PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Kylie Minogue-Kylie Fever 2002: In Concert-Live In Manchester (2002)

Kylie Minogue-Kylie Fever 2002: In Concert-Live In Manchester (2002)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 19-Nov-2002

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Menu Animation
Featurette-Documentary
Featurette-Projections (4)
Featurette-Digital Programme
Web Links
Credits
Booklet
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 108:07 (Case: 170)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (46:17) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By William Baker
Alan MacDonald
Chris Keating
Studio
Distributor

Festival Mushroom
Starring Kylie Minogue
Case Click
RPI $31.95 Music Various


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio Unknown Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Although I feel odd about admitting it, I have gained a certain amount of respect for Kylie Minogue over the past couple of years. When she started her musical career in the 1980s, after her now infamous run on Neighbours, I can remember being very derisive, not just of the quality of her music, but also of her (in)abilities as a performer. The past two years have somewhat changed my opinion of the so-called 'singing budgie', after the quality of her product and the quality of her performance increased. KylieFever2002 -- In Concert, Live in Manchester is the perfect showcase for this evolution.

     The marketing people behind Kylie deserve every cent they've earnt, but more than that Kylie deserves much kudos for getting to where she is today. Certainly, a lot of the Kylie franchise works on the basis that sex sells, and Kylie is certainly not beyond wearing costumes that show a lot of well-toned flesh and basically leaving nothing to the imagination. However, she doesn't market herself as a sex-craving teen Lolita in the way that Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera do, but rather as the new sporty, toned sex-goddess image that is more fashionable within the European fashion market. And, better yet, she has learnt to sing.

     KylieFever2002 is a live show based around seven Acts:

         1. "Silvanemesis" (Tracks 1 - 4)

         2. "Droogie Nights" (Track 5)

         3. "The Crying Game" (Track 6)

         4. "Street Style" (Tracks 7 - 10)

         5. "Sex In Venice" (Tracks 11 - 13)

         6. "Cybertronica" (Tracks 14 - 17)

         7. "Voodooinferno" (Tracks 18 - 20)

    Each of these act changes is marked by a costume change and a set / lighting / effects change so that the mood of the performance is drastically altered. This is quite effective and makes for a visually dazzling show as well as an auditory journey. Intensively choreographed and with fantastic costumes, you find yourself actually watching the show, rather than just listening to the music.

     Despite the magnificent dancing and lighting, this show is hardly all flash and no substance. Kylie opens up with dance club hit "Come Into My World", works through a rock remix of "Shocked", hits the dance happy "Love At First Sight" and the funky "Fever". With the change in acts, we get a performance of the classic "Spinning Around", which melts into a ballad mix of "The Crying Game". The pace picks up with a rock/trip-hop remix of "Confide In Me" and a scratchy version of "Kids" before kicking it into a fantastic funk remix of "On A Night like This" complete with 'wah' guitar, a down and dirty version of "Locomotion" (although I have to admit the track still sounds kitchy) and an extensive Latin take on "In Your Eyes". The show kicks into high gear with a thumping version of "Limbo", and a dance mix of "Light Years / I Feel Love", before the mood comes back down with a brilliant ambient techno remix of "I Should Be So Lucky" which evolves into a dark hard house beat that is so far removed from its original release I wasn't even sure it was the same track that I heard all those years ago. Kylie builds her final act with a funk/garage mix of "Burning Up", a not-so-hot disco mix of "Better The Devil You Know", and takes us out for the finale with a version of club favourite "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" which (believe it or not) allows Kylie to showcase her vocals.

     Although at times Kylie's show seems more like soft-porn than music performance, I have no particular issue with this, and all the various suggestive sexual imagery is usually quite good for a laugh. Of course, that comes from someone who watches David Cronenberg's Crash over breakfast. What impressed me about the show was Kylie's ability to dance and sing simultaneously, while staying on key and in time. So although the documentary confirms that Kylie is a thirty-year-old fifteen-year-old, in that she still acts like a ditzy kid a lot of the time, her stage performance is worth the entry price of this DVD. There is no real hope of winning over Kylie haters, but the fans are going to love this one.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Track Listing

1. Come Into My World
2. Shocked
3. Love At First Sight
4. Fever
5. Spinning Around
6. The Crying Game
7. GBI
8. Confide In Me
9. Cowboy Style
10. Kids
11. On A Night Like This
12. Locomotion
13. In Your Eyes
14. Interlude - Cybertronica
15. Limbo
16. Light Years / I Feel Love
17. I Should Be So Lucky
18. Burning Up
19. Better The Devil You Know
20. Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Transfer Quality

Video

     The picture is clear and sharp with next to no background noise. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, which is likely the original aspect ratio. I noticed no image distortion to suggest otherwise.

