Soundstage Presents Michael McDonald In Concert
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Concert: B-
Before he really went overboard with the commercial
success of his two very bizarre albums of Motown Record cover songs, Michael
McDonald gave a performance for the concert TV series Soundstage in this
2003 installment of the revived series.
Running about an hour, McDonald is already moving towards older R&B
forms in the following set:
1) It Keeps
You Running
2) Sweet
Freedom (from Peter Hyams’ action/comedy Running Scared)
3)
I Keep Forgettin’
4)
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
5)
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (with
Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson)
6)
Ain’t Nothin’ Like The Real Thing (with
Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson)
7)
Black Water
8)
Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me)
9)
Minute By Minute
10)
What A Fool
Believes
11)
Takin’ It
To The Street
12)
You Belong
To Me
Tom Johnson and Patrick Simmons from his band The Doobie
Brothers join him from song one, which helps out an already decent gathering of
musicians. Sweet Freedom and I
Keep Forgettin’ are underwhelming, but they’re lack of energy are tolerable
versus his poor take of the Marvin Gaye-arrangement of Grapevine not
helped by the violin section, while The two great Ain’t songs are too
manufactured sounding, despite the welcome presence of Ashford and
Simpson. When he gets back to familiar
ground with Doobie classics, the concert is at its best. Black Water and What A Fool
Believes fare best in conclusion of this set. Carly Simon’s You Belong To Me was co-written by McDonald
and is here as a bonus track. It is one
of the best performances on the disc.
He is extremely talented and this critic can’t wait until he gets back
to some original material.
The image is (again) credited as 4 X 3 (1.33 X 1) full
screen, yet the DVD case gleefully celebrates the fact that the show is shot on
Hi(gh)-Definition video. The problem,
all current and future HD is 1.78 X 1/16 X 9.
The result is we once again get a compromised reframing that is not
anamorphic and looks like some lopsided version of 1.66 X 1, which defeats the
whole purpose of shooting in HD to begin with.
That is unfortunate, but that’s what has been done here, so be
forewarned. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix
is better than the Dolby 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds, but would have
been better had it been in DTS. Like
German TV’s Ohne Filter series, many installments of which have been
reviewed elsewhere on this site, the new Soundstage does its best to
boast state-of-the-art playback. This
combination is passable, but not everything it could or should have been. Extras include bio/discography of McDonald
and his bandmates, a “backstage pass” feature that shows how the new show is
set up that is interactive, a stills gallery and a “meet the band”: segment
that is fine for what it is. Too bad
this was not longer, because McDonald has a larger repertoire. I would have even been happy to hear him
sing his backup from old Steely Dan hits over these Motown covers, but at least
he spared us Yah Mo’ Be There.
- Nicholas Sheffo
