What music DVD are you currently enjoying

[bigburner]

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - "Roxy the Movie" (2015) [Blu-ray]


They have just released this FZ concert on Blu-ray after 42 years sitting in the vault. I watched it for the first time last night. It was outstanding. The restoration was excellent. Very rarely do you read praise as effusive as this in Amazon's customer reviews.

Nigel.

[bigburner]

Two new Blu-ray concerts worthy of review...

The Robert Cray Band – “4 Nights Of 40 Years Live” (2015)

As the title suggests this Blu-ray covers the 40 years that Robert Cray has been in the music business. I rate Robert Cray very highly. He sings and plays 6-string electric blues guitar. He’s a more than competent guitarist but is not a virtuoso. However he has a superb voice that I could listen to all night (unlike Joe Bonamassa, for example, who happens to be a virtuoso guitarist. It’s hard to be brilliant at everything).

Because this Blu-ray covers Cray’s 40 year career there are a number of documentary inserts but as the disc progresses these diminish and the second half is solely a live concert recorded recently. The last two times I’ve watched this Blu-ray I’ve watched the second half only.

I initially bought this in DVD format because that’s all that was available at the time. The DVD has only one audio track – DD 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / 16-bit. Because I liked the DVD so much I then bought the Blu-ray which I expected to have greatly superior audio. To my shock it sports a single DD 2.0 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps / 16-bit audio track. WTF?? A great musician documents his career and in 2015 they release the audio at 384 kbps?? Hey, it does sound OK, but it’s an opportunity missed. Apart from this small travesty I can thoroughly recommend this Blu-ray.

Eric Clapton – “Slowhand at 70: Live at The Royal Albert Hall” (2015)

As the title of this Blu-ray suggests Eric Clapton celebrated his 70th birthday with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, which must be the best concert venue in the world, or close to it. If you are expecting something totally new and exciting on this Blu-ray then you are going to be disappointed. Eric plays a selection of old favourites with his good mates and does a very good job. It’s a female friendly concert with old standards like “Tears in Heaven” and “Wonderful Tonight” included. These days I tend to fast forward through those songs after the first listen. There were plenty of women in the audience so his song choice was sensible. Fortunately blues enthusiasts like me get songs like “Driftin' Blues” and a 17 minute version of “Little Queen of Spades” (in the Extras). That’s why I continue to buy Eric.

One of the highlights of this Blu-ray was Eric's bass player Nathan East singing an excellent version of “Can't Find My Way Home" which was a song sung by Steve Winwood when Clapton was with Blind Faith (his first band after leaving Cream). Coincidentally I saw an excellent photo of Nathan East the other day (see below) when he played at the White House recently.

Unlike the Robert Cray Blu-ray this Eric Clapton Blu-ray sports some serious audio comprising:

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 96 kHz / 8189 kbps / 24-bit
• LPCM 2.0 / 96 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit

I can thoroughly recommend this Blu-ray.

Nigel.

[wkhanna]

I saw Robert Cray in '92 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in D.C.

One of my favorite shows.

Good to hear from you, my old friend!

[bigburner]

I saw Robert Cray in '92 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in D.C.

One of my favorite shows.

Good to hear from you, my old friend!

Thanks Bill. I'm currently holidaying in Kaiteriteri which is a beach town at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. It's the middle of summer here and the weather is blissful.

Nigel.

[Chris D]

So jealous.

[madmac]

Spun this last night again and I just can't say enough about how good this concert is !! Beautiful, magical performance and the DTS audio is superb!

Now if this was only available in BD format.............sigh........

[Ovation]

Spun this last night again and I just can't say enough about how good this concert is !! Beautiful, magical performance and the DTS audio is superb!

Now if this was only available in BD format.............sigh........

I've fallen out of the habit of watching concert videos (no real reason, just kinda happened) but you've reminded me I have this on my shelf. Should give it a spin sometime soon (perhaps during the holiday break). And I agree, a BD would be even better.

[bigburner]

Now if this was only available in BD format.............sigh........

It is. I've got it. I'm pretty sure I bought it from Amazon.

Nigel.

[madmac]

It is. I've got it. I'm pretty sure I bought it from Amazon.

