Ian Gillan Band-Live at the Rainbow 1977 (1977)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Interviews-Cast-Ray Fenwick Interviews-Cast-Voice Of Ian Gillan, Interviewed During Japan Tour 1977 Audio-Only Track-Rarities Trailer-More Musical Moments
Rating
Year Of Production	1977
Running Time	31:26 (Case: 70)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Keef
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Ray Fenwick Mark Nauseef John Gustafson Colin Towns Ian Gillan
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Ian Gillan

    Vocalist Ian Gillan left the enormously successful Deep Purple in 1973 and completely extricated himself from the music business for a short time, choosing to diversify by opening a travel agency, a hotel and a taxi company. When the urge returned to form a band and hit the road, he used the musicians that contributed to his second solo album, Clear Air Turbulence. These consisted of renowned session guitarist Ray Fenwick, former Elf drummer Mark Nauseef, bassist John Gustafson and keyboardist Colin Towns. Gillan's first solo album Child In Time was released the previous year and hadn't been very well received by Deep Purple fans or critics due to the uninspired reworking of the album's title track. This didn't stop the tour from being a success, as is evidenced by this concert filmed at London's Rainbow Theatre on May 14, 1977. The brief half hour set was recorded for television using the standard analogue valve cameras of the day, so you won't be surprised to learn that the video quality isn't as fantastic as you will find on more recent productions.

    The songs featured here are taken from both his work as a solo artist and his tenure with Deep Purple in the early 70s. The arrangement of these Deep Purple songs is quite different in comparison to the original versions and may surprise fans. The concert itself is well recorded and has been transferred to DVD without any major issues of concern. This DVD's bonus features are particularly worthwhile as they contain a recent interview with guitarist Ray Fenwick, a Japanese interview with Gillan in 1977 and six rare studio recordings.

    This year Ian Gillan celebrates forty years in the music business and is the subject of a BBC documentary that should surface in Australia soon. What better way to celebrate one of rock's most enduring voices.

Video

    This video transfer is derived from an analogue master tape and exhibits most of the faults we could associate with such a source. The concert was recorded using  the limited valvestate cameras that were the standard at this time, which means the feature is riddled with analogue artefacts such as motion trails on the bright stage lighting and regular instances of microphony. All of the cameras are handheld and remain steady most of the time aside from one situated on the dance floor at the front of the stage which may have suffered from interference by the crowd.

    As it was recorded for television, the concert is presented in its intended aspect of 1.29:1, full frame.

    Sharpness and overall clarity are as good as you could expect, considering the age and condition of the analogue source. The transfer contains acceptable black levels for a live performance and shows no visible low level noise. Colouring is a little washed out, which is hardly surprising, but remains consistent for the most part.

    MPEG artefacting is minimal in comparison to the camera problems and is restricted to a little pixelization around titles and the like. Most of the transfer issues here relate to problems inherent in the source tape rather than the transfer to DVD.

    This disc is comprised of a single layer (DVD5 format) and does not include any subtitle streams.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are two soundtracks accompanying this concert on DVD. The default soundtrack is Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s). Since playback of the feature begins automatically, you can switch to the Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) soundtrack on the fly, or skip to the main menu and select it manually. As with the video transfer, this audio transfer is sourced from the analogue master and isn't nearly as broad as a recent recording, but it does the job.

    The vocal melodies and lyrics are audible most of the time, but you have to remember that this is a live recording so microphone technique plays a big part. Because I'm familiar with these songs I didn't have any issues with enunciation, however someone hearing these for the first time may react differently. I didn't recognise any problems with audio sync at all.

    The default stereo mix is serviceable, but doesn't contain a lot of depth. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack appears to be sourced from the stereo master and surprised me with its depth and separation between instruments. Mind you, it's not as great as a full remix, but the left and right channels have been panned right out with a subtle mix of the two filling the front centre channel. The rear channels contain a little spill from the front and as a result don't receive a lot of work to do. One area in which the two soundtracks do suffer is brightness, and given the slight presence of tape hiss I would point the finger at excessive noise reduction. Other than that, the soundtrack is in good condition, with only a few tiny pops here and there.

    The subwoofer is surprisingly active in the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, accentuating the kick drum and bass guitar nicely.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    This is a good collection of extra material, and should really please fans. None of the content on this disc is 16x9 enhanced.

Menu

Ray Fenwick Interview (6:09)

    The Gillan Band's guitarist discusses seeing Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice prior to Deep Purple in their early project Episode Six and also his good memories of touring in the 70s. This interview is presented in 1.78:1, but is not 16x9 enhanced.

Japan Tour Interview (8:36)

    Ian Gillan chats candidly about his thoughts on music and life in general. The interview is audio only and is accompanied by scrolling stills of himself and the band. He also discusses the line-up of musicians he has at this time and the songs he will be performing while on tour. After you listen to the interview, start it again and count the number of times the interviewer says "uh-huh".

Rarities (23:05)

    We are treated to six rare studio recordings, accompanied by more still photos of the band. These tracks are titled: Finally the Finale, My Baby Loves Me, Down The Road, You Make Me Feel So Good, Scarabus and Reaching Out. Down the Road has some great backwards guitar with an eerie feel, while You Make Me Feel So Good includes that trademark Gillan scream we all know and love. Scarabus is an instrumental piece that showcases the musical prowess of the band a little more.

Trailers (4)

    Four trailers are presented for other Umbrella music titles; Venom-Live in London, Ian Paice-On The Drums, Steve Morse-Cruise Control and Johnny Winter in Bits and Pieces.

    The video transfer is acceptable considering the age and condition of the source.

    The audio transfer suffers in a similar way, but has been polished up nicely.

    The extras are worth the purchase price alone.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall