George Michael – Live In London (2009/Sony Music Blu-ray)

 

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

 

 

Some people just have bad nights and others just do not try hard enough to deliver what they can.  Whether it is either or both, I was disappointed at how weak and unenergetic George Michael – Live In London is.  Starting with Wham!, Michael was considered a capable singer and performer, but his solo career was even more dynamic and until his silly sex scandal, he was on a roll.  More often than not, he had cut some memorable hits.  For this, he performs many of them including:

 

1)     Waiting (reprise)

2)     Fastlove

3)     I’m Your Man

4)     Flawless (Go To The City)

5)     Father Figure

6)     You Have Been Loved

7)     An Easier Affair

8)     Everything She Wants

9)     One More Try

10)  A Different Corner

11)  Too Funky

12)  Shoot The Dog

13)  John & Elvis Are Dead

14)  Faith

15)  Spinning The Wheel

16)  Feeling Good

17)  Roxanne

18)  My Mother Had A Brother

19)  Amazing

20)  Fantasy

21)  Outside

22)  Careless Whisper

23)  Freedom ‘90

 

 

The backup singers are good, the sets elaborate and interior location huge, yet Michael seems bored and expects the audience to sing parts of the hits for him off the bat before he has even given any kind of exciting vocals to fire them up to begin with.  He does not sing enough, relies on the backup too much and is singing a few octaves too low and flat. He is also singing the songs too slow, as if you slowed a 33 1/3 rpm album to 16 rpms.  What gives?  People paid top dollar to see him and he seem to not be all there.  This is especially noticed on tracks 2, 3, 11, 14, 22 and 23.

 

This could have been a comeback show for him in the states, but he phones in too much of this and it is so odd, you have to see it to believe it.  Too bad, because the voice is still there, but like Peter cetera, he seems he could care less.  “Care less” whispers indeed.

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in High Definition video and can have good color and some good shots, but some shots are weak, other disappointing and we also get motion blur and some staircasing.  Too bad, because this could have been a great HD recording and it gets away from the makers.  The DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix is also not bad, but not as dynamic as a new recording of a major name artist like this should be, so you get a lack of depth and range.  The audience is kept in the surrounds and the soundfield is not as transparent as it should be.  Extras include documentary I’d Know Him A Mile Off and three bonus tracks in Precious Box, Jesus To A Child and First Time Ever and a brief, thin booklet inside the Blu-ray case.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo