. "War Pigs" 8:32 9. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" 3:32 10. "Bassically/N.I.B." 6:36 11. "Hand of Doom" 7:05 12. "Supernaut/Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/Megalomania" 3:28 13. "Rat Salad/Drum Solo" 8:32 14. "Iron Man" 7:53 15. "Dirty Women" 8:22 16. "Children of the Grave" 6:33 17. "Paranoid" 4:46 Version Control It was released as a CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Vinyl and a limited deluxe box set. I have the CD + bluray. Still available new. Amazon. The Concert Yes they are geezers, but it’s a modern production and the video quality is great. The stereo is LPCM and the 5.1 is DTS-HD. The sound is a little on the arenaesque side – it’s a little muddy. I definitely prefer the 5.1 not because the surround is exceptional, but the reverb reinforces the concert experience. "Black Sabbath" From s/t debut. So Butler, Osbourne, and Iommi are all out front. Clufetos is in the rear, and Wakeman is nowhere to be found yet. Big wide screen behind the stage. Seems like their eponymous from their eponymous album is definitely the way to starts things off. Their first album was my first album of theirs, and I still think it’s their one stone cold classic. I mean really, they invented heavy metal and goth at the same time. And yes, they’ve got flames on stage to go with the lyrics. Osborne vocals are isolated in the center channel. Pretty awesome start. "Fairies Wear Boots" From Paranoid. This album was also one of my faves when it first came out, but it doesn’t seem quite as good 50 years later. But still, this is a great song. Lots of psychedelized renditions of the live feed on screen, which is very cool. Butler, Iommi, and Clufetos can put-up a Rush-like wall of sound. "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes" From Vol. 4, Also was my favorite Black Sabbath album for a while. They’re cruising from one big hot song to another. Sounds like maybe the drums are mixed to the rears a bit. "After Forever" From Master of Reality. My least favorite of the first five albums, but this is still a pretty great. Song. Lots of fretwork shown on the big screen. "Into the Void" From Master of Reality. OK, worst song so far. Blinking lights, and a distorted live feed on the screen. Lots of Iommi reverb in the rears. "Snowblind" From Vol. 4. This is a good way to pick things up again. Butler is awesome, and Iommi gets some nice licks in to. I think there are some keys in surround too, so I guess Wakeman is playing somewhere; but I don’t see him. “War Pigs" From Paranoid. Band intros, including the otherwise invisible Wakeman. The back to the second album with the flame throwers in action again. Osborne lets the crowd sing some of the vocals, which are at least partly in the rear. Split screen live feed on the big screen interspersed with a few explosions. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" From s/t debut. Back to the first album, and we’re still in high gear as far as I’m concerned. Wall of sound with occasional Iommi foray. Eyeballs on the screen, kind of disgusting really. "Bassically/N.I.B." From s/t debut. Butler plays the first bass great bass solo that I ever knew about, and then what a great song. The invention of metal. More crowd vocals and the clip goes here: "Hand of Doom" From Paranoid. This song gets off to a slow start, but it cooks at the end. Black and white live feed on the big screen. Lots of drum reverb. "Supernaut/Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/Megalomania" From Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage. Well this is a rather disappointing short medley, because I really want to hear all of the first two. No lyrics or Osborne. Iommi showpiece though "Rat Salad/Drum Solo" From Paranoid. Still no Osborne, Butler and Iommi help out to start, then Clufetos goes solo. "Iron Man" From Paranoid. The concert needs to get back on track and I guess this will do. The crowd likes it anyway. The gas burners are going again, and so is Iommi. "Dirty Women" From Technical Ecstasy. I have this album, but it’s definitely post-classic. Doesn’t seem like something they should be playing near the end of The End. But Iommi puts on a show, I think that’s why this is here. "Children of the Grave" From Master of Reality. This is better; streaming skulls on the screen – gotta like that. Butler playing lead again, purple balloons invade the arena. Lots of drum reverb in the rears again. “"Paranoid" From Paranoid. One last classic. Iommi starts out in the spotlight and then we’re off and running. _______ It all seemed a little perfunctory, but this is The End and I’m very glad they could still play at all. In fact, I thought this concert was cruising on overdrive until it hit the medley. But two of the songs they played a little bit of there are waaay better than most of what came afterwards. I’m also just generally disappointed that there wasn’t more from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in there. In particular, I’m thinking Adam (whom I only saw when he was introduced) could probably play “Sabbra Cadabra” as well as his dad, but we missed our chance to find out. I would glady give up one of the Master of Reality tracks for that. I’m still going to give the set full marks though just because the first two-thirds was awesome and the rest was still quite good. A decent stage show – not spectacular but still good enough for full marks. The surround is also good enough for an ambient point, with center channel vocals, crowd vocals, and plenty of reverb. Music – 3.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2 I just picked up The Last Supper, so I’ll get around to that one too.
Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble* – Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985 Label: Epic – EPC 202333 9 Format: 2 × DVD, DVD-Video, PAL Country: Europe Released: 2004 Genre: Rock, Blues Style: Electric Blues Disc One - July 17, 1982 1-1 Hide Away 1-2 Rude Mood 1-3 Pride And Joy 1-4 Texas Flood 1-5 Love Struck Baby 1-6 Dirty Pool 1-7 Give Me Back My Wig 1-8 Collins Shuffle Disc Two - July 15, 1985 2-1 Scuttle Buttin' 2-2 Say What! 2-3 Ain't Gone N' Give Up On Love 2-4 Pride And Joy 2-5 Mary Had A Little Lamb 2-6 Cold ShotGuitar – Johnny Copeland 2-7 Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place In Town)Guitar – Johnny Copeland 2-8 Look At Little SisterGuitar – Johnny Copeland 2-9 Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 2-10 Texas Flood 2-11 Life Without You 2-12 Gone Home 2-13 Couldn't Stand The Weather Discogs NTSC US version available for under ten bucks Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985 (DVD, US, 2004) For Sale | Discogs Pal version available around the same, but my prices go up as they show shipping to US Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985 (DVD, Europe, 2004) For Sale | Discogs Amazon - available new $12 Amazon.com: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble: Movies & TV This is also available as a 2dvd and 2cd set Amazon about $32 https://www.amazon.com/Live-Montreu...ocphy=9025851&hvtargid=pla-504217073407&psc=1 Discogs has become problematic with nonsensical increases in shipping costs Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985 (CD, US, 2004) For Sale | Discogs I love Stevie Ray Vaughn, and was reminded that I haven't watched this dvd for a long time in the thread from yesterday, I think, Remembering ..... Stevie Ray Vaughn I first heard about Stevie Ray when Texas Flood came out. On 96fm in Perth Western Australia the dj's told us of Stevie's work on Bowie's Let's Dance album, which had been huge obviously, and then that Stevie had refused the offer to tour with Bowie, so that he could focus on his solo career.... it was seen as a very bold move, by many it was seen as a stupid move ... I think it was exactly the right move. The Bowie exposure would have given a completely different impression of who Stevie Ray was, Stevie is a dyed in the wool Texas blues guy.... the man lived and breathed blues, and you should always do what it is you love, because your heart will shine through in that. I saw Stevie in concert at the Perth Concert Hall in 1986 on the Soul To Soul tour. I had missed tickets for the evening show, but because they sold out, they had a matinee show in the late afternoon. My memory could be completely wrong, but I only recall seeing them as a three piece, even though by Soul To Soul the band had introduced the keyboard player.... Perth is apparently the most isolated city on earth, as in further from any other capital city than any other city, so we frequently missed out on tours because with a smaller population many deemed it a waste of money heading over there. So when artists did come, they got sales.... ticket sales, album sales, you name it, we were a music loving city, and appreciated bands coming to see us. Stevie had come o Australia on the Couldn't Stand The Weather tour, but not to Perth... Oh and The Fabulous Thunderbirds were the support act ... which meant that Jimmie and Stevie played together in Stevie's set.... Stevie sat down with a twin neck guitar, and Jimmie stood behind him and they took a neck each.... it was pretty spectacular, from my perspective at least. I didn't recognise what it was they played, but I think my dad said Pipeline by the Ventures was one of the tracks ... but I am not going to sign a sworn affidavit about that. I went to the concert with my dad and friend of the family, and we were totally sober, and had nothing in our system whatsoever.... when we got home, my mum thought that I had given the guys some weed or something, because we were all walking about three feet above the ground ... I am not exaggerating. I have seen many many concerts over the years, and that was the most effected I had ever been by a concert. Needless to say I didn't play my guitar for a week ... it seemed kind of futile. Anyway that's my experience with Stevie Ray. Personally I think all his albums are extremely good, even though Live Alive fails to capture him live very well at all..... Anyway this Montreux set is really very good. The 1982 set is Stevie Ray in front of an almost hostile crowd, that obviously didn't want to hear blues in 1982, so he really puts in the effort. The 1985 set is the returning conqueror and is excellent also.... but that is just my memory, so lets watch it and see what we have here. Audio Pcm stereo 5.1 surround ... which turns out to be DD. July 17, 1982 Hide Away opens up, with a lot of open string hammer ons to play the riff, and moves through some riff based stuff, and some nice rhythmic changes. And we slide straight into Rude Mood Which is a lightening fast blues boogie off the first album. Stevie is relaxed as can be cigarette between his teeth. Double Trouble are solid and straight forward as always, giving Stevie plenty of space to hold court. We slide back into Hide Away, and wrap it up. Pride and Joy comes in after some fairly positive response. The audio is good. Everything is clear. So far as 5.1 goes it's a nice ambient room mix more than anything. The video is 4:3 and the picture is good. Not hi def, but very watchable. The audience is divided, at the end of Pride and Joy, there are enthusiastic cheers and applause, but there are boos also. Apparently the 82 Montreux was a mainly acoustic blues format, Stevie had been invited after Jerry Wexler had seen them in Austin. A foreword is written by David Bowie, and he talks of how Claude Nobs had called him to come and see this new blues/r&b act. Bowie says he was floored and had drinks with Stevie after the show etc. To be fair the opening of the set is slightly one paced, but next we get the wonderful Texas Flood Stevie does a great job, but the transition between playing in front and behind is back isn't quite as smooth as it generally was. The playing is a grade Stevie. Yet at the end of the track, after playing a great moderate to slow blues, he gets some excellent applause and more boos, louder now too.... Stevie just says, they're going to play a little song he wrote now, and Love Struck Baby comes into play. It is met with the same cheers and boos... It's pretty mind boggling really, and just shows up music snobs for the idiots they are.... the same folks would be creaming themselves over Stevie in a couple of years. Dirty Pool was one of my favourites off the debut, and here it is in the set. Tommy and Chris both do short write ups in the booklet about how broken hearted they were at the booing and nonsense, and how Stevie played his heart out regardless. There's been a lot of talk about the way Stevie dropped out of the Bowie tour, but here Bowie says it was Stevie's manager who pulled an 11th hour stunt demanding more money at the last minute, and ended up pulling Stevie from the tour. Stevie left standing with his bags on the tarmac. Dirty Pool is great.... and again lots of applause, and a few clowns booing loudly. Stevie pulls out Hounddog Taylor's Give Me Back My Wig. We get Stevie playing slide, which from memory seems rare. We have people dancing and behind them some four faced pratts... it is quite bizarre. Again applause and boos.... Collins Shuffle An Albert Collins track, and it's a solid closer. Darryl Pitt also writes in the booklet. He says everyone should have been enthralled but Stevie looked quite intimidating with a big tattoo across his chest, and the cowboy hat and ragged teeth. He says the crowd were more used to corny rhythm and blues reviews crossing Europe. He says there was something unsettling about Stevie's appearance, and it was like a Clash of cultures.... also that some in the crowd felt no white man should be up there playing blues.... It is a bewildering thing to see and hear. Stevie plays well, and sings well, but has the audience split in two..... The photographer says he went backstage and told Stevie how great he was, and explained the crowd, and Bowie was in line behind him, closely followed by Jackson Browne. July 15 1985 We get a hugely enthusiastic response from the crowd before it even starts. Scuttle Buttin opens in blistering fashion, and rolls straight into Say What! This is prime grade A Stevie... the slightly nervous newbie being emotionally assaulted by the crowd is gone, and this is now one of the world's premier blues guitarists, putting on a clinic. We have the organ in the band at this stage, and it is a nice balance, and adds a little colour. The a/v is the same as disc one. The picture may be slightly better, but both are very good. There are no boos at this show.... Ain't Gone N Give Up On Love This is a confident man just nailing every lick. A more animated performance that comes with confidence. Pride and Joy You can feel the confidence, and there's a certain feeling of redemption after the appalling crowd from 82. A nice piano break followed by Stevie's riproaring lead break. Mary Had A Little Lamb Stevie's tone is just so beautiful, and his phrasing is awesome. This is great, but I can't get across enough, that I have never seen a video that has impacted me the way that concert did. That concert was some kind of transcendent moment in time that this guy lifted me out of my seat, and left me suspended in mid air astonished.... and I had been to many many concerts between 1980 and 1986... it was just about my favourite thing to do. Cold Shot comes in instantly. Johnny Copeland joins Stevie up on stage. Stevie gives Johnny the lead, and he works into it nicely. Very different styles of playing, but they compliment each other nicely. Stevie plays the album lead break after Johnny gets the extended lead and we roll into the last verse. Tin Pan Alley Sees Johnny stay out there. This was a favourite off Couldn't Stand The Weather..... Stevie talks to Johnny, seemingly laying out the chords or arrangement, and launches into the intro. Stevie smiles walks over to Johnny, and sends him to the mic. Johnny sings up a storm and adds some of his own nice licks. Stevie takes the third verse. This is magic stuff. Johnny, a fellow Texan I believe, rolls into a really nice lead. Stevie smiling away, watching in the background. Stevie hots that chordal lead that he does... this is well measured and they're working together so well here. Stevie rolls out verse 4. Stevie goes to send Johnny to the mic again... but he walks up to the mic, and ends up laying it down on the guitar. These guys are just having a beautiful jam. Smiles all round. Stevie hits verse 5 Certainly a highlight right there. They get together and have a laugh, and decide what to play Look At Little Sister Johnny still jamming along. Johnny takes the first lead. A nice laid back melodic line for a couple of rotations and then rips it up. He gets a nice long stretch to play. Then Stevie lays down a lead. Stevie moves into a really nice alternate rhythm section for a few rounds and signals Johnny to run some lead. Then we get them play lead together, and neither gets in the others way... complimenting each other beautifully. Then we launch into the last verse. This is a good fun jam, and Johnny is obviously enjoying it as well. Great stuff. Stevie and Johnny embrace, crowd starts chanting.... it's a beautiful thing. Stevie says "this is for Jimi", and we launch into Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) We get a couple of verses, and then an extended dynamic lead, with full on stuff, quiet melodic one hand delicacy, more tearing it up, then a quiet section that leads to an improv of "with the power of soul...." from Band Of Gypsies... tear it up a bit and head into the last verse. Stevie is just the consummate stage performer by this stage. The crowd is loving this, not a boo in sight... or even earshot. Texas Flood is the track that made me fall in love with this guy in the first place. This is a kick ass version, with all the great playing, the smooth behind the back playing. The crowd is extremely happy. The band get introduced, walk off, and we get an encore. In introducing this track Stevie says it was at Montreux they got their big break... the first time they got booed and the first time they got a grammy, with a bit of a laugh, and launch into Life Without You Typically brilliant. A wonderful song. We get the vocals, then some rip roaring lead. Then we get the little inspirational talk, which was inspired at the concert o saw, and nice here. Then Stevie in the zone again. Gone Home A nice breezy little jazz-like track I have paid much attention to the surround to be honest, but the organ lead here sounds like its across the rears.... They head offstage again. They comes back to a huge cheer Couldn't Stand The Weather Another great version, and a killer closer. Oddly we get a ghostly version of the video clip from the album, but it doesn't interfere with the audio. There may be better Stevie Ray dvd's, I don't know really. I enjoyed the Live From Austin Texas dvd back in the day, but I am not even sure I have it anymore. The thing is though, this is a somewhat unique chance to see them before they were big, playing really well and getting booed, and then coming back three years later as the triumphant conquerors, being embraced by the crowd, and all is as it should be ... sadly four years later after recovering from addiction issues and releasing the stunning In Step album, Stevie was taken from us, like many musicians much too soon. I reckon this is worth having if you like Stevie Ray at all. Stevie Ray and Johnny Copeland - Tin Pan Alley
The Atmos and 5.1 versions are contained in different files, and they may not have had room on the disc to include the video twice. That's the only explanation I can think of.
Live at Rockpalast Live Performance by Richard Thompson Released Nov 3, 2017 Recorded Dec 10, 1983 Venue Markthalle, Hamburg. Genre Folk Rock Length 116 min (DVD 1), 73 min (DVD 2) Label MIG Producer Frank D. Strauß Live at Rockpalast is a live album and concert video released in 2017 by the Richard Thompson Band. It contains two concerts for the tour to promote his current album Hand Of Kindness. For the show on December 12, 1983, at the Hamburg Markthalle the WDR also put up their cameras to record the event for the Rockpalast. The studio crew from the recording sessions of ''Hand Of Kindness'' was also present live. Among them three musicians who stood on stage with Thompson with Fairport Convention more than ten years before: Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg and Dave Mattacks. Nearly seven weeks later, on January 26, 1984 Richard Thompson & Band gave another concert in the French luxury resort Cannes on occasion of MIDEM being recorded by the WDR as well. Gerry Conway, today the drummer with the still active Fairport Convention, replaced Dave Mattacks, Rory McFarlane (bass) came for Dave Pegg who had to go into the studio to record a new album with his band Jethro Tull. Personnel Hamburg Concert Richard Thompson – Guitar, Vocals Simon Nicol – Guitar Alan Dunn – Accordion Pete Zorn – Baritone Saxophone, Alto Saxophone Dave Pegg – Bass Dave Mattacks – Drums Pete Thomas – Saxophone The Cannes concert has Gerry Conway on drums and Rory McFarlane on bass. Track Listing No. Title Length 1. The Wrong Heartbeat 03:17 2. A Poisoned Heart And A Twisted Memory 05:50 3. Tear Stained Letter 06:53 4. Night Comes In 11:00 5. Amarylus 04:22 6. Shoot Out The Lights 05:41 7. Don't Renege On Our Love 05:00 8. Hand Of Kindness 06:54 9. Alberta 03:40 10. Wall Of Death 04:05 11. Pennsylvania 6-5000 05:29 12. How I Wanted You 05:37 13. Man In Need 04:00 14. Two Left Feet 04:19 15. Back Street Slide 04:46 16. Both Ends Burning 03:46 17. Danny Boy 05:43 18. Can't Sit Down 04:25 19. Great Balls Of Fire 03:36 20. High School Hop 05:08 Version Control It was released as a 3 CD + 2 DVD set, and also just the first concert with 2LPs. I have the DVDs of course. Still available new. Amazon. However, on my copy at least, contrary to what it says on the printed listing, the Hamburg concert is on DVD 2 rather 1 The Concert It’s 1983 video recorded for a TV show. It’s 4:3, and I’d call it low end DVD video quality. The only audio option is PCM stereo. “The Wrong Heartbeat” From The Hand of Kindness. The line up in front going left to right is Dunn, the two saxophonists, Thompson, Pegg and Nicol. It’s a small stage and venue. Nicol is playing a guitar that seems to be made from a Corn Flakes box. Mattacks is in the rear. There are two neon “Rockpalast” signs in back of the stage – but that is actually the name of the TV show, not the venue. I latched on to this video because of the Fairport Convention lineup – which is what got me interested in Richard Thompson lineup. From there, I acquired two compilations – the Island one with Linda Thompson and a Capitol (Action Packed) one with latter stuff. I like the second one better and picked up some of the individual albums as well. But The Hand of Kindness is a tweener – after the Island contract, but before the Capitol contract. Never heard any of it before. Sounds like a tweener too – not quite a folky and the earlier stuff, but doesn’t rock as hard as the later stuff either. Both Pegg and Nicol provide background vocals. “A Poisoned Heart and a Twisted Memory” From The Hand of Kindness. Different song, a little more guitar work from Thompson than the first. “Tear Stained Letter” From The Hand of Kindness. Dunn will have to pass as the keyboardist, and he starts it off. Heavy saxophone work too. Nicol with background vocals and more excellent guitar work from Thompson. “Night Comes In” From Pour Down Like Silver. Thompson starts off with solo quitar, then adds vocals as Mattacks comes in too. Then Pegg and Dunn, Nicol and the sax guys. Accordian solo and both of the saxers get a solo, but they usually aren’t out there at the same time. “Amaryllis” Traditional. Mattacks and Dunn lead off the English folk number, then saxes guitar and bass, with the saxes carrying the tune. They rock out a bit at the end. “Shoot Out The Lights” From Shoot Out the Lights. Sax players go off for the bluesy title track from his last album with Linda. Nicol with backing vocals. “Don't Renege On Our Love” From Shoot Out the Lights. More of the same, with backing vocals from Pegg and Nicol. I guess Linda reneged. Very nice guitar work from Thompson. Since it doesn't have the sax players, this isn't a very representative track, but it's the best clip available: “Hand Of Kindness” From The Hand of Kindness. Title track from the new one, and it definitely does sound more like his later stuff. Pegg and Mattacks are playing too, but this is mainly the Thompson show. Backing vocals from Pegg, Nicols, and Zorn who is back without his sax. “Alberta” Traditional. The sax players are back for a jazzy piece with Dunn singing lead vocals. Thompson, Pegg, and Nicol sing backing. Solos from Thomas, Thompson, and Dunn. “Wall Of Death” From Shoot Out the Lights. Thompson and Mattacks start it off, Thompson singing lead, Pegg and Zorn backing. “Pennsylvania 6-5000” Glenn Miller cover. More jazz. The sax players do most of the work, but Thompson and Pegg help Zorn with the vocals. Thomas sax solo, Dunn on accordion. “How I Wanted You (To)” From The Hand of Kindness. Back to the new album I think – the credits seem to have title wrong, Thompson starts out singing and plays guitar. Low-key accompaniment from the rest of the band. “Man In Need” From Shoot Out the Lights. Yay, a rock song. Thompson singing lead, Pegg and Zorn backing. Thompson guitar solo. “Two Left Feet” From The Hand of Kindness. Zorn starts it off, Thompson sings lead, Pegg and Nicol, the sax guys play, sing, and dance when aren’t doing either. “Back Street Slide” From Shoot Out the Lights. Accordian in the lead, Thompson lead vocals, Pegg and Nicol backing, which all leads to another Thompson solo. End of set. “Both Ends Burning” From The Hand of Kindness. On to the encores. Accordian and Thompson vocals lead it off. Thompson gets around to playing guitar, Pegg with backing vocals, Thomas with a sax solo. “Danny Boy” Unreleased Thompson song. Thompson plays a little guitar, but this starts out acapella with Thompson lead and just about everyone else backing. But then the band starts up, sax solo from Zorn, accordion from Dunn, and finally guitar from Thompson. “Can't Sit Down” Another cover with an accordion start. Lots of sax work too. Thompson mostly lets the other guys play until he lets loose with a solo. No vocals. “Great Balls Of Fire” Jerry Lee Lewis cover. Dunn and Pegg carry the tune, Thompson sings. Solos from Zorn, Dunn, Thomas, and Thompson. “High School Hop” One last encore, and another cover, and it seems like Thompson is going seriously off-script. But this is a boogie woogie band, no doubt. The Cannes Concert I don’t think this is going to be worth a second review, so I popped it (my DVD 1) in. It’s basically the same set list, but without the encores. The venue and stage are bigger, the front row is more spread out but the saxers are still right next to each other. Rhythm section replacements Conway and Mcfarlane are in back. Seems like you have to be a major Thompson fan to want a second performance from the same tour. _______ Well, this is isn’t a compilation at all. Most of the songs are from two albums – Hand of Kindness and Shoot Out the Lights. Most of the rest of it are covers of one sort or another. I liked it just fine, but it certainly isn’t the definitive Richard Thompson show I would have preferred. I also don’t feel like I got much mileage out of seeing most of the Fairport Convention Full House lineup on stage, which is a great album. Seems like they could have done a decent rendition of “Walk Awhile”, but it didn’t happen. No stage show of note, and no surround either. A little disappointing but still fun to watch at least once. Music – 2.0 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 2 Surround – 1
I've seen RT several times live at Cropredy with Fairport musicians backing him on his own set and ...it's always disappointing. There's no problem when he accompanies them on their set but I'm guessing that there are a whole bunch of interpersonal things that interfere with it working. For example, he's always been scrupulous in avoiding their material ... for many years he didn't play his own Fairport songs in his own concerts.