Nigel.

HUH???!!!! WHAAAT !!!?? You lucky dog !!! It's not available here in Canada as far as I can see. Damn !

[Ovation]

HUH???!!!! WHAAAT !!!?? You lucky dog !!! It's not available here in Canada as far as I can see. Damn !

Sure it is. Right here.

[madmac]

Sure it is. Right here.

Holy crap !!

Hummmm..........wondering if the BD version is that much better than my DVD one? Says it's up-scaled standard def ?? Also, I don't have DTS-HD capability either? What do you guys think????

I've added it to my wish list though!!

[Ovation]

If you don't have the DTS-HD capability, the upgrade value is rather limited (she'll look a bit sharper, as will the rest of the band, but the sound will remain the same for you).

[bigburner]

She'll definitely look sharper but the audio should be way better too.

Here's what you get on the Blu-ray:

LPCM: 2.0 | 48 kHz | 1536 kbps | 16-bit
DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1 | 48 kHz | 2638 kbps | 16-bit

Here's what you get on the DVD:

Dolby Digital: 2.0 | 48 kHz | 224 kbps | 16-bit
Dolby Digital: 5.1| 48 kHz | 448 kbps | 16-bit
DTS: 5.1 | 48 kHz | 768 kbps | 16-bit

Don't forget though, we agreed in an earlier post that it's all in the recording...ops:

Nigel.

[madmac]

She'll definitely look sharper but the audio should be way better too.

Here's what you get on the Blu-ray:

LPCM: 2.0 | 48 kHz | 1536 kbps | 16-bit
DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1 | 48 kHz | 2638 kbps | 16-bit

Here's what you get on the DVD:

Dolby Digital: 2.0 | 48 kHz | 224 kbps | 16-bit
Dolby Digital: 5.1| 48 kHz | 448 kbps | 16-bit
DTS: 5.1 | 48 kHz | 768 kbps | 16-bit

Don't forget though, we agreed in an earlier post that it's all in the recording...ops:

Nigel.

It's hard to imagine that the BD could sound better because the DVD in DTS just sounds so damn awesome. I shake my head and smile as I'm watching it because it's just a wonderful recording!

[bigburner]

It's hard to imagine that the BD could sound better because the DVD in DTS just sounds so damn awesome. I shake my head and smile as I'm watching it because it's just a wonderful recording!

If you're an old fashioned stereo guy like me then the audio quality on the Blu-ray is a big step up. I suspect they may deliberately reduce the quality on the DVD release so you end up buying the same concert twice.

Nigel.

[madmac]

If you're an old fashioned stereo guy like me then the audio quality on the Blu-ray is a big step up. I suspect they may deliberately reduce the quality on the DVD release so you end up buying the same concert twice.

Nigel.

But always remember that we have agreed that the quality and care of the recording and mastering plays a bigger role on how it will sound than the format or resolution it is presented in (within reason of course!). In this case, if I got the BD version I'm still getting 16 bit audio but just at a higher sampling rate. Meah..........maybe I'll try it.....we'll see.

If this concert was available in pure 1080P and 24 bit audio, then I would be much more interested in getting it. To me, this looks like something that was originally filmed and recorded for DVD simply transferred over to BD format.

[Ovation]

I never play something in 2 channel if it has a discreet multichannel mix available (I've one exception to this rule--a single track on a Fleetwood Mac DVD-A that I prefer in 2 channel, where the mixer made what are, to me, odd choices in the mix). However, I can see where a 2 channel kinda person would, if their equipment allows for it, appreciate the lossless mix on the BD.

Quite different type of concert DVD (though each is a Canadian)--I recently ordered the Leonard Cohen in London 2009 concert DVD (could not find a blu-ray version). Looking forward to enjoying it during the holiday break.

[bigburner]

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (2016) [Blu-ray]

As the title suggests, this is a documentary / concert film about The Beatles during their touring years from 1963 to 1966. It contains documentary material, interviews, stories and most importantly, concert footage.

There was nothing in this film that I hadn’t seen before, but director Ron Howard has done a fine job assembling, restoring and enhancing the available content. The sound quality of the music is absolutely superb. *8/10

Nigel.