     Colours are rich, which is good considering the variety on display, and shadow detail is excellent.

     Unfortunately, the hard edges on this DVD are prone to aliasing, suggesting that this was captured on digital video, not on film. The staircase running the centre of the stage, as well as the hard edges of the catwalk, often display this MPEG artefact. More troublesome, though, was the persistent moire effect on the grille backing of the stage. Although this was not noticeable in shots done from a distance, it was painfully obvious throughout the show when there were up-close shots. This artefact was particularly bad during the first act, as the grille is illuminated with a blue gel which manages to intensify the effect. Still, these artefacts are not so bad as to be overly distracting and our hostess and her dancers generally dominate one's attention anyway.

     The dual layer pause is at 46:17, in between tracks 8 and 9. It is virtually undetectable and thus not distracting.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     There are two audio tracks: an English 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo track, and an English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound track. I listened to both.

     The 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo mix is a very effective mix and obviously the original sound recording. When turned up, it exhibits rich bass sounds and melodic treble. Clarity is impressive, with no audio sync problems, and there are left-right directional cues during some tracks as well.

     The 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound track is also an impressive track. However, this is clearly an extrapolated surround mix, spread from the original stereo, and the mastering has a few faults. Certainly, there is a lot of surround information on this disc, not just crowd response in the rears, but also music. And, in the introduction to Act 6, there is a sound effect which literally runs around the room. The vocals are generally pushed through the centre speaker, with the supports overlapped left and right for ambience.

     My reservations with the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track come from its over-reliance on the subwoofer. A lot of the bass is channelled down into the sub, but this gives the effect of a lot of unnecessary pounding, while a lot of the more ambient bass seems to be lost. The bass drum is always kicked down to the sub, which is fine, but so is a lot of the noise from the bass guitar and I found this rather flat as opposed to a rich noise that comes from utilising all ranges of the bass at once. I know I keep harping back to the DTS track on the Fatboy Slim: Big Beach Boutique II DVD, but until something comes along to better that track I'm going to keep doing it. That DVD is the best example of how to remaster a surround track from a stereo recording, with a rich bass sound that relies on all speakers in concert, not just pushing everything through the sub. Bass has a range that is not merely thump-thump-thump and a music fan with a trained ear can tell the difference. Still, nice try, and better than a lot of the extrapolated tracks I have heard so far.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menus

     The menus are all 16x9 enhanced and silent.

Documentary (34:09)

     This is a look at the making and design of the show, including interviews with the creative producers and music managers, as well as the lady of the show herself. Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with a 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack.

Credits (2:23)

     The credits. Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack.

Projections

     The imagery on the projection screens around the stage during four tracks: "Cowboy Style"; "Light Years / I Feel Love"; "I Should Be So Lucky"; and "Burning Up". Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with a 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack.

Digital Program

     A series of images run on the display screens across the back of the stage. Includes a Star Wars intro style break down of each act and what is meant to be represented. Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with a 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack.

DVD-ROM

     Gives access to the Kylie website.

Booklet

     Contains the copyright information of the tracks used on the DVD and some glossy photos of the show, including our hostess getting geared up.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The R1 version seems to be identical to the R4 version except that it is encoded for play in Region 1 only and is in NTSC. Given the lower price of the domestic product, I'll still go with R4, but realistically there is no difference.

Summary

     KylieFever2002 -- In Concert, Live In Manchester is a sultry stage show with some great remixes of some Kylie tunes, both old and new.

     The picture quality is good, but it suffers from persistent aliasing and moire on the grille backing the stage.

     The audio quality is very good, although the extrapolated 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track is overly reliant on the subwoofer to produce bass.

     The extras are on the whole excellent, with a couple of unnecessary ones thrown in to boot, although some video clips of Kylie's recent singles would not have gone astray.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Edward McKenzie (I am Jack's raging bio...)
Friday, January 31, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DVD-RV31A-S, using S-Video output
DisplayBeko 28" (16x9). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver.
AmplificationMarantz SR7000
SpeakersEnergy - Front, Rear, Centre & Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE