Eric Clapton & Friends-Live 1986 (1986)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1986
Running Time	58:52
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gavin Taylor
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Eric Clapton Phil Collins Nathan East Greg Phillinganes
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	None Given

    Here we have another of Eric Clapton's great concerts released to the DVD format. This one, though, is slightly different in that it takes us back a little closer to his roots than past offerings and features a small band format such as he is favouring of late. This band contains some powerful musicians in their own right with names like Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes and Phil Collins on drums. Greg was part of Stevie Wonder's band, Wonderlove from 1976 and 1981. He also worked with Quincy Jones from 1976. And those with a keen ear can hear him on every Michael Jackson recording from the Epic label. Nathan is one of the world's great bass guitarists and he has either performed, recorded, or co-written songs with Anita Baker, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, and co-wrote 'Easy Lover' with Phil Collins & Philip Bailey. As as for Phil, well I don't think he needs any introduction unless you have been on another planet for a long long time. So I guess that makes it pretty easy to see the different links between each artist.

    With this group, what we have is a powerful concert performance, but it does have one major problem - it is too d*** short!! At 58 minutes in duration, you just start getting into the groove of things and the end credits start rolling, leaving you with no choice but to walk over to the DVD cabinet and grab another Clapton concert to finish with.

    The small amount of footage that we do get contains some classic tracks and includes 'Run', 'Miss You', 'Tearing Us Apart' and 'Holy Mother' from the August album. There is a little bit of everything with titles taken from the Cream days, Derek And The Dominoes as well as some solo material. Even with that in mind it is hard to go past Eric Clapton - Live In Hyde Park which includes 'White Room', 'Tearin' Us Apart', 'Holly Mother', and 'Layla'. I must say that the version of Holy Mother on the Hyde Park DVD is far superior as it was beautifully backed by the East London Gospel Choir. One big advantage on this disc, and something that the cover points out, is that you get the full version of 'Layla' which includes the 'Thorn Free In The Garden' second section.

    What you also get is quite a jazzy version of 'Crossroads' as well as 'In The Air Tonight', where Phil drags himself away from the drums and sings what is one of his most memorable songs. It is just amazing how powerful a voice projection he can achieve as he sits casually on a stool at the front of the stage. Then he saunters back to the drum kit where he bashes out one heck of a tune.

    The concert was filmed at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on 15th July 1986.

Video

    The video transfer of the concert is soft and it takes on the appearance of being out of focus for the majority of the footage.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and therefore not 16x9 enhanced. This is an unfortunate trait with Eric's concerts and something that I would like to see changed as soon as possible.

        This transfer is unfortunately murky with no areas where there are clear crisp images. It looks like poor lighting may have played a small part in this problem and it is hard to say if the transfer was an issue, but on close analysis this does not appear to be the case. Shadow detail is a problem with huge sections of the footage being poorly lit which makes it hard to see. The one advantage is that the main focus of the camera is always well lit by a spotlight, but if you want to look slightly out of this area then detail is not ideal. Low level noise is visible throughout the production.

    The colours were also soft with no examples of bright or bold colours being available. Even Eric's Fender has a dull appearance rather than the bold red that it should be. Stage lighting is mostly confined to white light but the coloured ones do cast a nice coloured tint across objects on occasions.

    There were no MPEG artefacts to be seen. Aliasing is very rare and very mild when it does occur. I did not notice any film artefacts but if they are black then they may have been hidden by the lack of shadow detail.

    There are no subtitles available on this disc.

    This disc is a single layered disc so therefore there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    This disc contains three soundtracks: dts 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Linear PCM Stereo. For the first time ever I can honestly say I could pick no difference between a Dolby Digital and a dts soundtrack. I guess deep down I always knew this day would come but I was hoping it would be on a more obscure title and not on a Clapton DVD. Now that I have that off my chest, both 5.1 soundtracks are of high quality and I would almost go so far as to say they were magnificent audio transfers. You can switch between tracks with the audio button on your remote rather than being forced back to the menu which is always nice.

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    Audio sync was not a problem at all with the transfer, and was completely spot on.

    The dts and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks were lacking in detail in the rears and more could have been done during the mastering to provide a more complete and enveloping sensation. There are no directional effects with all dialogue coming from the front centre channel and precise placement of instruments in the soundfield. This is a positive thing as you don't want instruments flying around the room but I did want to hear a more natural projection as the sound headed away from the stage past your sitting position and fading into the background. Chapter 7 'In The Air Tonight' is an exception, containing an excellent surround presence making it sound very realistic when you close your eyes.

    The subwoofer provided a nice bottom end to the music and really helped the bass guitar reach to a beautiful depth. Phil on the drums also calls this speaker into action at times.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu is in the same full-frame aspect ratio as the main feature with Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded sound.

    Both versions are identical in material content. Only the PAL and NTSC formatting differences remain.

    I have always been a fan of Eric's work and as I have said before, he is one of those rare artists who keeps getting better with age. Here we get the bonus of 3 other experts in their respective fields who put on a great show. Reference material this isn't but worth it for the fans only for its musical content. Just make sure the titles you are REALLY after are included here. As I mentioned earlier, most are available on other DVDs and at a much higher quality.

    The video quality was disappointing as little effort appears to have been made here.

    The audio quality is great but not perfect. If you are after a reference title from Eric then don't bother with this one.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall