Suzanne Vega – Live At Montreux 2004 (DVD/CD Set)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: C Concert: B+
Suzanne
Vega remains one of the best singer/songwriters around and besides her
remarkable studio recordings and the albums she has issued are all good. It turns out she is just as good live and her
Live At Montreux 2004 concert is one
of the best in the series so far. This
new double set offers the same great performance as she bounces back from
personal turmoil, with this DVD/CD set from Eagle Eye Media.
The songs
include:
1)
99.9F [Degrees]
2)
Marlene On The Wall
3)
Caramel
4)
When Heroes Go Down
5)
Gypsy
6)
(I’ll Never Be Your) Maggie May
7)
Penitent
8)
Solitaire
9)
Left Of Center
10) The Queen & The Soldier
11) Behind Blue Eyes
12) Solitude Standing
13) Blood Makes Noise
14) In Liverpool
15) Luka
16) Tom’s Diner
17) Calypso
18) Have You Met Miss Jones?
Except
for the cover of The Who classic Behind
Blue Eyes, which makes her seem a tad out of her element. Otherwise, she is in great voice, humor (even
when a guy in the audience starts acting goofy), has great stories to tell,
some interesting updates to offer and is just all around great and
entertaining. The versions of her hits
here do not disappoint and she takes her time with all of them. Luka
is as important as ever, 99.9F as
relevant as ever and Tom’s Diner not
going away anytime soon. There is
something very special about her and her talent. Her music is as important now as ever and the
only question is when everybody will catch up with her. This is one of the best concert DVDs of the year!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image was shot in digital High Definition and
is one of the better transfers of such material we have seen for a concert to
date. Though detail can still be an
issue, the colors and nicer than usual use of the camera is a plus. The CD and DVD have 16Bit PCM 2.0 Stereo
tracks, with the CD 44.1kHz and DVD 48kHz.
Both are decent, while the DVD adds Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1
mixes. Of them all, the DTS is the
warmest and fullest. The CD and paper
pull out with an essay on Vega are extras, while the DVD has three solid bonus
tracks from her 2000 appearance at Montreux that are great to have and do not
appear on the CD.
All in
all, a great new set, better to get with the CD than without, and a perfect
companion to Retrospective – The Videos Of Suzanne Vega. She has
made some fine Music Videos too, on DVD even including DTS sound. We reviewed that release elsewhere on this
site and recommend you get both at the same time. The link is:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2848/Retrospective+-+The+Videos+Of+Suzanne+Vega
- Nicholas Sheffo
