Concert dvd recommendations - Page 8

I really liked ELO's Zoom. The DTS sound is awesome. This DVD sounds like a studio recording. I highly recommend it to ELO fans.

John, it's funny, that was the DVD that made me stop buying them for a while. My wife, who's a big Fleetwood Mac fan was so disappointed she wanted to "take it outside and drive the car over it".

The feedback on Amazon seems to be polar as well. Some love it, some hate the sound quality. Maybe others that have it can comment.

I think Fleetwood Mac: The Dance sounds great. Just the mastering level is quite low, but raising the volume fixes it.

Are the complaints with the stereo or surround mixes? IIRC, it's a two-sided disc with each version on its respective side. Loved the 5.1 mix.

Cheers,

Out of curiousity i popped it in just now. Its one of those early concerts that starts almost right after you put it in, no menu, very nice!

First I tried the 5.1 side. Excellent bass drum starts it off ... then the highs of the chimes, very high and clear. within 30 seconds i popped it out, satisfied that the the 5.1 side could not be the problem.

Then I tried the PCM stereo side. The sound was still "ok" ... but the lows were not as low, and the highs were not as high. It sounded very average, in fact it was indeed sub par by today's standards.

So Epiney, maybe you have a bad copy, or your listening to the wrong side?

"Pretenders Loose In L.A." is another good one. Has a DTS track which is very good and the video quality is very good too. 26 songs on this one!!! Some very good new ones and of course the excellent older ones. Pretender fans will be super happy with this DVD.

Never heard the Pretenders? Excellent off beat rock!

Watched on a 161" screen driven by a 9" CRT.

Deron.

I love that part of the studio version "Middle Of THe Road" where Chrissies (?) voice blends seamlessly into a stretched saxaphone note... I think its a saxaphone

Do they do that same trick live?


Pink Floyd does that same thing on "Final Cut" on that song "Postwar Dream", Roger's voice turns into a saxaphone note..

John,

I just put the Fleetwood Mac in for the first time in about three years. First time since I upgraded my system. It wasn't as bad as I remembered. Still not reference quality, but quite watchable. I used to have a first generation Rotel DVD player that would not pick up the center track on Prince Rave, so maybe it wasn't reading it that well.


I had given up on that disc. It may explain the reviews in Amazon. Some very poor on sound quality and some good. Go figure.

Have Pretenders as well. Nice show. Can't wait for Roger Waters to arrive.

Will probaby order James Taylor based on reviews here as well.

The Roger Waters Flesh DVD has almost no center channel, so it would sound good on your old system too, haha.

I have another recommendation I picked up yesterday,

Dave Matthews Band Central Park Concert. 16X9 anamorphic, very nice quality video (esp for video vs film material) sound was also very nice for a Dolby Digital title.

Highly recommended for fans. 2 disks, 3 hours...

ptaaty, have you read the entire thread? There have been about 6 references to the Dave Matthews concert.

yes I did. I meant add to my list.

BTW only I think 2 mentioned the Central Park concert and the overall quality of the release.

In fact....I just started a thread on it, I feel it is that good.

New No Doubt Live DVD plus 2 DVD's on the CD Boombox Single Boxed Set. Another live show originally released on VHS in 1997-98. Plus all their videos on one DVD. The other CD's are a B-Side Disk and a Best of Disk.

Speaking of nice to look at.....Gwen.

BTW New Rush Live in Rio....get it before Neil Peart dies.....looks real old.

Im pretty sure its been mentioned, but I'd like to recommend Peter Gabriels : Growing Up Live as another good concert DVD....very good PQ w/1.85 anamorphic and excellent DD/DTS sound.

Anyone can review the latest RATM DVD: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium? Sound Quality, performance etc? I want to buy a RATM DVD, but I want to pick the best one right of the bat!

TIA!

Ciao!

Mart

EDITED 4 HOURS LATER:

Well, I just bought it.... I`ll tell you folks what I think of it later....

Wierd my daughter said the same thing, that guy looks old. Yet to me, he looks like he benches 350 lbs before breakfast! why do you think he looks old? Because his face? Hey that just means he isnt falling for that cosmetic surgery crap.

RATM?

We are descending into acronym hell.

We are not descending WE ARE THERE!!! IMHO, FYI, take a WAG as to what the future will be like, AFAIK, we are THERE.

Prince - The Hits. While not a a concert DVD this collection of performance videos is worth mentioning. He performs most of his hits in these videos, and while most of them are probably lip synced, they are still worth watching.

The video quality is very good, although not wide screen. The Sound quality is pretty good stereo, and if you send it through a nice 5.1 sound field, they can sound very good.

Some of his lesser known hits are excellent on this compilation: "Alphabet Street", "Sign O' The Times", "Seven" are outstanding, his dancining/performance entourage really boogies. Some of them are high quality mini-movie format, but most are musical/dance performances.

Theres a great "1999" performance from his early years, and a "Controversy", his first minor hit, is pretty good as well. The chicks will like Peaches and Cream, and Diamonds and Pearls. He does wear womens stockings in a couple of the early videos, like "Dirty Mind", but aside from those I liked every video.

The tight bass lines on Sign O' The times, as well as the meaningful lyrics and excellent video production, is almost worth the cost of this older DVD

I dn't know how old your daughter is, but I'm guessing that to her everyone older than Orlando Bloom looks OLD. The reason Neil freaks me out isn't that he looks old but he looks like Kevin Spacey. "Look out, Geddy! John Doe is right behind you!!!!"

Clapton and Friends with Sheryl Crow, etc. is very good. Great solos on Lttle Wing. I own Springsteen at Barcelona (Check out Bruce on piano on Spirits and Incident) and love it but prefer the NYC DVD for it's sound and camera work. U2 at Slane is worderful especially for the performance and the wild crowd. I am also wild about Gabriels Secret World live and the performance of In Your Eyes at the end is mesmerizing. I need to buy his latest DVD after checking out reviews here.

However, and I may be biased, if you at all like the music of U2 I would like to nominate Elevation (Boston) DVD as the greatest concert DVD yet. I defy anyone who likes their music to watch it in it's entirety on a good theater with the volume up high, and say they didn't just feel like they just attended a wonderful high energy U2 concert, and had just about the best seats in the house. It puts a huge smile on my face! I'd give it my highest recommendation.

An Evening with the Dixie Chicks has excellent PQ. My bet is that it was shot in high-def, so I don't know why they didn't release it in wide-screen.

what about The Doors - The Doors Are Open? Has anyone seen this DVD release and is it worth getting? Or rather, what is the best Doors DVD to get?

Cosmo
I think that Neil Peart looks old because of the effects of his wife and daughter dying in the same year.A tragedy that I think would age most of us prematurely.

Excellent musically as well ...and it makes you feel you are there.

Originally filmed in 1970 for 22,000 dollars, this concert film was remastered this year, Hendrix's original engineer remastered the audio to 5.1 dolby digital ( as well as 2.0 Dolby).

The sound quality is impressive, with Hendrix's guitar really cutting through in all its glory. The percussion is done very well, in fact the crashing cymbals are almost too realistic: I'm glad I have lush speakers that mellow them just a tad

I wasn't impressed the video quality at first, being low-budget 70s grainy and all ... BUT... I have to hand it to the minimalist camera choices, and grew to love the editing of this film.

The DVD liner describes how it was filmed by a relative amateur director, and all the adversity they had to deal with in putting it to film: like the cameraman on the balcony (no doubt on acid!) zooming in and out to the of the music. Haha.

For such a short film (49 minutes) you see plenty long loving shots of this historical figure playing guitar and singing like a man possessed. The cameras do sloow pans of his guitar, extended shots of the Jimi playing, with a minimum of distractions. I really wish modern directors were this patient.

This style really is conducive to understanding Jimi and his music, I was able to understand Jimi's translation of almost every verse of Star Spangled Banner, without taking any acid tabs beforehand.

This film does suffer from the same problems of many early concert films: not very good quality film and lacking film footage here and there. They have to fill in areas where they have audio but not film, with scenes of the Berkley riots, etc.

But high quality audio remastering makes up for the grainy visuals, and the camera shots they do have, capture Jimi's onstage trance-like playing exquisitely.

Theres other Jimi DVDs that and longer and more comprehensive, but if you want a great sounding sampling from this legend, this is probably the one to get.

I'm a big fan of concert DVD's myself...I don't buy many movies. Here's revies of my collection:

Guns N' Roses Use Use Your Illusion Live in Tokyo 1992:
4:3, DD 2.0
This puppy just came out on DVD a while ago. Two seperate discs that run about $18 a piece...kinda expensive. Shot for Japanese TV it's thse guys in their Hayday.
Picture: 4 (Not bad for 1992)
Sound: 3.5
Performance: 4.5

Rush In Rio:
16:9 Non-Anamorphic, DD 2.0 & DD 5.1
I'm a huge Rush fan but besides the performance the quality of this DVD isn't the best. I was disappointed to see a non-anamorphic transfer. The video quality is pretty poor and the 5.1 mix has alot of reverb (but the 2.0 isn't bad).
Picture: 3.5
Sound: 4
Performance: 5 (Great as always!)

