Birtles Shorrock Goble-Full Circle (2003)

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Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, backstage footage.

    Beeb Birtles, Glenn Shorrock and Graeham Goble enjoyed huge success during the 70s as the voices of The Little River Band and together are arguably one of the finest vocal harmonising trios in rock music. They have lent their unique harmony to such timeless hits as Curiosity Killed The Cat and Reminiscing, as well as many others that are featured on this recently recorded live show.

    The three former bandmates hadn't made contact in over ten years, until a chance meeting at Australia's ARIA awards reignited their desire to perform together. Within a year of that encounter, Birtles Shorrock Goble was on tour and receiving critical acclaim across the country as the premier live act in the country.

    This DVD was recorded using six cameras over two nights at Melbourne's Forum Theatre in July this year, featuring performances of many classic LRB hits and some memorable new tunes as well, including a new Birtles composition called Photogenic. This is a long performance, running for nearly two and a half hours but it is one of those experiences that is so enjoyable it just flies by.

    The three vocalists are joined on stage by a stunning five-piece backing band, featuring Chilean percussionist Alejandro Vega and guitarist extraordinaire Simon Hosford. Each musician receives some time in the spotlight, with several moments of soloing between songs. The highlight of the show for me is the short acoustic set that features some more mellow numbers and a stripped down format, highlighting the vocals even more.

    This DVD is pure entertainment and has made me determined to experience a BSG live show for myself. During their encore of Lonesome Loser, Shorrock declares '...there are no losers here tonight!', and he couldn't be more spot-on.

Video

    This transfer is presented in a ratio of 1.75:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The production appears to have been shot digitally, and is a pleasure to watch in most respects.

    There is a good degree of sharpness present, with plenty of detail evident throughout the transfer. Black levels are solid and shadow detail is very good for a stage performance. Live concerts DVDs are renowned for poor quality in this department but there is nothing to worry about here. I noted a few very minor examples of low level noise on the stage backdrop at various points during the feature, but I would not rate them as highly distracting.

    The transfer itself appears to have been encoded at a highly variable bitrate, and I'm sad to report that MPEG artefacts can be seen intermittently. The average video bitrate hovers around 7.1 Mb/s but often drops below a measly 4 Mb/s. The two most notable compression issues occur at 33:07 while the stage is covered heavily with smoke and again at 124:37 as the picture fades to black very briefly. There are other short moments where the picture is noticeably pixelated, but these are of a much less distracting nature. Aliasing cannot be avoided in a transfer this sharp - most guitar strings and microphone stands have some degree of aliasing present.

    Colours are very rich and bold for the majority of the performance, with great use of stage lighting and other effects. There are some slight shimmering effects on the intense blue lighting at 43:20, but otherwise I found no problems with oversaturation or bleeding.

    There are no subtitle streams on this disc. If you are the kind of viewer that likes to read lyrics, you'll be happy to know that they are included in a large glossy booklet.

    This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer transition placed during the feature at 73:45, prior to the song The Other Guy. This is a generally unrecognisable pause and only briefly interrupts the quiet crowd applause.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Enunciation and clarity of vocals are absolutely superb throughout this live concert. I had no problems at all understanding lyrics or spoken words. Audio sync was similarly great - everything from lips to percussion was perfectly in sync with the video stream.

    Of the two audio options, the Dolby Digital is noticeably louder, but understandably  lacks a lot of depth and brightness when compared to the dts track. The 5.1 mixes are absolutely identical in both soundtracks, with the same surround usage and panning across the front soundstage. This is by no means an aggressive mix, but it is certainly enveloping. Surround channels are utilised for everything from audience applause and cheering to echo effects and some occasional spill from the front channels. There are a few examples of dedicated use of the rear channels, such as Beeb Birtles' acoustic guitar panned exclusively to the rears at 37:00 during the song Photogenic, and  Shorrock's vocal echoes are also panned to the rear very effectively at 137:26.

    The subwoofer is used immensely on both soundtracks to accentuate the kick drum and bass guitar, picking up the bottom end of the scale with ease.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There aren't any real extras to be found on this disc, and to be honest I don't miss them one bit. If dropping some meaningless filler means that we can have a full bitrate dts track, then I'm all for it.

    Incidentally, those that crave backstage footage and general cavorting will find this additional material placed during the credits, not as an extra. This is a great idea, and is much more preferable than having the credits rolling during the performance in my opinion.

Menu

Booklet

    Included in the package is an extensive thirty page booklet featuring lyrics and photos, as well as DVD credits and a preface by Australian music historian Glenn A. Baker.

    This title is only available in Region 4 at the moment, although the disc itself is coded for all regions.

    The video transfer is crystal clear, but suffers from a couple of MPEG artefact issues.

    The audio transfer features a full bitrate dts track - what more could you want?

    There aren't any real extras to speak of, and they aren't missed.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall