AC/DC: Live in Donington
(Blu-ray)
Picture:
A- Sound: A- Extras: B Concert: B+
AC/DC is
a band that I never really loved, I like them, but wouldn’t call myself a huge
fan. That’s not to say that I don’t
enjoy their music or their contribution to Rock industry. To me, they had some huge albums between 1976
and 1980, those being High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, Highway to Hell, and Back in
Black. Those are some significantly
strong albums released over a short period of time with some huge hits, problem
is though that this band is hardly that versatile and have one strong
point…write memorable, yet easy rock tunes.
That ability has kept AC/DC strong for more than 30 years and they have
remained one of the most popular rock shows to still see.
This
particular Blu-ray release of AC/DC’s:
Live at Donington concert from August of 1991 is a key title to have, and
for a variety of reasons. First, the
film was shot in Panavision on 35mm film (a flat 1.85 X 1 here, however) using
20+ cameras to truly capture a great band that knows how to entertain. Second, the concert is 2 hours filled with
tons of their hits and is one of those concert discs you can spin quite
frequently without getting tired of it.
Now this was an impressive DVD to begin with, but here we have the 35mm
film transferred to High Definition with 1080p playback, which retains the
grainy nature of film, but does so in a good way, not a bad way. This enables the viewer to experience the
High Definition capabilities of Blu-ray with depth and definition, yet also get
the quality, character, and colors of 35mm film, which is seldom seen these
days for concerts and this title clearly demonstrates why we need more titles
this way!
Track
Listing:
1.
Thunderstruck
2.
Shoot To Thrill
3.
Back in Black
4.
Fire Your Guns
5.
Jailbreak
6.
The Jack
7.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
8.
Moneytalks
9.
Hells Bells
10.
High Voltage
11.
Whole Lotta Rosie
12.
You Shook Me All Night Long
13.
T.N.T.
14.
Let There Be Rock
15.
Highway To Hell
16.
For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
This is an impressive track listing
and shows the fullness of a band that has been around for quite some time and
still continues to rock hard. What
better way to hear those rock tunes though than in full PCM 5.1 48kHz/24 bit,
which outperforms the Dolby Digital counterpart as well as the Dolby 5.1 mix on
the DVD. There is also a great
commentary track by Angus and Malcolm Young who are fun to listen to and make
for a good experience as well in conjunction to the concert. There are also Iso-cams that enable on
certain songs to select which camera angle for certain performers and only
enhances the experience of this Blu-ray disc that matches it’s performance in
both quality of the disc and the quality of the concert itself.
This is by far one of the most
impressive Blu-ray titles that I have seen to date in many respects. It’s certainly one of the more impressive
concert discs and should be an early entry into everyone’s catalog, regardless
of fandom. I normally am fairly harsh on
picture and sound ratings, but this particular title impresses on several
levels. Sonically the PCM is full and
rich, but it is also mixed in such a way that really engages the listener and
matches the content very well. I have
heard far too many concert mixes that turn into disasters, but this one is well
done and is solid throughout. The 1080p
picture also looks good as I already mentioned, but is really stellar in that
it doesn’t show it’s age (being from 1991) and still contains much of the 35mm
nature, which is hard to find on Blu-ray and with other HD content as often the
film-like nature is compromised by trying to make the transfer ‘too
sterile’. In many respects if nothing to
this point has turned you into an AC/DC fan, than this Blu-ray might put you
over the edge and if this doesn’t do the trick, nothing will.
If this Blu-ray disc doesn’t have
you doing some air-guitar by the end, check your pulse!
-
Nate Goss