I have the 2003 Richard Thompson Band Live In Providence DVD, which has a 5.1 surround mix, albeit Dolby Digital. This was recorded when he was touring the Old Kit Bag album. I was able to catch one of those shows, besides this release the Ducknapped CD is also available with alternate songs. A crack band with veteran band member Pete Zorn, who died in 2016. A blend of acoustic and electric, ballads and uptempo. The 5.1 mix has a solid front sound stage in all four speakers, I hear "more than ambience and audience" in the surrounds. I applied the "risky" test of comparing the stereo upmixed to DPLII, and can hear major improvement with the 5.1. The video is 4:3 aspect ratio, but good quality and well shot and edited. Complete concert is on YT, the solo on Can't Win begins at 59:00 and was mentioned in another thread recently as a top three pick of all time, which sent me back to watch this again after many years. Richard Thompson Band – Live In Providence (2004, DVD) Tracklist Live In Providence 1 Tear Stained Letter 2 Gethsemane 3 Outside Of The Inside 4 Razor Dance 5 Al Bowlly's In Heaven 6 One Door Opens 7 Walking On A Wire 8 Shoot Out The Lights 9 Can't Win 10 1952 Vincent Black Lightning 11 Crawl Back 12 Man In Need 13 Jealous Words Bonus Selections: Archive Material 1981-2001 14 The Choice Wife 15 Just The Motion 16 Wall Of Death (Plus Interview) 17 When The Spell Is Broken 18 Did She Jump, Or Was She Pushed 19 Nearly In Love 20 Uninhabited Man 21 Persuasion
Iron Maiden – En Vivo! (Live At Estadio Nacional, Santiago) Label: UMe – B0016459-59 Format: Blu-ray, Multichannel, dts, Dolby Digital, 5.1, 2.0 Country: US Released: 26 Mar 2012 Genre: Rock Style: Hard Rock, Prog Rock, Heavy Metal Iron Maiden Live At Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile 1 Satellite 15 2 The Final Frontier 3 El Dorado 4 2 Minutes To Midnight 5 The Talisman 6 Coming Home 7 Dance Of Death 8 The Trooper 9 The Wicker Man 10 Blood Brothers 11 When The Wild Wind Blows 12 The Evil That Men Do 13 Fear Of The Dark 14 Iron Maiden 15 The Number Of The Beast 16 Hallowed Be Thy Name 17 Running Free Behind The Beast 18 Documentary 19 Satellite 15... The Final Frontier Promo Video (Dir. Cut) 20 The Making Of Satellite 15... The Final Frontier Promo 21 The Final Frontier World Tour Show Intro ------------------------------------------------------------------------ En Vivo is shot in Chile, and one thing the guys learned over the years, is South America loves them, and so a concert shot there makes perfect sense. This bluray (also dvd and cd) is from the Final Frontier album tour, and so we get plenty of Final Frontier songs.... it isn't a favourite Maiden album of mine, but I still rate it as an excellent album, so it's all good for me. This is available on Discogs from about $18 Iron Maiden – En Vivo! (Live At Estadio Nacional, Santiago) (2012, dts, Dolby Digital, 5.1, 2.0, Blu-ray) Amazon about $24 https://www.amazon.com/Vivo-Estadio-Nacional-Santiago-Blu-ray/dp/B006Z21ZGK Deep Discount about $24 (and a few other listings here also) iron maiden en vivo bl;uray - Google Search Anyway. Time is short and I am going to eat some dinner watching the first bit, so I'm going to be playing catch up .... but I reckon we'll be ok Dtshd master audio 5.1 Ed Force one flies over from front left to right rear. We have a series of single and multiscreen shots, showing the fans, the band, the video, the arena and all the groovy stuff. Satellite 15 plays over all the intro video and it is extremely effective, and a good builder for the to come. The video quality is essentially pristine. We have some rapid fire edits, because Steve seems to like that. Nice use of split screen ... It looks very very good. Final Frontier A great opener, and the band is in great form. El Dorado is again spot on. The crowd is huge, and hugely enthusiastic, and when Bruce tells scream for me Chile, or scream for me Santiago, they do, with no reservations. The crowd is a swirling mass of wildly enthusiastic Maiden fans.... and people try and say rock is dead. Two Minutes to Midnight races along and kicks some serious butt. The Talisman slows things up with a mellow acoustic opening. The crowd sort of slow handclaps, but the consummate frontman Bruce just gets them to do it in time, and then it kicks in like a Brahma Bull, and the crowd bursts into its frenzy again. The 5.1 is somewhat in line with the standard conceet mixes, but we do have some width and use of the rears. The acoustics did get some space. Bruce finally says hello and has a short chat. The he introduces Coming Home I always underestimate the tracks off this album. I know some folks don't like Dickinson, but I reckon he has a great voice. This is kind of like a Maiden power ballad, I guess, but I think the emphasis is on power, but it has a great melodic structure anyway. Dance Of Death triggers the now famous South American wooooah wooooah singalong. Again a bit of guitar action in the rears. As we move into the metal-folk section the crowd bounces in unison. For a bunch of old boys, they put on an energetic show, particularly, Bruce, Janick and Harris. Nicko is tearing it up behind the kit. At the end of Dance Bruce runs off stage, to get up top in his military jacket. The Trooper... although some folks are tired of this showing up on live concerts.... I'm not, great track, and always gets the crowd going. The Wicker Man comes straight in, and this is a great newer track, from the Brave New World album. You can see the energy powering the crowd and the band, as the feed each others enthusiasm. The crowd goes off...... Bruce talks to the crowd again, and ties in a few things to introduce Blood Brothers Another great track from Brave New World. This gets a suitable amount of audience singing and chanting as well. When The Wind Blows off the Final Frontier album... We have a guitar on the left side and right rear..... This is another excellent track. Some of this mix is actually immersive. More important to me, I can hear all the instruments clearly. For all the crap Shirley gets, I think he did a good job here. We move back in time again... The Evil That Men Do from Seventh Son. Cracking version, and we get the big Final Frontier Eddie come out. The crowd jumps into another chant Fear Of The Dark comes in, and the choir continues. A live favourite for a lot of years now. Flares going off in the crowd... a wild time had by everyone here. The only Maiden track I kinda wish they'd drop, but I guess they can't now... Iron Maiden The play it well, and in the second half a giant Final Frontier Eddie head and shoulders come up from behind the drums. We have rousing applause, cheers and chanting for the end of the set. As soon as the crowd hears "woe to you oh earth and sea..." they go bonkers Number Of The Beast More flares, more madness..... This really is a pretty solid mix, I like it a lot. Hallowed Be Thy Name brings more loud approval. As it kicks into high gear, everyone is bouncing. Great version. Straight into Running Free I think Bruce has gotten a lot better a singing the DiAnno stuff over the years. They are such different singers. I wasn't totally concentrating because I was typing, but I think the harmonised lead break was in the rears. We get band intros, interspersed with Running Free call and response with the audience. Just under 2 hours of great rock/hard rock/metal entertainment. Picks, drum skins and sticks hurled into the crowd and they start chanting again and we fade to the credits. This is a really good bluray. I think all round the quality is really very good, and the show is really top notch. You really feel the enthusiasm of the crowd, and the band reacting to it. If you love Maiden it is probably essential. I reckon even if your not sure about The Final Frontier as an album, this may sway you in its direction. The Wicker Man
I too heard him at about that time in Northampton, MA. A great concert, but the amazing think was that I also was able to listen to Linda, together with their son, in a smaller Northampton venue just a few days later, something quite rare since Linda has given very few live concerts since the breakup with Richard in the 1980s.