Megadeth "Rude Awakening"
4:3, DD 2.0 & DD 5.1
When I got this I didn't expect much but boy was I surprised. This an AMAZING performance from these guys with a nice 5.1 mix! Video is poor with alot of compression artifacts but the audio makes up for it!
Picture: 3
Sound: 4.5
Performance: 5

Incubus "The Morning View Sessions"
16:9 Non-Anamorphic, PCM & DD 5.1
One of the few DVD's I come back to watch all the time. They rip out a great performance in front of what looks like 100 people. Video quality is OK for a non-anamorphic concert vid but the sound quality is ultra clear and well balanced. Whoever edited this vid did a great job too...enjoyable to watch.
Picture: 3.5
Sound: 5
Performance: 5

Chevelle "Live at the Norva"
16:9 Anamorphic, PCM & DD 5.1
3 brothers in this heavy rock band on thier second CD. Pretty average all around. Video was a little better than the normal concert video but nothing to write home about compared to movies. Audio mix is OK but sometimes hollow.
Picture: 4
Sound: 3.5
Performance: 4

Coldplay "Live 2003"
16:9 Anamorphic, DD 2.0, DD 5.1, & DTS 5.1
Great performance and a dynamic DTS track on this one. The video quality is good but I've seen better. Seems like they introduced alot of grain to make it really film-like and all it does is muddy up the picture some. Compression artifacts apparent with the lighting and smoke. As far as the editing goes as others said it's pretty frantic...constant cuts from all angles. It's watchable once you realize that its no mistake & its just look they were going for.
Picture: 4
Sound: 5
Performance: 5

Rage Against the Machine "The Battle of Mexico City"
16:9 Non-Anamorphic, DD 5.1
REALLY energetic concert...the crowd was just nuts and RATM fed off of them. Video isn't too hot but its nice seeing them in 16:9 format.
Picture: 3.5
Sound: 4
Performance: 5

Rage Against the Machine "Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium"
4:3, PCM & DD 5.1
RATM's last concert...seems to have been shot roughly on purpose to get the bootleg feel. Concert has less energy than the Mexico City but is still pretty good.
Picture: 3.5
Sound: 4
Performance: 4.5

AC/DC "Stiff Upper Lip Live"
16:9 Anamorphic DD 2.0, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1
Good show with a long set. DTS track on this one will blow your socks off...flat out amazing! Picture quality is good for a concert DVD.
Picture: 4
Sound: 5.0
Performance: 4.5

Dream Theater "Live Scenes from New York"
4:3, DD 2.0
DT put on a great show for the home crowd. Video quality is good for a 4:3 but they interject these cheesy 80's video effects thru-out the show. Sound is OK but nothing to write home about.
Picture: 4
Sound: 3.5
Performance: 5

Dave Matthews Band "The Central Park Concert"
16:9 Anamorphic, PCM, DD 5.1
Wow! What else can I say! Great concert! Video is still not as good as most of the major studio releases but it's better than any of my concert DVD's. Seems like they didn't use much compression...after all its 2 hours and ?20? minutes spread out 50/50 over two discs. DD 5.1 mix is excellent...amazingly clear with almost perfect balance (needs just a little more of Dave's guitar).
Picture: 4.5
Sound: 5
Performance: 5

Don't think this was mentioned previously, I picked up Phish Live in Las Vegas. Pretty good DD 5.1, not the greatest picture, but I find it very entertaining. Guess you could call them "offbeat", not for everyody, but for me, very refreshing compared to most mainstream stuff.

I hate to say this, but why aren't there any decent Hip-Hop DVD's? I seriously need some modern dance music for my collection. You know...a little something for the kids! Something to throw a house party with to get the younger crowd dancing. I've got Jazz, Rock, House/Techno...but no Hip-Hop. I wouldn't mind some Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Outkast etc. Perhaps they don't feel there's a market for it?

Being an admirer of Eminem's studio work ( "Till I Collapse" is an incredible track) I picked up "Up in Smoke", a big budget concert flick which includes several huge Hip Hop stars.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Ice, and a few others. ... Done around 2001, so its a couple years old.

Sound quality: Sound is DD 5.1 or 2.0, its merely "ok", its actually pretty poor by todays standards, but on the other hand, its stil enjoyable.

Picture quality: Good, nothing great, but its fine, I believe its wide-screen, but I could be wrong. Good directing!

Performance quality: This is a long concert DVD with lots of performers, and obviously the performances vary. Some are good, some are bad:

Eminem, Dr Dre, Snoop Dog are all pretty good. What I liked the most, was Eminem's choice of songs to play. This show was right after "The Marshall Mathers Album" came out , and he does "Criminal" and what I consider the epic off that album: the song titled "Marshall Mathers". That performance pretty much floors me.He does probably 3 or 4 other songs too, its a full set.

It also has a short movie worked into the concert, one scene involves hookers working, so NOT advisable for kids...

Its one of those DVDs I just forward to the performances I want to see, its a worthwhile DVD if you like the artists performing. Every major rapper on this DVD gets to do a full set, so its a good sampling..

It will not turn rockers into rap lovers though... if you dislike rap before you watch this DVD, you will probably dislike it just as much afterwards, haha

You're right John, I was aware of the Up in Smoke Disc but didn't really care for any of the acts except some of Eminem's work and Snoop. I've heard the audio wasn't all that great. But that's the only real hip hop concert DVD that I know of. That seems to be the only offering. I was hoping there was something else out there to add some variety to my collection but I haven't been able to find anything. Hell I'd be happy with basic music videos.