Concert  

If you are a fan of Sheryl Crow, you will love this release. The band that she has performing with her on this tour is superb and really drives the music and worth the price of admission. However, as much as she tries, Sheryl Crow’s voice is just not strong enough to get out in front of the music and drive it forward. Nor is her stage presence all that strong. I found her to be just too laid back, despite the excellent work of the band, which is the real star of this performance.

The concert was filmed in November 2010 at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. While I have never been there, it sure looks like a real gem of a theater and a real art deco treasure dating back to 1930. Next time I am in LA, I will have to check it out. The Blu-ray release features 18 total tracks in order of appearance: Our Love is Fading, A Change Would Do You Good, 100 MIles From Memphis, Can’t Cry Anymore, Strong Enough, Summer Day, My Favorite Mistake, Redemption Day, Long Road Home, Every Day Is A Winding Road, Sideways, Roses And Moonlight, If It Makes You Happy, Soak Up The Sun, Peaceful Feeling, All I Wanna Do/Got To Give It Up, I Want You Back and I Shall Believe. The set is heavy on an R & B flavor that I had not associated with her music before and which I found to be really infectious, especially given how well the material was performed by this nine piece band.

If you are a fan, you will really enjoy this release. I know that I did,even with my misgivings noted above as well as below.

Video  

The video on this release is superb and some of the best I have yet seen on a Blu-ray concert release. The image is at all times razor sharp and loaded with fine details, from skin textures, the tassels on Sheryl Crow’s shirt, to the smudges on the face of the guitars, it is all visible on this release. I have seen other releases that are just as sharp at times as this release is, but with camera shots that can get a bit soft at times, especially crowd shots and distant shots. Not here. The image throughout the entire release is razor sharp. Colors are very natural looking as well and nicely saturated. All in all, this is a great looking release and one that should be a thrill for her fans.

Audio  

With one misgiving, I found the audio on this release to be superb. The audio was well mixed with deep bass and pin point imaging. Instrument placement across the front soundstage was superb. Imaging and transparency were both excellent with the result being a sound field of excellent depth, both from front to back and side to side. Overall fidelity was very good as well. The surrounds were used often and aggressively to create a nice immersive sound field, placing you in the Pantages Theater during the concert, although I did feel that a bit too much of the music was bleeding its way into the surrounds for my taste.

The main issue I had with the release and the reason I had to knock the overall score down a peg, was the mixing of Sheryl Crow’s vocal, which was too buried in the mix for my taste, so much so that it was almost lost in the mix at times. I know that this is not the result of the recording as the vocal in the two channel LCPM track included with the release had a much more pronounced vocal smack dab in the center of the mix and more out in front of the music. But for a better job mixing the center channel, the audio on this release, at least the 5.1 mix, would have garnered a higher score. While I greatly preferred the DTS HD Master Audio track, I also switched to the 2 channel mix, which I found to be a bit too bright and lacking the soundstaging, dynamics and bass response of the lossless multichannel mix, which is the real winner here and how this concert recording should be experienced in my opinion.

Special Features 

The only extra included with this release is a behind the scenes look at the filming of the concert and features rehearsal versions of two songs, Eye To Eye and Stop which were not included in the concert tracks. The behind the scenes featurette is presented in high definition.

Final Thoughts  

While not a huge fan of Sheryl Crow, I nonetheless enjoyed this concert release due in large measure to her wonderful supporting cast and feel that fans will be more than pleased with this release. Recommended for fans only.

Film

The editing style of the opening has shots and scenes crashing against each other with non-diegetic sound f/x of metal and explosions, attempting to make the proceeding life story all the more intense to witness. What follows that is not so much an explosive tale, but more a cavalcade of weak pop songs that do not have the strength to carry the film alone so they are separated by Bieber being smug as a young celebrity, him being a brat in his pre-fame days, and far too many shirtless shots for my comfort.

There are two stories being told in this film. The first being the biography of Bieber, the other a day by day countdown to his sold out show at Madison Square Garden. I can forgive much of Bieber’s aforementioned smugness and brattiness to him being an adolescent who has been launched into super stardom. I even managed to alter my opinion of him slightly when I saw that he is actually capable behind a drum kit. Beyond that, this is a film solely for one of his squealing fans and I am not a part of that flock.

Video

Widescreen 1.78:1. Despite having to fight against aged home videos and a fleet of stage lights, the picture quality comes off very well. The only traces of fuzziness are backgrounds during the concert scenes or the expected haze of showing a cheaply shot youtube video on an HD screen. Beyond that, Justin’s heavily tailored image is clear.

Audio

English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio as well as 5.1 Dolby Surround in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Oh my, how I am forcibly immersed into the constant screams of his fans. Being a concert film, the sound is always crucial and all of Bieber’s mediocre pop tunes come through with plenty of clarity, as well as the similar mediocrity of guests Usher, Miley Cyrus and the like.

Subtitles available in English,French, Spanish and Portuguese

Special Features

Concert Sance off: Essentially an extended scene. A full look at Beiber’s dance crew getting a chance to demonstrate their dance moves. Entertaining enough, and it is one of the few tings on this disc that doesn’t not incessantly praise Bieber.

Favorite Girl: The complete ballad where Bieber starts off suspending over the crowd in a giant metal heart.

R.I.P Hair Flip: Bieber’s haircut was just about as famous as himself. This documents said haircut being removed, filmed on what might have been a phone camera.

Giving Back: Another extended scene from when two of his handlers hand out tickets to random fans. A very nice gesture and great way to get screaming/crying girls on camera, and from the point of view of the filmmakers, it pays for itself as far as that is concerned since they want to display as much Bieber hysteria as possible.

DVD copy of the film.

Digital Copy of the film.

BD-Live

Final Thoughts

Young people have been pre-sold on this formula for a long time. This film is more polished than his image, and said image is manufactrued to the point that it is hardly decipherable from the previous pop sensation, nor the one that will follow in the next two years or less.

The concert was being performed at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia and being broadcast live on the radio. He performed most of the songs on the album and a few others he had yet to record, including The Ballad of BIlly the Kid and the beautiful and moving Rosalinda (Memo to Billy or his handlers, please release this concert on CD, if just for Rosalinda, one of the most beautiful pieces of music he has ever written. Why he never released is is beyond me. If you are unfamiliar with it, look it up on You Tube). I loved the concert and in particular, the song Captain Jack, which became a radio hit in Philadelphia.

The Cold Spring Harbor album was a disaster as it was mastered improperly and Billy left the business and was playing at the Piano Bar at the Empire Room in Los Angeles, not knowing that Captain Jack had become a hit in Philadelphia. The song eventually came to the attention of Columbia Records, who signed him to a recording contract and the rest, as they say, is history. While his live shows were always great and had excellent sound, I always found his recordings, whether in studio or in concert to have mediocre audio and video. The Live at Yankee Stadium DVD for example looks and sounds awful. With HD and lossless audio codecs, I was hoping that this would change so I was eagerly awaiting the release of the Live at Shea Stadium Blu-ray, hoping it would be a huge improvement over Billy Joel’s prior video releases. Unfortunately, other than the video, it falls short, way short.

Concert 

At the time of the concerts which form the basis of this release, namely July 16th and 17th, 2008, Billy Joel had reached the big six oh as in 60 years old. Not surprisingly, he has lost a step on two, especially vocally, since he was in his prime in the 1970′s and 1980′s. He no longer really has the vocal range to do some of his material, which is why Say Goodbye to Hollywood and the hits from his doo wop homage recording, An Innocent Man were not performed at these shows. Nevertheless, while falling a bit short of his best, this is on the whole a fine show with a song list that is fairly representative of his entire career, with a few tunes included that casual fans might not be all that familiar with.

The concert includes a total of 25 songs in order of appearance: Prelude/Angry Young Man, My Life, Summer, Highland Falls, Everybody Loves You Now, Zanzibar, New York State of Mind (with Tony Bennett), Allentown, The Ballad of BIlly The Kid, She’s Always a Woman, Goodnight Saigon, Miami 2017, Shameless (With Garth Brooks), This is The Time (With John Mayer on guitar), Keeping the Faith, Captain Jack, Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel), The River of Dreams/A Hard’s Day Night, We Didn’t Start The Fire, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, Only The Good Die Young, I Saw Her Standing There, Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Piano Man and Let It Be.

The highlights of the concert have to be the two songs performed by Paul McCartney, I saw Her Standing There and Let It Be, both of which are sensational. As a fan, I am most fond of Billy’s albums from Turnstiles to The Nylon Curtain, which I view as his best, so it would have been great to have included I’ve Loved These Days from Turnstiles (although 4 of the 8 songs from that album are included, Just The Way You Are from The Stranger and a few others I could mention. I could have done without the Sinatraesque vocals on New York State of Mind and felt that his vocals on She’s Always A Woman and Only The Good Die Young to fall a good bit short of his best (perhaps he was worn out a bit).

Being from Philadelphia, I have heard him perform Captain Jack much better than he does here. He used to perform it with a bit of jazz piano mixed in which is now totally gone. On the plus side, the addition of the string section sounded great on a few of the tunes such as Lullabye, The Ballad of Billy The Kid. The addition of the horn section was notable too and as a result, Zanzibar from 52nd Street sounded sensational. I am sure that most fans will find this set and the performances to be great. However, I find that his current band, pales in comparison to band that he toured with in his prime. Missing are the deep and energetic bass lines of the late Doug Stegmeyer. Billy’s current drummer just doesn’t stack up well with Liberty DeVito, who was as much a part of Billy’s sound as Billy was. I don’t know why Billy and Liberty parted ways, but if Billy ever tours again, which is questionable given his double hip replacement and other health issues, bring back Liberty. Your sound is just not the same without him. Recommended for fans only.

Video  

While the video on this release is good, I was expecting better. The video features bright and bold colors and deep blacks. Where I feel that it falls short is in the level of clarity and detail, as the image is a tad on the soft side, lacking the fine detail of great looking recent concert discs such as The Jeff Beck Rock N Roll Party I have reviewed here, or the new Harry Connick, Jr. Live on Broadway disc which looks sensational. I don’t know why the video features this softness. Perhaps it is because of the cold moist mist that was being blown rather heavily onto the stage both nights to provide some degree of comfort to the band on two very hot evenings.

I found some of the framing of the image to be a bit odd and not really taking full advantage of the wider screen format that HD offers. I also found a bit of noise in some of the darker portions of the image. While the image overall is good, it just falls a bit short of the quality that I had been expected and certainly falls short of some of the newer concert releases I have seen on Blu-ray.

Audio  

While I was a little disappointed with the video, I was really shocked with how poor the multichannel audio is here. Not to sugar coat it, it really sucks. This is the first concert disc that I have heard on Blu-ray were I actually prefer the PCM uncompressed (24/96) stereo mix to the multichannel mix, which in this case is offered as uncompressed PCM 5.1 at 24/96 and Dolby Digital 5.1. And by a wide margin. The PCM stereo track sounds like a decent CD and has much better bass, dynamics and center fill than the multichannel tracks have. However, it is not without its faults, including a congested overall sound and a poorly mixed, for the most part, lead guitar track.

Both multichannel tracks sound dreadful, with no dynamics and almost no bass at all. It is amazing to hear the difference in the low end when switching back and forth between the two. The bass lines and the kick of the bass drum just vanishes. I also found Billy’s vocals on the mutlichannel tracks to sound thin and hollow compared to the stereo track, with his lower register simply not there. The audio on tis release really needs to be redone, it is that bad. Experiment if you want but, you will be better off sticking with the stereo, even though it lacks the enveloping sound of the 5.1 mix.

Special Features  

The extras consist of three bonus songs, all with special guests. In order of appearance they are Walk This Way with Steven Tyler, My Generation with Roger Daltry and Pink Houses with John Mellancamp. All of the songs were performed with Billy’s Band. BIlly disappeared during Walk This Way, sang backup vocals on My Generation and played the piano on Pink Houses. Both Steven Tyler and John Mellancamp were in fine vocal form but Roger Daltry for some reason, stuttered his way through My Generation, which was the least pleasing of the three extra songs, at least for me.

Final Thoughts  

To say that I was disappointed by the audio on this release would be an understatement as this release gets my nomination for the worst multichannel concert recording on Blu-ray to date. Recommended for fans only.

While there are quite a few with truly superb sound, most are far from ideal, as they fail to utterly transport you to the venue, to enable you to experience the concert, as if you were there live. Well, the release that is the subject of this review succeeds in doing just that, taking you right into the concert venue to experience the show in all of its you are there splendor, in this case, the intimate Iridium Jazz Club In New York.

Concert 

Simply put, this concert and all aspects of this release are simply superb. On June 9, 2010, a concert was held to pay tribute to Les Paul, one of the founding fathers of not only Rock ‘N” Roll, but of the electric guitar itself, as well as multi-track recording, the use of echo and reverb and quite a few other firsts. The concert was held at New York’s Iridium Jazz Club, a cozy 200 seat venue in the basement beneath a diner where Les Paul held court once a week for years.

The concert was put together by Jeff Beck, whom many rank as the world’s greatest guitarist who was a close friend of the late Les Paul who passed away in 2009 at the age of 95. The show features a great band, a great horn section, guest appearances by Gary U.S. Bonds, Trombone Shorty and Brian Setzer. As good as Jeff Beck and the rest of the band and quests were, the highlight of the show for me was the singing of Imelda May, who I had never heard of before viewing this disc. She is simply superb with a great voice and even better vocal styling. Man, can she sing and is capable of singing every style of music you can imagine, from Blues to Rock to Rockabilly, R & B and Jazz, all of which she covers here.

All in all, there are a total of 27 songs presented on this release. The track list is as follows: Baby Let’s Play House, Double Talkin’ Baby, Cruisin, Train Kept A Rollin’, Poor Boy, Cry Me A River, My Baby Left Me, How High The Moon, Sitting On Top Of The World, Bye, Bye Blues, The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise, Vaya Con Dios, Mockin’ Bird Hill, I’m A Fool To Care, Tiger Rag, Peter Gunn, Rocking Is Our Business, Apache, Sleep Walk, New Orleans, Walking In The Sand, Please Mr. Jailer, Casting My Spell On You, Twenty Flight Rock, The Girl Can’t Help It, Rock Around The Clock and Shake, Rattle & Roll. This is quite a set list and was put together by Jeff Beck to honor his long time friend and the music he helped inspire. The set list is one great tune after another and all performed superbly, and each designed the bring the house down.

If you can keep you feet from tapping away during this concert, to quote from an old Louis Jordan song, “Jack you dead”. Each and every musician was on the top of their game this night and clearly loved what they were doing. The fact that the audience was filled with many rock and roll legends tells you that this was going to be one special night and that it was. The disc is entitled a Rock ‘N’ Roll Party. A Party is sure was. A great one. Extremely highly recommended.

Video 

The concert was shot using high definition video and it looks superb. Given the size of the venue, it is amazing that they could cram all the cameras used on this shoot into the room. The picture is bright with plenty of bright colors and deep blacks. The overall image is sharp and detailed with an excellent level of detail and good overall depth The only quibble I would have is a bit of noise. That and the fact that I have seen a couple of slightly more detailed concert videos leads me to give it a score a notch below a perfect 5 out of 5. Otherwise, the video presentation is superb.

Audio 

While I had some very minor issues with the video and I mean really minor, the audio presentation here is perfect. The best way I can think of to describe the audio is that it is as if they patched the mixing broad right into your home theater system. The concert was held in a very small venue of no more than 200 seats and the musicians were crammed into a very tight stage.

The audio matches the video in this regard perfectly. Even though the musicians are crammed together, each and very instrument is clearly delineated in the sound stage. It sounds just as though Jeff Beck plugged his guitar into an amp and brought in into your room. His guitar solos have a stunning degree of realism. All of the slap echo and reverb on his instrument and Imelda May’s voice are as clear as a bell.

The bass is rock solid as are the drums. When the horn section roars into action and I do mean roars, you are nearly knocked off your seat. This is a stellar audio presentation and some of the best I have yet heard on Blu-ray. If you are looking to experience a live concert in your home, this is the release for you. All this and stellar music and performances to boot. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Special Features 

For a concert release, there are more extras included here than I would have thought. The extras include an interview with Jeff Beck where he discusses his relationship with Les Paul as well as some aspects of his own career. This interview was shot in HD and looks great as well.

Also included is a featurette which is a behind the scenes look at the concert venue, with interviews with the gathering crowd outside, a look at the equipment being set up as well as interviews with some of the celebrity attendees of the concert thereafter, such as Paul Schaeffer, Meatloaf and Steve Van Zandt. One of the featurettes is an interview with Jeff Beck at his home where he shows off his guitar collection with brief glimpses of how some of the guitars sound and how he acquired them.

We also get two performances with Les Paul and Jeff Beck together in the 1980′s with Billy Squier along with another brief performance with Les Paul alone where he plays How HIgh The Moon while demonstrating the black box that invented and attached to his guitar that enabled him to record tracks on his guitar that he could run while playing the guitar live, creating quite in impressive layering effect. All in all, I found the extras to be rather informative and well worth a look.

Final Thoughts 

With all the junk that passes for pop music these days, it is great to have a release that features truly great musicians, great songs and performances along with stellar video and audio presentations. if you are a music fan, Jeff Beck Rock ‘N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul is a must buy and is extremely highly recommended.

Film

Yes, I have given this show 5 stars out of 5. Yes I know that Broadway musicals are not everyone’s cup of tea. However, this show is so good that it is worth the attention of all music lovers. The show was filmed in March 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York and is a celebration of the works of Stephen Sondheim, one of the great composers of music for the stage, who turned 80 this year. The show is hosted by David Hyde Pierce of Fraser fame and features the New York Philharmonic conducted by Sondheim’s long time collaborator, Paul Gemignani.

As one would expect with a tribute, especially someone of Stephen Sondheim’s stature and importance, the show is filled with performances by some of Broadway’s biggest stars, including Laura Benanti, Matt Cavenaugh, Michael Cervers, Victoria Clark, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Joanna Gleason and Nathan Gunn. The show features 24 musical performances that graced such Sondheim works as West Side Story, Follies, Sweeney Todd, Hot Spot, Into The Woods, Merrily We Role Along, Sunday In The Park With George, the film Reds, Saturday Night, Company and A Little Night Music. The New York Philharmonic as well as each and every performer are in top form. The show is one performance after another with little in the way of speeches and the 1 hour and 55 minute show just flies by.

Accolades are not really necessary. The music speaks for itself. If you are fan of Broadway, this is a must have release. If you are not or not that familiar with the works of Stephen Sondheim, but love music, you really owe it to yourself to check out this release. I can give it my highest of recommendations.

Video 

Simply put, the video presentation on this release is super and features some of the best HD video footage of a live performance I have ever seen. The picture is essentially flawless. It is crystal clear with excellent level of detail. Tight and distant shows are all razor sharp. The only visible video noise is present in fleeting shots of Stephen Sondheim in the audience, which is to be expected given that they are shooting video into a darkened space. The video features some of the most natural looking skin tones that I have seen on video with deep and inky blacks. There is not even a hint of black crush. Just take a look at the detail in the men’s tuxes. The video presentation on this release should be at the top of anyone’s list and it’s of reference quality. It really doesn’t get any better than this.

Audio 

As good as the video is, the audio may even be better. If I had only one word to describe the audio, it would be sublime. The New York Philharmonic sounds superb, with silky smooth strings and deep and tight bass. The level of depth in the sound field is astonishing. The vocal tracks are captured with a stunning sense of realism. The surround speakers are engaged throughout the performance, providing an incredible sense of the acoustical environment in Avery Fisher Hall. The sound provided is truly that of a live orchestra in a very real space. If you are as passionate about music and recorded sound as I am, this release is a must have.

Special Features 

There are no extras provided with this release, Zip, none, nada. The performances are so good, it doesn’t really matter.

Final Thoughts 

To say that I was impressed with this release would be an understatement. The performances, the video and the audio are all fantastic. I give this release my very highest of recommendations.

I am now going through a similar battle with one of my teenage sons who is heavily into the music of today, particularly Lady Gaga, who I just don’t get. While different generations may have their own musical tastes, just about everyone loves the music of Motown. My father was a musician and had his own band. Whenever I would get out to see them play (and carry around the instruments and amps up flights of stairs), everyone always got up and danced to Motown, young, old and middle aged. Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Little Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5. How could anyone not love this music? When I saw that the folks at Eagle Rock were releasing a recent live performance of Phil Collins featuring Motown classics, I asked for a copy. Given Phil Collins’ prior success covering some of these tunes, I knew we would be in for a great night of music. I was not disappointed.

Film 

Phil Collins: Going Back Live at Roseland Ballroom, NYC is sort of a companion to a studio album of much of the same material covered here released in September. Phil is backed by a stellar 18 piece band including bassist Bob Babbitt and guitarists Eddie Willis and Ray Monette of Motown’s original backing band, The Funk Brothers. Also backing Phil are two members of Genesis’ live band, drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist Darryl Stuermer, as well as a killer horn section and a great group of background singers. The entire band is in fine form and turns in one incredible performance. While not exactly a great vocalist, Phil Collins more than holds his own with each of the tunes.

It is hard not to want to get up and dance when you hear most of these tunes. If you foot ain’t a tappin’, to quote an old tune form the 40′s “Jack, you dead!” All in all, 26 tunes are covered in order of appearance: the intro Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, Girl (Why You Wanna To Make Me Blue), Dancing In The Street, (Love Is LIke A) Heatwave, Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, Never Dreamed You’d leave In Summer, Jimmy Mack, You’ve Been Cheating, Do I Love You, Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever, Going To A Go-Go, Blame It On The Sun, Ain’t That Peculiar, Too Many Fish In The Sea, You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, Something About You, The Tears Of A Clown, Nowhere To Run, In My Lonely Room, Take Me In Your Arms, Rock Me A Little While, Going Back, Talking About My Baby, You Can’t Hurry Love and My Girl. If you are a fan of Motown, or just a Phil Collins fan, you will love this release. It is very highly recommended for music lovers of all ages.

Video 

Recorded with HD cameras, the video on this release is for the most part very good. As one would have guessed for a live concert recorded in a rather small hall, the video presentation features bright and bold colors with particular emphasis on bright red curtains behind the stage and the band and singers dressed in clothing of varying shades of purple. The stage is well lit, although a large part of the audience is still visible throughout the show. Blacks are deep and stable throughout the concert. The images for the most part are clear and sharp with excellent levels of detail. I say for the most part, because some of the distance shots are a bit soft and lacking in detail. As one would expect, the tighter the shots, the better the clarity and detail.

The only real quibble I would have with the video is a bit of video noise in the darker portions of the image. Whether you will even notice this depends on the size of your screen and how far away you sit from your screen. It was noticeable on my 60″ screen from my normal viewing distance. Other than the issue with the video noise, this is a fine looking release and fully worthy of a 4 star rating.

Audio 

Simply put, I Love the audio on this release. It is superb. Three audio options are presented, LPCM Stereo and two lossless tracks, DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD. I did most of my listening with the DTS HD Master Audio track engaged. I compared all three and the two best were the lossless multichannel tracks, although the stereo track is no slouch. Having two lossless tracks available, you can compare one versus the other. The main difference between the two is the DTS track sounding much louder. Once the levels are matched, they pretty much sound the same, although I feel that the DTS track had a tiny bit more air in the sound, giving a tad better sense of space than the Dolby True HD track. However, they were close, very close.

The sound, whatever option you chose, features incredible fidelity. Listen to the growl of the baritone sax and the kick of the bass drum. All three of the guitarists are audio at all times. All of the instruments are spread out before you in the sound field. Nothing gets lost in the sound mix. The surrounds are used aggressively through the entire concert, placing you at the venue. It is rare that a concert video captures the live sound of a concert so realistically but that is the case here. I found myself transported to the Roseland Ballroom in New York, just like I was experiencing the concert in person. It is that good and that captivating and a joy to experience even at rather high volume levels. Did I say that I loved this audio? Enough said.

Special Features 

Concert videos are usually not long on extras and this release is no exception. There are two extras presented, a rather brief interview with Phil Collins about the studio CD release of the music featured as well as footage of the rehearsal for the Roseland ballroom show that occurred in Gland, Switzerland. The rehearsal footage is narrated by Phil Collins, where he talks about the musicians, the selection of songs, the arrangements and the keys selected.

Final Thoughts

If you are a fan of Motown or just Phil Collins, you will love this release. Check it out. Very highly recommended.

Concert 

I have seen a few Michael McDonald TV and video performances and this release is by far the best. Filmed in Chicago for the PBS Soundstage series, the concert features Mr. McDonald backed by a bad consisting of the usual drums bass and guitar as well as a horn section, backup vocals, keyboards and on a few tracks, a full sting section or a string ensemble.

The concert features a total of 18 songs including a few Christmas favorites and some from his solo career as well as The Doobie Brothers, all delivered with plenty of energy and top notch musicianship. The tracks include It Keeps You Runnin’, I Keep Forgettin’, Sweet Freedom, Every Time Christmas Comes Around, On This Night, This Christmas, Come, O Come Emanuel, Wexford Carol, Christmas On The Bayou, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, That’s What Christmas Means To Me, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Peace, White Christmas/Winter Wonderland, Minute By Minute, What a Fool Believes and Taken It To The Streets. Also included as the lone extra is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Those of you that are familiar with Michael McDonald’s music will know the hits and they are delivered beautifully with that soulful and unique voice he is so famous for. While I would have preferred a few more of the hits, three of the Christmas songs really stood out for me, a rocking White Christmas/Winter Wonderland, a very soulful Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas with Michel McDonald on guitar and accompanied by an upright bass and string ensemble and very original New Orleans flavored I’ll Be Home For Christmas with Michael McDonald on banjo, which for me, was the highlight of the set.

If you are looking for Michael McDonald at his soulful best with a little Christmas cheer thrown in, this is the release for you. Recommended.

Video 

I found the video here to be a bit of a mixed bag.On the positive side, the closeups, especially of Michael McDonald look great, with a high level of facial detail and overall clarity. However, the rest of the presentation lacks the same level of detail and clarity, especially the more distant shots which look much softer and for want of a better word, grainier. Other than the issue of overall clarity, the other issue I have with the look of the video is the very mediocre blacks. This may have been the result of the show’s lighting but the blacks just don’t stand out looking a bit washed out which robs the image of the contrast necessary to provide that pop and depth that are the hallmarks of the best looking high def video presentations.

Audio 

While I had some minor quibbles with the video, I have no issues at all with the audio which sounds fantastic. This is one disc that should be cranked up as the audio presentation really shines at more realistic sound levels. At low levels, the sound isn’t as scintillating but cranked up a bit, comes alive. Overall dynamics are excellent with deep tight and rock solid bass. The drums in particular are beautifully miked with some real snap crackle and pop, especially the bass drum. Vocals are well recorded and always rock solid in the middle of the sound mix as long as Mr. McDonald doesn’t move his face away from the mike which he does quite often as he moves with the music, resulting in a dropping out of the vocals.

The sound features excellent fidelity, openness and transparency and an excellent sense of depth. Placement of the various instruments and vocalists in the sound field are pin point and always match the images on screen. The sound has that live, you are in the venue sound, that is so often lacking at home, even on Blu-ray. The surrounds are used mostly for hall ambiance although the music does bleed a bit into the surrounds, but never in an obtrusive way.

All in all, this is how concerts should be presented in the home environment. I wish they were all this good. While I did most of my listening in DTS HD Master Audio, there are two other audio options presented, LCPM stere and Dolby Digital Of these two, the Dolby Digital track, multichannel though it may be is the weakest of the two. The LCPM stereo track is very good but the whole sound field collapses in comparison to the DTS HD Master Audio track, which is really the only way to experience this release.

Special Features 

There is only one extra presented here and that is a stirring rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Why this couldn’t have been added into the concert itself is beyond me. The track is presented in HD and DTS HD Master Audio.

Final Thoughts 

If you are a fan of Michael McDonald, you will no doubt love this release. While I would have preferred a few more of the hits and a bit less of the Christmas stuff, it is after all, a Christmas concert. The audio of this release is so good that it is worth a look on that basis alone. Recommended.

Show 

If I would have to describe Janeane Garofalo’s comedy routine here, I would have to say mildly amusing. The performances certainly has some bright spots, especially her take on the male-female sexual dynamic, but I found parts of the routine to be not all that funny. I was also surprised that the show featured very little cutting political humor, given her well know reputation in that field. The performance was shot in Seattle (duh!) and features her commentary on pop culture and sexual relationships. It is certainly full of what we normally expect from most comedy performances, namely the F word and edginess, but not full of many belly laughs. Her act has been done by many comics over the years, much in the way of George Carlin, but without his true comic genius. if you are a fan, I am sure that you will be more than pleased by the material here. The rest of you may want to skip this one entirely. rated as for fans only.

