- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: NA
- Subtitles Color: NA
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: NR
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: NA
- Run Time: 66 Mins.
- Studio: MVD Visual/Masterpieces
- Blu-ray Release Date: September 4, 2012
- List Price: $23.95
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Performance
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Performance
[Rating:4/5]
This charitable concert event at London’s O2 arena brought together some of the biggest British musical acts in front of a sold out crowd for a night of solo performances and collaborations all for a good cause. The Welcome to Rockwell concert disc edits the show down to the cream of the crop, trimming many of the acts that initially appeared in the show, such as Lulu and Hot Rats, instead presenting Razorlight, Robert Plant, Joss Stone, Tom Jones, David Gray, and a finale featuring all the artists doing The Beatles “Let it Be.”
Of the artists appearing on this disc, Joss Stone and Robert Plant put on the best solo sets. Plant’s bluesy, world beat-inspired renditions of Led Zeppelin classics “Black Dog” and ‘Whole Lotta Love” are riveting. Joss Stone comes out in all her barefooted glory and throws down a nasty bit of white soul with “Free Me” and “Super Duper.” Of course, the ageless Tom Jones must be mentioned as he lays down a Vegas-worthy version of his classic “It’s Not Unusual” and returns with Joss Stone for a funkalicious “It’s Your thing.” David Gray’s set also bears mention, however. His acoustic and melodic versions of “Babylon” and “Fugitive” show his strengths as a songwriter.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The 1080p AVC encodement of Welcome to Rockwell looks rather strong, offering lots of detail of what is for the most part a dimly lit stage setting. The black background looks inky with very little noise, flesh tones are natural and there are few artifacts to speak of.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The audio engineers have taken a bit of a different tack with the mixes on this release. A DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) mix and LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz/24-bit) mix are offered. The 5.1 mix has a very close-mic’d sound with very little of that “arena concert” sound. The ambience in the surround channels in minimal at best as is any atmospherics mixed into the front channels. With that said, the sound has a wonderful amount of natural dynamics for a live concert disc and extended, musical low frequencies. Vocals are clear while instrumental separation is strong. The stereo mix loses some of the liveliness of the 5.1 and sounds rather constrained in comparison, but still contains a good amount of dynamic range.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
It’s disappointing that they couldn’t even include a performance or two from some of the artists that were edited out of this concert video, but, alas, we get nothing at all.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
This concert disc is all too brief, but it is a good sampling of strong performances by some of Britain’s best. Recommended for any music fans.
Additional Screen Captures
[amazon-product]B007IRCPX8[/amazon-product]
Purchase Welcome to Rockwell on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B007IRCPX8[/amazon-product]
Purchase Welcome to Rockwell on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Performance
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
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