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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Jeff Buckley-Live in Chicago (2000)

Jeff Buckley-Live in Chicago (2000)

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Released 7-Jul-2000

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Menu Animation & Audio
Discography
Music Video-So Real (Acoustic) (4:41)
Music Video-Last Goodbye (Acoustic) (4:38)
Featurette-Electronic Press Kit (16:38)
Web Links
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2000
Running Time 97:42 (Case: 125)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (67:33) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Sony Music
Starring Jeff Buckley
Mick Grondahl
Matt Johnson
Michael Tighe
Case Amaray-Opaque
RPI $29.95 Music Jeff Buckley
Leonard Cohen


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/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 Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    On the evening of 29 May 1997, Jeff Buckley (aged 31) decided to to take a swim in a Memphis river, and drowned in the wake of a tugboat. Father and 60s visionary popster Tim Buckley (Greetings From L.A.) died of a drug overdose in 1975 aged 28, and although Buckley Jr had only ever met his father once, the tragedy of his death is all the more depressing for this fact, as both father and son had potentially legendary careers cut short.

    In the tradition of The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, despite his death, there has still been a slow but steady stream of material released. 1994 masterpiece album Grace was still selling (having gone gold in the USA, Australia and France), so initially Sony re-released his 1993 Live at Sin-e EP. Then in 1998 came Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk, a work-in-progress polished a little and put onto two CDs. Now we have a live album, Mystery White Boy, and this DVD has been described as a "companion piece" (i.e. we want you to buy both).

    Grace is one of my favourite albums, and Sketches was okay, so I was quite keen to check this one out. Recorded at Cabaret Metro in Chicago May 13, 1995, it captures Jeff Buckley and his band at the height of their powers doing some great songs. The musicians are all in top form, and Jeff Buckley's voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in parts. From pop to grunge to gospel to rock, the music covers anything in which you might find a guitar, its very variety making it unique. The two guitars/bass/drums, together with some heavy reverb cause the music to pulse, building up to crescendos with the often achingly beautiful vocals, and then coming back down into the hooking melodies.

    I liked the fact that this is an unedited performance: you get the tuning up, the chats with the roadies and the guitar changes. The venue was quite small, and the cameras all quite close to the band, all of this accentuating the feeling of being at the show, with a 5.1 mix to put you front and centre.

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Track Listing

1. Dream Brother
2. Lover, You Should've Come Over
3. Mojo Pin
4. So Real
5. Last Goodbye
6. Eternal Life
7. Kick Out The Jams
8. Lilac Wine
9. What Will You Say
10. Grace
11. Vancouver
12. Kanga Roo
13. Hallelujah

Transfer Quality

Video

    Aside from the limitations of video as a medium when compared to its film counterpart (especially on DVD), there is nothing to really complain about.

    The Full Frame 1.33:1 transfer is sharp and well detailed, and the bright stage lights fleshed this detail out.. Sometimes, video can be a little too detailed, and in some close-ups, you could count hairs. The sheer starkness of the light made shadow detail a slight problem (but not of concern). There was no low level noise present.

    The colour was a little washed out, but that is to be expected from five year old video, of which the makers could never have anticipated a DVD release. This is accentuated by the fact that the main stage light is a whitish blue, the band are wearing anything but colourful clothing, and guitar bands, by their nature, are pale and weedy individuals. Somewhat annoyingly, the camera placed to the left of the stage got the full brunt of the blue hue, and the camera to the right got a more ambient light, and consequently more natural skin tones. Somewhat excessive switching between the camera angles made the difference a little annoying. With the exception of those angles bathed in blue light, the blacks were as deep as they could be (read: not quite black) considering the source.

    No film artefacts, film-to-video artefacts or other defects reared their ugly heads, but there was some grain in a couple of shots of the audience. This was certainly evident in the source material - video cameras shooting into semi-darkness will do it every time. There was also quite a bit of grain in a short black and white sequence shot backstage at the end of the show, but this was no doubt style induced in the filming. This is indicative of the care taken by the DVD authors.

    This DVD is RSDL formatted, with the layer change placed at 67:33. There is a noticeable pause, however it is placed between songs, so effects only minimal disruption to the flow of the show.

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

Audio

    There are two audio tracks on this DVD, the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 soundtrack. I listened to the 5.1 track, and select portions of the 2.0 track.

    The 2.0 track was inferior, and about 5db louder, reminding you that you aren't at the venue, whereas the 5.1 track suggests this even though it sounds a lot like a Pro-Logic mix. Audio sync was not a problem for either track, and there was nothing in the way of defects such as hiss or drop-outs.

    In the 5.1 track, the surrounds were constantly in use, and they brilliantly reproduce the type and nature of the sounds that would be reflected from the back and sides of a smallish space the size of Sydney's Metro. The audience, who are quiet during the songs, are placed to the rear and sides of the aural landscape, placing the viewer front and center stage. This is what music on DVD is all about, and if you lament the lack of quality live venues since the introduction of the poker machine invasion like I do, then salvation could be in your lounge room.

    The only flaw in the mix was at 71:05, where the drums sounded a little unnaturally-placed in the surrounds, but this lasted only a few seconds, and was so minor that I feel bad mentioning it in light of the quality of the rest of the soundtrack.

    The subwoofer was nicely integrated into the overall sound. Mostly, it subtly supported the bass and drums. As with most guitar bands, the music is quite mid-range heavy, so there wasn't a lot to really get the sub going.

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

Extras

    It is good to finally see some quality extras on a music DVD.

Menu

    The menu features a picture of the vocalist to one side, and an looping shot from the show to the other, whilst the sound is the nice guitar intro to The Last Goodbye in Linear PCM 2.0. A simple but nice touch is that selecting the menu during the feature brings up the set list rather than the main menu for easy access to whatever track you're after.

Discography

    Also features the cover art and the tracklists of the various albums and EPs.

More Info

    A pointer to the corporate site.

Bonus Acoustic Tracks So Real (4:41) and The Last Goodbye (4:38)

    These two tracks were recorded on video in what appears to be a television studio. Both are 1.33:1 and in DD5.1, and feature an excellent acoustic performance of these two favourites, and very good presentation, both visually and aurally.

Previously Unreleased EPK (16:38)

    This somewhat cryptically-entitled extra is in fact an excellent featurette documenting some of the recording of Grace. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and has Linear PCM 2.0 sound. It features some good concert and studio footage, as well as interviews with Jeff Buckley, taking the course of a mini-biography. Shot on film (probably 16mm) it has been given a sepia effect, and in parts has been deliberately flawed to simulate age. I was pleasantly surprised to find this quality feature on this DVD.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    Being an all-region release, there is no compelling reason to recommend either version. I assume that the R1 version is NTSC encoded, as opposed to the PAL encoding of the R4 release, giving R4 the slight edge.

Summary

    Jeff Buckley: Live In Chicago certainly isn't up there with the great concert movies, however an awesome 5.1 mix and excellent extras does a lot to make up for some poor lighting and camerawork. It is, in the case of this artist, pretty much all we've got, and the performance of Jeff Buckley and the rest of his band is fantastic. If you already know his work and like it, you'll love this DVD. If you don't know his stuff, and this review has made you curious, then grab a copy of Grace as an introduction before checking it out.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Anthony Curulli (read my bio)
Wednesday, September 27, 2000
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba 2109, using S-Video output
DisplaySony Trinitron Wega (80cm). Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-D608
SpeakersFront: Yamaha NS10M, Rear: Wharfedale Diamond 7.1, Center: Wharfedale Sapphire, Sub: Aaron 120W

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