Video 

While I found the video quality here to be good, it is a bit of a mixed bag. The tight shots look great, featuring deep blacks, spot on skin tones, excellent levels of detail, clarity and a nice bright and bold color palette. That all changes a bit from the camera shots that is pulled back a tad, losing some of the overall detail and clarity that make the tighter shots so appealing. Even the black leaves suffer a bit. In fact, the farther back the camera pulls or is positioned, the worse the PQ.

From the perspective of an audience member about half way back in the crowd, the image becomes a tad on the fuzzy side, losing much of the crispness and clarity of the tighter shots. Fortunately, those shots are in the minority. As far as PQ is concerned, the greatest offender are the shots taken from behind the stage looking out into the audience which are no better than DVD quality and hardly look HD at all. Considering that the PQ ranges from a 3.5 to a 4.5, I thought that a composite score of 4, factoring in the length of the various camera angles to be just about right.

Audio 

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing really wrong with the fidelity of the audio on this release. Not surprisingly, there is little in the way of a sound field here. Just one mike and some other mikes to pick up ambient sounds. Accordingly, the audio is very front heavy, basically almost stereo, with a bit of hall ambiance mixed in from the rears, giving just a hint of the overall room acoustics. The audio was just about one would expect from a comedy performance in a small hall.

Special Features 

The bonus features here are two short filmed comedy bits, the first entitled “Janeane On Pets” and Congressman’s Dream”. The second of these bits is mildly humorous and is the most obvious political comedy featured on the release, making fun of a conservative congressman. The first, at first glance, explores Janeane’s charity in taking pets from two of her fans into her home until you find out just what these “pets” are. To say that I found this bit to be a bit disturbing would be an understatement. I won’t say any more so as to not spoil the “surprise”. That is it for the extras.

Final Thoughts 

I would think that fans of Janeane Garofalo will be pleased with this release. If you aren’t, you may want to skip this one entirely or at least, check it out on the basis of a rental only. Recommended for fans only.

Concert 

Frankly, on the four nights that the concert featured in this release were recorded, yes they were. The band here is in top form, showing a tightness and discipline that the band all too infrequently showed in their live performances, which were at times sloppy to say the least. If you want to get a glimpse of the band at their best, this is the release for you. The band features Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor and Charlie Watts together with JIm Price on horns, Bobby Keys on sax and Nicky Hopkins on piano.

This release features a total of 15 tracks where were pieced together from four concerts held in Texas over four nights in 1972. No effort was made to coordinate the footage as the band’s clothing changes from song to song, depending on what night a given track was pulled from. The tracks include the following: Brown Sugar, Bitch, Gimme Shelter, Dead FLowers, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Love in Vain, Sweet Virginia, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, All Down the Line, Midnight Rambler, Bye, Bye Johnny, Rip This Joint, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Street Fighting Man.

The footage in this release was originally released to theaters in 1974 and has not seen the light of day until this release. The film stock clearly deteriorated sitting in the can all these years and it really shows as noted further along in this review despite restoration efforts. However, despite all its flaws visually, it does provide an interesting glimpse into one of the most acclaimed bands in the history of rock and is well worth adding to the collection of any serious Stones fan. Rated as for fans only due to the poor video quality.

Video 

To say that I was disappointed with the video quality on this release. To say that the film deteriorated significantly over the years since its initial release in 1974 would be an understatement. While the film underwent an extensive restoration for this release, you can only do so much. The extent of the deterioration is clearly visible at the outer edges of the frame which are marred by frequent discoloration. The concert was shot without the aid of any special lighting, just using the existing lighting in the venue. As a result, the film is very dark and gloomy looking. No detail is visible in the shadows so that when a band member walks out of the lighting, they disappear completely.

In addition to the overall darkness noted above, the image can also be described as soft, muddy, hazy, grainy, murky, soft and soft. Did I say soft enough? Quite frankly, the recorded image here is hardly high def at all and looks almost of VHS quality. There is virtually no detail visible in any of the shots with even the close ups showing very little facial detail. IT would have been great to have seen this film new and in pristine quality. However, due to the ravages of age, this is the best the film will likely ever look and that is a shame as the actual concert itself is a real keeper.

Audio 

Thankfully, the sound elements on the film were not as damaged as the visual elements and the sound is all in all, not bad for the time period. The film was recorded in stereo and mixed into 5.1 for this release. In addition to a LCPM stereo track, the audio is also presented in DTS HD Master Audio 51 and Dolby Digital 5.1. I did all of my listening using the DTS HD Master Audio track as it was the best of the bunch, having a degree of dynamics and tonal quality missing from the Dolby Digital track and a sense of spaciousness and hall ambiance missing from the stereo track. The dynamics here is just average with bass being a bit underwhelming. The vocal track is also a bit buried in the sound field. However, often times Mick Jagger is noted for mumbling the lyrics so one has to take that into consideration when judging how well the 5.1 mix was done.

