Kylie Minogue-Kylie Fever 2002: In Concert-Live In Manchester (2002) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Music |
Menu Animation Featurette-Documentary Featurette-Projections (4) Featurette-Digital Programme Web Links Credits Booklet |
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Rating | |||
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) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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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 |
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.
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 |
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.
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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.
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The menus are all 16x9 enhanced and silent.
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.
The credits. Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack.
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.
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.
Gives access to the Kylie website.
Contains the copyright information of the tracks used on the DVD and some glossy photos of the show, including our hostess getting geared up.
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.
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.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Panasonic DVD-RV31A-S, using S-Video output |
Display | Beko 28" (16x9). This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. |
Amplification | Marantz SR7000 |
Speakers | Energy - Front, Rear, Centre & Subwoofer |