B.B. King Live (Soundstage/2009/Image
Blu-ray) + Lord Of The Dance
(2011/DVD w/CDs/2D version/E1) + Phil
Ochs: There But For Fortune (2011/First Run DVD) + Robin Gibb In Concert with The Danish National Concert Orchestra
(2009/Eagle DVD) + Spectacle: Elvis
Costello with… – Season Two (VSC/MVD Visual Blu-ray + DVD Sets) + Willie & The Poor Boys: One Night Only
(1985/MVD Visual DVD)
Picture: B-/C/C+/C+/B-
& C+/C+ Sound: B-/B-/C+/C+/B-
& C+/B- Extras: D/B-/C/D/C+/B- Main Programs: B-/B-/B/B-/B/B-
A new
round of music releases we have for you is a solid one, including a reissue and
revisits with some of the better artists you could want to experience.
B.B. King Live is actually a 2009 installment of
the Soundstage series now issued on
Blu-ray by Image. This is not King’s
first Blu-ray as a 1993 Montreux performance was issued a few tears ago and you
can read more about it at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8692/B.B.+King+%E2%80%93+Live+At+Mo
That
included some 2006 performances and this new show is only 12 songs long,
repeating The Thrill Is Gone and Let The Good Times Roll, but the rest
are not and I just wish this ran longer.
Like the older Blu-ray, this is also here in 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High
Definition, but looks not much better in comparison and maybe even misses some
qualities that competed with the older disc’s flaws. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix is
better than the PCM 2.0 Stereo mix, yet does not achieve the lively soundfield
of the previous release. There are no
extras, but this makes a nice companion to the other Blu-ray and King fans will
enjoy it.
A new HD
and 3D version of Michael Flatley’s Lord
Of The Dance was made in 2011 and E1 has issued a new DVD 2D version with
two CDs that happens to be a Best Buy Exclusive, so fans can enjoy the release
and should know that the energy, dancing, precision and talent that took this
traditional dance and made it such a worldwide sensation that it permanently
even entered poop culture parody in endless spoofs and references holds up as
well as ever and this was better than I expected.
The only
thing I did not like was the fake black and white in shots and the cutting up
of the screen, both working against the final presentation. Otherwise, I liked it so much I want to see
it in 3D and hopefully a Blu-ray 3D will soon follow. Unfortunately, the visual points I did not
like hold back the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 presentation, but the color
sequences at their best are just fine. The
PCM 2.0 Stereo is a little warmer than the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Extras include four Deleted Scenes, the 2
bonus CDs of music of the show and by Flatley (with pretty good PCM 2.0 Stereo
of their own) and a Behind-The-Scenes featurette.
Kenneth
Bowser’s excellent documentary Phil
Ochs: There But For Fortune (2011) tells the story of the real life folk
singer who became a major political music force in the 1960s and 1970s, but
never had a big hit as he had wished and eventually self-destructed as his
battle with Manic Depression left untreated ended his journey, though many felt
he really became despondent when he helped succeed in ending the Vietnam
fiasco.
Joan
Baez, Tom Hayden, Christopher Hitchens, Pete Seeger and Sean Penn are among the
interviewees, we get some priceless film and video footage of Ochs and hear
about his personal life and career in great detail. It is serious viewing for anyone serious
about music and history, especially since Ochs is one of the most underrated of
all music artists. Often powerful, it is
worth going out of your way for.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image varies between old film footage, new HD
footage and analog video including old black and white tape that holds up
better than expected. The Dolby Digital 5.1
is a little better than the Dolby 2.0 Stereo, but the 5.1 does not have a
consistent soundfield as the older audio (including some music) is monophonic
and interviews are stereo at best. Extras
include text Director’s Biography, Photo Gallery and four trailers for other
First Run music releases on DVD.
Robin Gibb In Concert with The
Danish National Concert Orchestra (2009) is not to be confused with the Neue Philharmonie
Frankfurt Orchestra DVD/CD set we covered years ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2419/Robin+Gibb+with+The+Neue+Philharm
This new
DVD covers many of the same songs, but this new show finally offers Gibb
singing I Started a Joke and he is
still up to carrying the show himself and can still sing. The audience is also good and show consistent
overall. The anamorphically enhanced
1.78 X 1 image has some nice shots, but we also get some softness and lack of
detail throughout that a Blu-ray version might not have. We’ll have to see if we get to compare to a
full HD version. Though the case claims
this has a DTS 5.1 mix, we only get a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix that
is good, but not great and there are no extras.
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with… –
Season Two
continues the best new music TV series around that started with Season One as reviewed at this link on
DVD:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9239/Spectacle+-+Elvis+Costello+with%E2%
That was
also issued on Blu-ray (which we did not get to cover) and the shows this
season (we have them in both formats this time) include Bono & The Edge,
Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case & Jesse Winchester, Allen Toussaint,
Richard Thompson, Nick Lowe & Leon Helm, a surprisingly good installment
with Mary-Louise Parker, Lyle Lovett, John Prine & Ray LaMontagne and
two-part show with Bruce Springsteen.
All are good shows and Costello proves once again to be an exceptional
host.
This show
deserves to be a bigger hit and I hope the continuing seasons (this one is from
2009) will catch on. I give all credit
for offering every kind of music genre possible and many you cannot hear enough
of. This is a rare music show about
music like we used to get all the time and now rarely do, which is why you
should go out of your way for the first two seasons.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image looks better than the anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 DVD image with better color and depth, but both have some
softness and motion blur, yet I preferred the look of the Blu-ray overall. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix on the
Blu-ray set has a soundfield when the music plays, but interviews are too much
in the center channel and that can be distracting, repeated on the lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 tracks on the DVD set. Extras
include three bonus songs and a behind-the-scenes documentary on disc, plus
booklet inside the case.
Finally
we have Willie & The Poor Boys: One
Night Only (1985), which is a reissue of a DVD we covered many years ago at
this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1975/Willie+&+The+Poor+Boys+(1985)
It is the
same DVD with the same transfer and extras, plus a new cover, so don’t let the
“one night only” bit fool you.
- Nicholas Sheffo