The main issue I had with the audio was that sounded congested, lacking much in the way of transparency or openness. The instruments are too bunched together in the sound field in front of you, making it difficult to follow the individual guitar lines. The sound lakes much in the way of depth either front to back or side to side. In order to really hear what the band is doing, you really have to crank up the volume, which may be the whole point of a live Stones experience anyway. Given the age of the recording and the sate of the origin film and sound elements, I can’t say that I was all that disappointed in the audio, even with the rather meager score.

Special Features 

The extras include three tunes shot during rehearsal for the tour filmed in Montreux plus two interviews with Mick Jagger, one from a 1972 appearance on the British TV show The Old Gray Whistle that appeared on BBC2 as well as a new interview prepared for this release in high definition. The two must sees here are the interviews, just to see the changes that nearly 30 years have brought to Mick Jagger. The release is not BD-Live enabled and does not include a digital copy.

Final Thoughts 

While this release contains rather poor visuals and a mediocre at best audio presentation, the concert performance itself is of top notch quality, offering a glimpse of the Stones at their best in a live concert venue. As such, it is a must have for any serious Stones fan, notwithstanding the technical issues. Rated for fans only.

However, I did go into this with some trepidation, as this was not the Elvis of “Comeback Special” fame – this was the jumpsuit-cladded, sideburn-toting, kung-fu kicking Elvis of the 1970’s.  Was there still enough charisma and talent left to carry a whole concert film, or was this the pale echoes of a once legendary performer? 

Film

Truly this film was geared towards pantsuit-wearing middle-aged female devoted Elvis fans, as truly there was very little here for those who enjoy his classic recordings.  From the truly unmotivating cut scenes, to the watching of a once independent man with his legions of hangers-on, it was truly sad to see behind the scenes at how far Elvis has fallen.

Worst of all, the musical performances were far from inspiring, with some seemingly performed by rote and memory, and lacking the passion and charisma of a younger Elvis.  The arrangements were also bombastic, brass-heavy travesties of classic Elvis numbers.  “Can’t Help Falling in Love” was almost unlistenable.

By the same token, there were some very good moments on the disc, possibly made even better by the quality of some of the weaker ones.  Elvis’ version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was superb, with his voice resonating in a way that put chills down your spine.  And his cover of “Proud Mary” was quite good, mainly as it was a song suited well for his tour arrangement.

The filming itself was somewhat pedestrian; some shots were interesting such as Elvis perfoming the same song on three different nights in three different jumpsuits, shown in a horizontal mosiac.  However, too often the camera became part of the show itself, with Elvis clearly talking to the cameraman.  In fact, the moments that felt truest in this film were those of Elvis singing gospel with his backup singers in a variety of locations.

Although Martin Scorsese apparently had some input on the somewhat interesting mosaic sequences, these were only one element of the film, and not nearly enough to carry it.  Overall, this was one of the worst concert films that I have ever viewed.       

Video

Ugh – this was the equivalent of watching a VHS movie.  Grainy, noisy, with film artifiacts and washed color, this was (plainly put) ugly.  Although some films are successfully transferred directly from film to Blu-ray, this film master had to have been of an overly poor quality, and appears to have received little to no treatment at all.

One could argue that this was an “authentic” experience.  Yes, it was authentic for what the viewer would experience watching this on broadcast TV (via a coathanger |rabbit ears”) in 1972.  Worst of all, mashing the film into 4×3 then letterboxing it is a crime deserving of corporal punishment.  Overall, the worst video restore I’ve ever seen on a Warner Blu-ray, and far far short of why I own an HDTV.

Audio

I have to believe that citizens of 1970 had had their standards set extremely low through listening to 8-Tracks and AM radio.  Although reportedly in DTS-MA, they dynamic limitations of the original recording are there for all to hear.  Unfortunately, when I watch a concert Blu-ray, I want to be blown away by the power of the recording.

In Elvis on Tour, big notes distort, there is no LFE information, and the music sounds colorless and lifeless.  In some cases (such as the aforementioned “Bridge Over Troubled Water”), the timbre and power of Elvis’ voice overcomes the limitations of the recording.  These moments are all too rare, making this (again) the poorest audio I’ve ever heard on a concert disc.

Special Features

No extras, no score.

Final Thoughts

Ugh.  Really, I was extremely disappointed by this disc in a way that felt personal.  Instead of a loving restore of a legendary performer’s tour, I was instead punished by a flat video presentation, crushed audio, and arrangements that brutalized some of Elvis’ most legendary songs.

In fact, I can’t even give this disc a “Fans Only” recommendation – most of them would likely be put off by this presentation.