Paul Rodgers – Live In Glasgow (DVD-Video + CD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B/B-     Extras: C     Concert: C+

 

 

Though his greatest success was with the band Bad Company, Paul Rodgers continued in 1982 as a solo artist and even went on to the awful The Firm and so-so The Law.  Solo again, Rodgers delivered a solo concert on October 13, 2006 Live In Glasgow and Eagle Vision has issued the concert on DVD and CD.

 

Though still in great shape appearance wise with a voice that is still there, but something just does not go well here and the concert lands up being muddy with a consistent lack of vocal effort the entire time from Rodgers.  I had not been that impressed with is work with Queen, but even on his own, there is just something amiss here.  The track listing for both versions include:

 

1)     I’ll Be Creepin’

2)     The Stealer

3)     Ride On A Pony

4)     Radioactive

5)     Be My Friend

6)     Warboys (A Prayer for Peace)

7)     Feel Like Making Love

8)     Bad Company

9)     I Just Want To See You Smile

10)  Louisiana Blues

11)  Fire And Water

12)  Wishing Well

13)  All Right Now

14)  I’m A Mover

15)  The Hunter

16)  Can’t Get Enough

17)  Seagull

 

 

Nothing can save Radioactive and Warboys (A Prayer for Peace) never adds up to the big statement intended, but the weakest points are his covers of his classics Feel Like Making Love, Bad Company and Can’t Get Enough which just lack the Rock zeal; they need to work as they had when he first cut those records and toured performing them.  Though far from a washed up rocker, Rodgers is missing the mark in a way that a little more effort would remedy.  The result is a mixed concert that is sometimes just plain frustrating and painful to watch and hear.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is shot in what looks like 1080i digital High Definition video and though the color is not bad at all, the detail and depth can be an issue.  It will make for an interesting comparison to any HD-DVD or Blu-ray version Eagle might issue, but is nicely lit just the same.

 

The sound on almost all of the soundtracks are surprisingly compressed and not up to Eagle’s usual standards, with the PCM 16/44.1 2.0 Stereo on the CD and both 5.1 and especially 2.0 Dolby Digital tracks on the DVD sounding lame.  Fortunately, the DTS 5.1 revels that this is really a decent concert recording and something went wrong in the mastering of the other tracks.  Who knows what went wrong, but geez it went very wrong.  The DTS soundfield is the only naturalistic representation of the musician’s playing and Rodgers’ vocals, which sound haggard on the other tracks unfairly to him by comparison.  Extras include a three-part interview with Rodgers, the musicians and fans, plus a bonus performance by Stephen Rodgers, though the DVD case adds a nicely illustrated booklet.

 

For fans only, the DVD is the only way to go.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo