Wishbone Ash-30th Anniversary (2001) |
|
Wishbone Ash-30th Anniversary (2001) |
|
|
| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Music |
Booklet-4 pages Menu Animation & Audio Featurette-Wonderful Stash Gallery-Photo-32 |
|
| Rating |
|
||
| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 96:15 (Case: 100) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By |
Andy Powell Ramona da Gama |
|
Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Vision |
Starring |
Andy Powell Mark Birch Bob Skeat Ray Weston Claire Hamill Laurie Wisefield |
| Case | Soft Brackley-Transp | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Wishbone Ash |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0  (192Kb/s)English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) |
|
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
The line-up featured on this concert DVD dates back to 1996 when co-lead guitarist Mark Birch joined the crew - he's the long-haired dude on stage left. Filmed in April 2000 at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, the set is made up of Andy Powell (lead guitar, vocals), Mark Birch (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Skeat (bass, vocals) and Ray Weston on drums playing 12 songs spanning their career. The set commences with the laid-back Real Guitars Have Wings, progresses through to acoustic versions of Ballad Of The Beacon and Errors Of My Way, includes their theme tunes Blowin' Free and Phoenix and culminates with encores of Come In From The Rain and a general melee of the guest musicians in Hard Times. The band are joined by ex-guitarist Laurie Wisefield and part-time vocalist Claire Hamill who, incidentally, co-wrote Living Proof. As will be noted from their instrument line-up, Wishbone Ash were one of the first bands to feature twin lead guitars played in complementary rather than duelling fashion.
The music could be described as laid-back and is pleasant to listen to - no screaming tonsil-rasping vocals or theatrics here - just good ol' rock and roll, sufficiently harmonious so as not to disturb the THC-induced mental haze of the average listener. This in no way detracts from the music - this is top quality rock, but don't expect the ball-bustin' beat of AC/DC or pyrotechnics of Rammstein. For nostalgic long-standing fans, the stage has two backdrop, rear-display screens where pictures of band members, past and present, are projected throughout the set.
Oh, and incidentally, if you happen to see the band lately and wonder if Mark Birch had had a hair-cut, nope! He's left the band too, to be replaced by Finnish guitarist Ben Granfelt.
| 1. Real Guitars Have Wings 2. The King Will Come 3. FUBB 4. Ballad of The Beacon 5. Errors Of My Way 6. No Joke | 7. Starnge Affair 8. Living Proof 9. Blowin' Free 10. Phoenix 11. Come in From The Rain 12. Hard Times |
The transfer is presented in a full frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer is sharp throughout most of the video, apart from a short burst of fairly coarse grain towards the end of the concert. There is a little low level noise throughout but otherwise blacks are clean and well-rendered and there is good shadow detail in a mostly softly lit stage.
Colours are well presented, much of the set has the stage lit in typical brothel-red lighting but the film clips projected show vibrant colours and realistic skin tones.
Apart from minor aliasing seen, as is usual, in shots of guitar strings and mike stands, the transfer is free from MPEG and video artefacts and as it was shot on video, there are no film artefacts or telecine wobble.
There are no subtitles which is a shame as the lyrics are at times indistinct and some of the songs sounded interesting.
The disc is a single-sided, single layer DVD-5 and hence there is no layer transition point.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization |  |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts |  |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
The lyrics were a little indistinct but this was principally a feature of the laid-back style of the vocalists rather than a problem with the soundtrack. Audio and lip synch were spot on.
The surrounds were realistically used to enhance the concert atmosphere by augmenting reverberation and conveying audience noise to the rear.
The subwoofer was well utilised throughout the set to sensitively augment reproduction from the bass guitar and the drums without becoming intrusive.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
32 shots of good quality stills presented in 1.33:1 of band members.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video quality was good.
The soundtracks were excellent.
Recommended for Wishbone Ash and British rock fans.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba SD-900E, using RGB output |
| Display | Pioneer SD-T50W1 (127cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Denon AVC-A1SE |
| Speakers | B&W 602 front/rear. B&W LRC6 Centre / Solid (AKA B&W) 500 SW |