Jamiroquai – Live At Montreux 2003 (DVD-Video)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C- Concert: B+
How bad
of shape is the music industry? You can
turn to complaints about downloading, overpriced CDs and a lack of pride and
enthusiasm in general, but so much of what is pushed is awful and that stops
the truly great acts from becoming even more popular. People still like acts that are around like
Sade, Blur and Joe Jackson, still making interesting and different work, but a
new generation of artists is not connecting with new fans and the greatest
example is one of the best in the business: Jamiroquai.
Known
only for their great song and classic Music Video Virtual Insanity, the Dance/Soul/Rock/Electronica/Hip Hop act
should have been a huge smash in the U.S. as they are just about everywhere
else, but despite how exceptionally good they are (down to lead singer Jay Kay,
one of the best Soul vocalists alive) including great material and actual
talent, I guess they are not hatemongering, self-destructive, ignorant or
shallow enough to be popular among the “let’s listen to the same tired beat and
be miserable” crowd. As a matter of
fact, they are ahead of most such acts their side of Timbaland and Jamiroquai – Live At Montreux 2003 is
the kind of stunning concert that shows they are only getting better.
The
nonstop party of tracks include:
1)
Use The Force
2)
Canned Heat
3)
Cosmic Girl
4)
Little L
5)
Blow Your Mind
6)
High Times
7)
Traveling Without Moving
8)
Butterfly
9)
Shoot The Moon
10) Soul Education
11) Just Another Story
12) Mr. Moon
13) Alright
14) Love Foolsophy
15) Deeper Underground
Like so
many great bands before them who could produce memorable singles as well as
interesting albums (Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago), this is a band that is
serious about their music and entertaining their audience. The highlight for this viewer comes early on
with the combination of the 3rd and 4th tracks, down to
the great backing vocals. Once this band
gets started, they do not stop, which is what real music, musicianship,
showmanship and entertainment is all about.
If you have never seen or heard the band at length, this is a must-see
DVD concert. If you are not having fun,
check your pulse!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is one of the better HD-shot concerts we
have seen in the format to date, with fine color, editing, composition choices,
depth and even detail. The sound is also
solid, with the DTS 5.1 (over the Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 16/48 2.0 Stereo)
mix exhibiting some mild distortion and compression, but delivering the music nicely
in spite of that. Extras include a bonus
performance of Space Cowboy as good
as the concert, which could have gone on for three hours and still been
amazing.
- Nicholas Sheffo