The Kinks – The Kinks At The BBC - Radio & TV Sessions And Concerts: 1964-1994 Label: Sanctuary Records – 279 721-8, Universal UMC – 279 721-8 Format: 5 × CD - DVD, NTSC Box Set, Limited Edition, Compilation Country: Europe Released: 21 Aug 2012 Genre: Rock Style: Classic Rock, Beat The Beat Room DVD1-1 You Really Got Me DVD1-2 Got Love If You Want It A Whole Scene Going DVD1-3 Sunny Afternoon Top Of The Pops DVD1-4 Lola Top Of The Pops DVD1-5 Ape Man Old Grey Whistle Test DVD1-6 Have A Cuppa Tea Top Of The Pops DVD1-7 Come Dancing The Late Show DVD1-8 Scattered Later With Jools Holland DVD1-9 Over The Edge DVD1-10 Informer DVD1-11 Till The End Of The Day Top Of The Pops DVD1-12 You Really Got Me Kinks At The Rainbow DVD1-13 Till The End Of The Day DVD1-14 Waterloo Sunset DVD1-15 Top Of The Pops DVD1-16 The Money-Go-Round DVD1-17 Sunny Afternoon DVD1-18 Virgin Soldiers DVD1-19 She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina DVD1-20 Alcohol DVD1-21 Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues DVD1-22 You Really Got Me In Concert DVD1-23 Victoria DVD1-24 Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues DVD1-25 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion DVD1-26 Lola DVD1-27 Holiday DVD1-28 Good Golly Miss Molly DVD1-29 You Really Got Me DVD1-30 Waterloo Sunset DVD1-31 The Village Green Preservation Society Old Grey Whistle Test DVD1-32 All Day And All Of The Night DVD1-33 Sleepwalker DVD1-34 Life Goes On DVD1-35 Stormy Sky DVD1-36 Celluloid Heroes DVD1-37 Muswell Hillbillies DVD1-38 Full Moon DVD1-39 Life On The Road DVD1-40 Juke Box Music Christmas Concert DVD1-41 Juke Box Music DVD1-42 Sleepwalker DVD1-43 Life On The Road DVD1-44 A Well Respected Man DVD1-45 Death Of A Clown DVD1-46 Sunny Afternoon DVD1-47 Waterloo Sunset DVD1-48 All Day And All Of The Night DVD1-49 Slum Kids DVD1-50 Celluloid Heroes DVD1-51 Get Back In Line DVD1-52 Schoolboys In Disgrace DVD1-53 Lola DVD1-54 Alcohol DVD1-55 Skin And Bone / Dry Bones DVD1-56 Father Christmas DVD1-57 You Really Got Me Late Night Line-Up DVD1-58 Interview With Ray & Dave... ---------------------------------------------------- I probably won't get all the way through this, I don't know, but this is a nicely packaged 5cd and 1 dvd set that covers pretty much everything the Kinks did at the BBC. Unfortunately out of print, but I managed to get a copy even if the price stung a little. It was still newly wrapped, so no fretting that someone had scarred the discs up. Discogs at the moment you can get it to your house for around $140/$150 .... I got this for the dvd, so I thought I would have a watch and see what we reckon. I have no idea what to expect, but I lean towards more archive type footage with very few bells and whistles, but we'll see.... The early stuff is black and white with a 4:3 ratio. The Beat Room 64 tracks are very clean picture, and I think anyone familiar with mid sixties video would be very happy with it. The audio is DD 2.0, which really isn't surprising. The soundtrack is quite low in volume, so I have it up a bit more than normal. The audio itself though is really quite good, and I was surprised to find the sub kicked in straight away. So You Really Got Me and Got Love If You Want It come across very well. A whole scene going on - Sunny Afternoon A little more grainy, but certainly not bad. A bit of a tape speed issue. Top of the pops 70 - Lola The picture is really good and clear, and in colour. During the click there are a few, but very few, of those old white lines. Top of the pops 71 - Apeman Clear and colour again. I think we have a live vocal here, and again it sounds good. Old grey whistle test 72 - Have a Cuppa Tea This is totally live ... Dave is sporting a beard.... I don't think I've seen that before. Good picture again, and the guys are having a bit of fun with this. Top of the pops 83 - Come Dancing Again a nice clean transfer. Looks good. The late show 93 - Scattered Solid picture again. A full live performance. Not a song I'm totally familiar with yet, but a solid performance. Later with Jools Holland - Over the edge Informer Till the end of the day Excellent picture, solid live sound. It's weird seeing them without Mick on the drums. A couple of good songs I'm still a little unfamiliar with. The second is kind of country/alt country and it's solid. Till the end of the day rocks. Top of the pops 94 - You Really Got Me Done in a grainy black and white intentionally. At the lead break the screen swirls and we launch into colour. A nice live take. Live at the Rainbow 72 We open with a few preshow things and then Till the end of the day. The video quality is very good. We get some of those seventies quick shot video edits from the cameras Waterloo Sunset Seems slightly slower. The piano is up in the mix. Solid. Top of the pops Starts with an interview, and the songs comes in with a video probably made in the studio from photos and applicable slot ins. It ends with another interview snippets. The Moneygoround This is a video made from film. Another interview snippet. Sunny Afternoon Back to the concert footage. Solid live performance. Virgin Soldiers A talk about the movie and the messing up of the song by the movie people. Then I presume the opening credits to the movie... which I presume is music by Ray... ah yes there is the credit on the screen "the virgin soldiers march" She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina A snippet of Mr Wonderful, and an intro for the horn section. We open up with the piano and Ray. In the second verse, the band joins in, and Dave brings his backing vocals in. Due to the track being such an unusual and dynamic arrangement the mix has some minor issues. Alcohol Mick gets introduced and then we get some more interview snippets. We visit the pub where the cover of Muswell Hillbillies was shot. The song starts, the mix here is very good. This comes over really well. Another interview snippet. We talk to a Pastor from Muswell Hill. The guys talk about the buildings being torn down. One gets torn down down behind Ray and the interviewer. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues This comes straight in after the building falls. This sounds excellent to, and Ray puts in a really solid vocal. You Really Got Me The guys rock out, closing credits roll. This is a good little doco, video, concert compile. In Concert 1973 This has a full band with the Kinks, the horn section and some backing vocalists. Victoria This gets the original album version, not the later One For The Road version. Really good version. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues Nice solid mix. Ray seems to be really in the zone here. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion Ray pulls the acoustic out, and leads us in. He's having fun with the crowd, and the crowd are with him. Lola Ray is really developing his stagecraft here. He is playing with the audience and it's entertaining. Solid mix on this concert. Holiday Another excellent performance. Good Golly Miss Molly This gives Dave a chance to take the mic. Dave knocks ot out of the park. Really lively version. You Really Got Me/All Day and All Of the Night Again good stuff. Waterloo Sunset This version is more like the studio version. Nothing can capture the exquisite studio version, but this is a really good version. Village Green Preservation Society A little slower than the studio version. Ray and Dave singing the unison vocal really nicely. We get the horn section adding some nice embellishments. Old grey whistle test 77 Intro from the host. Says the first the band have a warm up. You Really Got Me We have very good video again. The sound is really solid. We get the All Day And All Of The Night segue. Nice tight sound here. We get the show intro. The announcers intro, and we move into Sleepwalker We open with Ray on guitar, the bass and drums, and Dave comes in with the riff. Builds up nicely, and sounds good. Running out of time here. Kinks Christmas Concert 77 Juke Box Music It sounds like the first song comes in partway through. We have a very good picture, and this has very solid sound and mix. The old grey whistle test guy comes out to introduce this after the first section of song. Alan Freeman joins in as well. Shaving cream pies are thrown. Look I want to watch all of this, but it is about three hours and forty five minutes of stuff on here, and I am going to have to take it in sections. If you love the Kinks, then this set is probably one you want to check out. For me the dvd is worth it just from what I have seen. I have wanted that 73 concert for a long time, and the two concerts I didn't really get through look and sound like they will be enjoyable for me. There is no surround track, but these are tv specials, so that isn't surprising. Essentially all the video footage is good quality, and if you don't have the BBC stuff that's on the cd's, then that is probably worth it for the Kinks fan also. I like the breadth of songs covered here, because I like the whole career, I don't really sit in with one era of the band. Obviously the only issue is the fact that as another out of print set, it is a little higher in price. With what is coming out these days though, the price isn't really that big of a deal in comparison. My copy was still new and wrapped... Anyway, love the Kinks, and I had to have this. The Kinks Live in 1973 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1J2OkCPqk8
With Friends At St David's Live Performance by Marillion Released Nov 6, 2020 Recorded Nov 16, 2019 Venue St. David’s Hall, Cardiff Genre Progressive Rock Label Ear Music Marillion went on tour with a quartet (In Praise of Folly) plus two other classical musicians (French horn and flute) in support of the F.E.A.R., which resulted in the concert video Live at the Royal Albert Hall. The same eleven musicians then went into the studio to produce an album With Friends From The Orchestra in 2019, which was comprised of reworked versions of older material They then went on tour again in support of that album, which resulted in With Friends at St David’s. They also added two more added two more orchestral version of old songs "Gaza" and "Zeparated Out") to the setlist. Personnel Marillion Steve Hogarth – lead vocals, hammered dulcimer Steve Rothery – guitar, Pete Trewavas – bass, additional vocals Mark Kelly – keyboards Ian Mosley – drums In Praise Of Folly String Quartet Margaret Hermant - Violin Maia Frankowski - Violin Nicole Miller - Viola Annemie Osborne – Cello Other Guests Emma Halnan– Flute Sam Morris – French Horn Track Listing 1. Gaza 18:54 2. Beyond You 6:31 3. Seasons End 10:56 4. Estonia 8:37 5. The Hollow Man 5:23 6. The New Kings 17:05 7. The Sky Above The Rain 11:31 8. Zeparated Out 9:45 9. Ocean Cloud 18:58 10. Fantastic Place 6:41 11. This Strange Engine 17:14 12. Man Of 1000 Faces (live in Paris) Version Control It was released as 2 CDs, 2 DVDs, 2 blurays, and 3 LPs. The second disc of both the DVD and blurays sets have a 5.1 mix of the studio album With Friends From Orchestra. I have the bluray which was just released in the US for cheap. Amazon. Actually, the price has gone up – but it’s still cheap. The Concert Great bluray video quality with ultra widescreen. The audio is PCM stereo and DTS- HD 5.1 “Gaza” From Sounds That Can't Be Made. In front, we’ve go Trewavas on the left and Rothery on the right. Hogarth starts out on the right side oof Rothery, but moves to center soon thereafter. In back, it’s the quartet+2 in the middle, Mosley on the left, and Kelly on the right. Big screen in back of the stage. The surround mix has Hogarth vocals in center channel. The rears have reverb with more strings than anything else. There are some sound effects towards the end that seem to stay in front. Hogarth has a guitar and I dare say he actually plays it sometimes. Backing vocals from Trewavas. “Beyond You” From Afraid of Sunlight. The quartet starts it off, Hogarth and Trewavas join in – lots of bass in the back. Drums, keys, guitar, horn and flute come in briefly after about two minutes. But then back to strings, bass, and vocals. Another round with the whole band, and then a finish with just strings. “Seasons End” From Seasons End. Rothery carries the tune to start with accompaniment from the quartet, Hogarth and the rest join in, with the horn coming in last. Hogarth moves back with his orchestral friends so he can hammer his dulcimer. We get both guitar and horn solos. Slows down to plucking from both Rothery and one of the violinists, keys in the rear, and a very nice orchestral finish. Nice video on screen and lights too. “Estonia” From This Strange Engine. After a lengthy intro from Hogarth, the Friends (aka quartet+2) start it off, then Rothery and Trewavas take over, and Hogarth sings, drums and keys too. “The Hollow Man” From Brave. Hogarth back behind the dulcimer. He plays and sings with the Friends and Kelly helping out. Rothery, Trewavas, and Mosley come in after a few minutes. “The New Kings” From F.E.A .R. Quartet starts it off, Hogarth sings from in front, then keys, horn, and flute, with bass drums and guitar coming in last. Long piece with a lot of changes. This song was also on Live at the Royal Albert Hall, and I think the video on screen is the same. “The Sky Above The Rain” From Sounds That Can't Be Made. Hogarth and Kelly start it off, then guitar, cello, and finally everyone else. Hogarth spends some more time behind the dulcimer, lots of nice guitar work from Rothery. The Friends get a a passage on their own, and Hogarth ends with a guitar in his hands but I am once again sceptical about whether or not he is actually playing it. “Zeparated Out” From Anoraknophobia (original version was entitled “Separated Out”). Starts with a video on screen (seems to be an old B&W movie colored black and pink), keys in front, and narration in the back. Then the band starts rocking. Hogarth has a tambourine and yes he is playing it. Backing vocals from both Kelly and Trewavas. Then they break into Led Zep “Kashmir”, which is very cool – the quartet stands up to play it. Rothery finishes with flaming guitar solo. I don’t have this album, so I have no idea how much resemblance this performance has to the original song, but I figure the Kashmir thing is what got the S changed to a Z. “Ocean Cloud” From Marbles. Sound effects in front, Hogarth, Rothery and Trewavas start it off. Ocean scenery on screen, the quartet comes in, then drums and keys, flute and horn last of all. Hogarth back behind the dulcimer; I think he has a keyboard there too. Another long piece with lots of changes, lots with Rothery in the lead and the quartet too. There’s video with narration again, but this time the narration comes from in front. Trewavas with a solo. Screen and light combo pretty good on this one. Fades to sound effects. “Fantastic Place” From With Friends From The Orchestra. Most of the songs played at this concert are also on this studio album, but I think this one was the only new one. The quartet lays it down, Hogarth sings, and Rothery plays above it all. Floating figure on screen. “This Strange Engine” From This Strange Engine. Hogarth is playing a cricket bat, Rothery really plays guitar, horn solo, bass solo, keyboard solo. It’s another long piece. End of concert “Man Of 1000 Faces” From This Strange Engine. This is a bonus track, recorded in Paris in December. The stage layout is the same, except there’s an eight person choir behind Kelly. The mix is stereo only, and the choir is barely audible Rothery plays acoustic guitar. The video contrast is a little funky. _________ This concert picks up where Live at the Royal Albert Hall left off. There’s a three song overlap (counting the bonus track), but it’s mostly different material. However, it has selections from a broader range of albums; Albert Hall is dominated by songs from F.E.A.R. I’ll rate it exactly the same; not quite top marks for the music, a point for surround, plus top marks for everything else. What makes this purchase more attractive than the other one is the second, which has a studio album with a surround mix. Mark reviewed that on surround thread #2. I might not have known the second disc had video had he not mentioned it – I was just going to rip it. The highlight is the first track, which is a studio performance of “Estonia” in black and white. The rest of it are mostly the same videos that are seen on screen in the concert. I don’t think they are in the same league as the Gentle Giant videos (well the best ones anyway), but the last two for “Season’s End” and “Ocean Cloud” are very good. Music – 2.5 Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 3 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
Today, on the 50th anniversary, I'm watching the Concert for Bangladesh film on the 2005 DVD in DTS 5.1. This is probably my favorite concert film of all time. The 5.1 mix spreads the sound field across the front 3 channels, the center speaker is used fully and to great advantage, with bass & drums in your face along with the expected vocals & guitar. While My Guitar Gently Weeps has Billy Preston's B-3 left, George center, Clapton right, just as they are positioned on stage. The outro with Eric & George trading licks is epic. Rears mostly "ambience & audience", but create an immersive concert hall vibe. The video aspect ratio is 4:3 from the film release, the camera work and editing capture the stage action well. The Concert for Bangladesh (film) - Wikipedia The Concert For Bangladesh (2005, Region1 Box Set, DVD)
Welcome 2 America Deluxe Edition [Blu-spec CD2] [w/ Blu-ray, Limited Edition] Prince 6000yen (6600yen Tax incl. in Japan) US$ 55.07 Welcome 2 America Deluxe Edition [Blu-spec CD2] [w/ Blu-ray, Limited Edition] Prince CD Album Blu-Ray (region free) Joy In Repetition Brown Skin (India.Arie cover) 17 Days Shhh Controversy Theme From “Which Way Is Up” (Stargard cover) What Have You Done For Me Lately (Janet Jackson cover) Partyman It’s Alright (Graham Central Station cover) Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan cover) Misty Blue (Eddy Arnold cover) Let’s Go Crazy Delirious 1999 Little Red Corvette Purple Rain The Bird (The Time cover/Prince comp) Jungle Love (The Time cover/Prince comp) A Love Bizarre (Sheila E cover/Prince comp Kiss Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover) Hollywood Swingin’ (Kool & the Gang cover) Fantastic Voyage (Lakeside cover) More Than This (Roxy Music cover) Cd/ 2Lp / bluray version from Prince website $99 https://store.prince.com/product/5QLPPR064/welcome-2-america-deluxe-2lp-1cd-bluray?cp=103229_109595 Blu-Ray of Prince’s full April 28, 2011 performance at the Forum, part of the Welcome 2 America Tour’s historic 21 Nite Stand in Los Angeles. The show is presented in stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos, and includes 24 tracks from across Prince’s career, from his biggest hits to fan favorites to ten rare covers. Don't knoiw how much time I have so I'm just diving on in here Joy In Repetition We get quite a long opening. A pause. Some synth sound effects, in the sides. The band starts with a slow piano led groove, and it's excellent. At this stage the stage is very dark, there is a blue tint. Most of the shots are clear, a couple of put of focus shots, a couple of minor visual artifacts. Prince comes on stage, he does the very cool ham routine. The audience loves it. We get an excellent version of Joy in Repetition. While the lights are up, the picture is excellent. We have a nice widescreen shot. Not really much ADD editing to speak of. Really happy with the picture quality, certainly not bootleg like in any way. Brown Skin (India.Arie cover) One of Prince's lady singers does this one, and very well. Prince plays some excellent guitar. 17 Days The 5.1 is essentially just ambience. The audio is very good though. Solid sub, but it isn't obliterating the mids and high end. The audio is clear and solid, it sounds like a very good mix to me. Of course the band is shizzle hot... it's a Prince band. Shhh Prince himself seems keen to play some music, and is singing at the top of his game. The stage looks like one of those in the round stages. The band is slightly recessed in the centre. It's a solid set up. The lighting is on the dark side, sticking with the blue tones (I believe the hardest colour to compress for video) with accent colours. On this track Prince gets a red spot in places and it's very effective. This guys a great drummer. Not super familiar with these early songs, but they come over really well. At the end of the song we get a synth sound effects swirl around us. Cymbals in the sides and rears. Controversy This is more my Prince era. Some more nice synth slides across the rears. The lighting takes a green tint. Prince being the only guitarist shows us how solid his rhythm guitar chops. The vocal is a little talky, but the groove is enough to knock down a house. We get virtually the whole track, not one of those concert edits he does. Theme From “Which Way Is Up” (Stargard cover) We head straight in here, and it keeps that pulsing grinding groove going. What Have You Done For Me Lately (Janet Jackson cover) We slide straight into here as well. The girls singing these two songs, and Prince sticking to his guitar. The girls lay down some of those Morris Day dance moves. Partyman We jam our way to here, Prince gets back on the mic. It’s Alright (Graham Central Station cover) We roll straight into this as well. This is party central at the moment. As always we get to see and hear how well drilled Prince's band is. A nod here and a look there, and they follow directly. The jam party comes to an end. Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan cover) One of the girls plays some really nice piano, and the others share the vocals.... I was hoping for Prince, but they are doing an excellent job, and the harmonies are very good. Even better, they are singing the song, not having an athletics competition. We get a dramatic pause. They bring it home really nicely. Misty Blue (Eddy Arnold cover) This is a great song, I was hoping Prince was going to do this one. The bald lady leads the vocal here, and does a great job. We have like Supremes type set up with the lead singer, and 3 back up vocalists. Solid version Let’s Go Crazy The keys kick in straight away. It's an extended keyboard, Prince rises out of the stage. For the fashion icons reading, Prince's outfit here is pretty awesome. Glittery pants. Big collar mustardy gold shirt. A razzle dazzle waistcoat. Short version a short but of lead guitar Delirious This comes straight in. We get a jammy version of this, with a great electric piano from one of the ladies. We get a Let's go crazy reprise and Prince slams out part of the outro lead 1999 We roll straight into this. We get some really nice rhythm/lead from Prince here, he really seems to be having a blast. The crowd is obviously loving this. They don't overwhelm the stage, but they are present. This is a well mixed show I reckon. Pretty much the full song. Little Red Corvette We transition straight into this. Slightly rough, but not bad. The stage is actually the symbol, and Prince comes down the gangway for the first time. He gets the crowd to sing a bit. Prince works the crowd a bit with the whole stage. This is the most complete LRC I have seen on a video so far, which is very pleasing. This really is a classic song. We get some adlibbing and vocalising. Purple Rain We open with latter day instrumental arrangement with the piano and keys. Prince has a talk, and then does some guitar improv. The crowd starts singing the outro vocal. Prince gets them all to sing it, and plays a little guitar. Then moves into the first verse. Really excellent, heartfelt version. Prince pulls his guitar round, and lays it down. On cue the crowd sings the outro. I don't care whether it's cool or not anymore, but this is a magnificent song, and none of the live versions I have heard have failed to move me. Prince is riffing with the crowd, and it's great. He whips he finger across his throat they all stop. The we get a pumping little build up, and he counts them back in... he even has the crowd trained. Pretty awesome stuff this. He winds it up throws that beautiful tele into the orchestra pit, and we get the outro The Bird (The Time cover/Prince comp) We open with a beat, it sits for a minute, Prince comes put in a white suite, with big furry boots. We roll into the song. A whole bunch of folks on stage and were back in party mode. Jungle Love (The Time cover/Prince comp) Straight into this. A Love Bizarre (Sheila E cover/Prince comp Straight into this too. This brings this little medley to a close. Kiss We get the opening guitar, and a bit of a keyboard jam. This is a little bit like a remix, but not too far removed from the original to be enjoyable. Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover) Hollywood Swingin’ (Kool & the Gang cover) Fantastic Voyage (Lakeside cover) More Than This (Roxy Music cover) Look I ran out of time. There are some occasional minor visual things, a squiggle here and there, but nothing mjaor. The video is a nice solid smooth edit, rather than an ADD masterclass in whiplash editing, and that suits me fine. For the most part the visual aspect is excellent. Aside from a couple of little things this is a stereo mix, with ambience in the rears, but it sounds like a very solid mix to me. I am very very happy with this concert disc. I have a few now, and this may be the best quality one. I really enjoy the others, but for example, I'm not a big fan of the skits in Sign Of the Times. I reckon this is excellent. For the record I really quite like the album too. I think it has very good sound too, but the Japan copy is bluspec, whatever that is
Returns: Live at Montreux 2008 Live Performance by Return to Forever Released Nov 3, 2017 Recorded 18 July 2008 and 31 July 2008 Venues Stravinski Auditorium, Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Florida Genre Jazz Fusion Length 149 min Label Eagle Rock Producers Return to Forever Returns is a live album by the fusion band Return to Forever. Released in 2009 by Eagle Records, it is the first recording by the band after a hiatus of 32 years. Also in 2009 a video recording of the band's live performances from the "Returns" tour at Montreux, Switzerland and (bonus material) Clearwater, Florida was released by Eagle Rock Entertainment as Return to Forever – Returns: Live at Montreux 2008. Personnel Al Di Meola – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Chick Corea – Yamaha grand piano C3MP, Rhodes Midi Piano Mark V, synthesizers (Minimoog Voyager, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Yamaha Motif) Stanley Clarke – electric bass, acoustic bass Lenny White – drums Track Listing Main show – Montreaux 1. Introduction 2. "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" (Chick Corea) 3. "Vulcan Worlds" (Stanley Clarke) 4. "Sorceress" (Lenny White) 5. "Song to the Pharaoh Kings" (Corea) 6. Al's solo 7. "No Mystery" (Corea) 8. "Chick's Solo 9. "Romantic Warrior" (Corea) 10. "El Bayo de Negro" (Stanley's solo) 11. "Lineage" (Lenny's solo) 12. "Romantic Warrior" (conclusion) (Corea) Bonus tracks –Clearwater, Florida 13. "Lineage" (Lenny's solo) 14. Al's solo 15. "Friendship" (Chick's solo) 16. "El Bayo de Negro" (Stanley's solo) 17. "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" (Corea) Version Control The CD version is quite different from the video – it’s not as long and most of the tracks are from the Florida concert. The concert video was released on both DVD and bluray; I have the bluray. Still available new, but I got it for under $20 last year. Amazon. The Concert Excellent bluray video with LPCM stereo, and 5.1 in both DD and DTS-HD formats. I bought this about the same time I picked up a Pat Metheny concert video, and I got both for the purpose of diversifying my video collection. I’ve got a couple of RTF CDs – Rainbow Warrior and a complilation. "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" From Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. Di Meola, Clarke, and Corea are lined up in front, White is in back behind and a little between Di Meola and Clarke. Clark playing electric bass, Corea on his main keyboard, but he has three others including the synth on his left, a real piano on his right, plus a small keyboard stacked above the center keyboard. Di Meola is mixed on the left, while Corea is on the right. The 5.1 mix uses the rear speakers to widen the stage, so Di Meola and Corea are far left and right, respectively. Bass and drums are both in front, but the drums pan a bit at times. "Vulcan Worlds" From Where Have I Known You Before. Another smooth tune I’ve never heard before. Corea uses the little keyboard on top a little more, and also slides over to use the synth for a bit. Still has Di Meola on the left, Corea on the right, and Clark in the middle. Drums jump around a bit. "Sorceress" From Romantic Warrior. Now we’re into their big hit song, well sort of. Corea starts off with synth, then switches back to his main keyboard when the rest of the band comes in. Di Meola plays some blues, and now I remember why I like this. Corea switches to piano. "Song to the Pharaoh Kings" From Where Have I Known You Before. Corea starts off on synth again, with echo. He is still mixed over on the right even though he is playing solo. Uses the little keyboard on top some too - playing two handed on both keyboards. Di Meola comes in after a few minutes, and then then bass and drums come in at least a minute after that. Di Meola gets a long solo, and so does White. Goes on for a long time after that - it’s a long piece. “Al's solo” This is the first of four (one for each band member) solo pieces that are new as near as I can tell. Di Meola has an acoustic guitar for the first time, and Clarke has a string bass. But Corea starts it out on piano and they play low key for about minute before Di Meola and he is mixed more to the center – using the left front and center speakers. "No Mystery" From No Mystery. Di Meola with a different acoustic guitar – actually seems like he has a different guitar just about every song. He’s mixed back on the far left again. Corea still playing piano on the right, Clarke on string bass – using a bow part of the time. Lots of cymbal action in the right rear. Only clip I could find: "Chick's Solo” Corea is on the piano in the center channel. He plucks and bangs the strings with a mallet a bit with one hand, but then gets down to business two-handed – playing solo. Clarke (still with string bass) and White join at the end. "Romantic Warrior" From Romantic Warrior. Corea still on piano, Di Meola back with acoustic guitar, Clarke still with string bass using bow, White mainly sticking with the cymbals at the beginning then picks it up. "El Bayo de Negro" (Stanley's solo) A string bass solo, and he’s plucking. I really like Stanley Clarke – he’s my best known member of the group, but I really just couldn’t get into this until Corea on piano and White finally joined in. "Lineage" (Lenny's solo) OK, this is even less interesting. Drum solos should hardly ever last more than two minutes. I mean, I’ll give Neal Peart four minutes – but that’s really pushing it. "Romantic Warrior" From Romantic Warrior. White starts it up, and we’re still all acoustic up front. Clarke gets the bow out again. Bonus tracks Most of the tracks here are also on the other set (all the solos over again, why?), except for this one: "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" From Romantic Warrior. The video doesn’t use the whole screen, and besides that it’s split screen with five different cameras, one of which is black and white. Have to assume this concert wasn’t shot in high res. This song is more like the beginning of the Geneva concert with an all electric front – Corea starts out on the synth then moves to the main keyboard. Really nice solo by Di Meola and Clarke sounds really good too. This may actually be my favorite thing on here. ________ I definitely like the songs with electric instrumentation the best - the first five, plus that last bonus track. The rest of it, and especially the solos I found to be less entertaining. But it’s not like jazz fusion is my main thing – I’m sure it would much more worthwhile for someone who is more into it. In any case, I got what I expected out of it. The surround mix is what I’d call a rudimentary stage envelope strategy – Di Meola and Corea wrap around the back. Definitely a better than average mix – not going to give it full marks but it will go on my surround list. No stage show – just musicians playing. Music – 2.0 (that’s an average) Sound quality – 3 Video presentation – 2 Video quality – 3 Surround – 2
