Soundstage Presents Chicago In Concert
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Concert: B-
Lately, any time I bring up the band Chicago, many people
actually think I am alluding to the Musical or film of it, but the band that
began as Chicago Transit Authority. The
band continues long after Peter Cetera left for an uneven solo career that
never totally made sense. This 2003
installment of the revived series Soundstage features the band in a 78
minutes long concert where they cover the following hits:
1)
Make Me Smile
2)
Colour My World
3)
Now More Than Ever
4)
If You Leave Me Now
5)
Dialogue
6)
Hard Habit To Break
7)
Saturday In The Park
8)
Beginnings
9)
Just You ‘N’ Me
10) Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
11) Feelin’ Stronger Everyday
12) I’m A Man
13) Hard To Say I’m Sorry
14) Free
15) 25 Or 6 To 4 (original arrangement,
not the mechanical self-remake)
Playing it safe, the entire playlist is of hits from their
early years or their revival by producer David Foster, not of when Jason Scheff
succeeded Cetera as one of the main lead singers. That’s not a problem, but what is a problem
is when Scheff and fellow lead singer Keith Howland (also taking on some of
Cetera’s former vocals, but how they determine who covers what is a mystery)
take on the older hits, they do some odd things to them. I have heard both cover them in the past and
they were doing fine, but suddenly, they are adding Mariah Carey-type rolls in
their performances that make absolutely no sense! This is the first time the band has made the
mistake of trying to be contemporary at the expense of their integrity and it
is awful. They did not do this in their 2002 A&E By Request concert,
so what gives? They can even still play
their instruments well, but tampering with this is much more of a distraction
than the absence of Cetera ever could be. The result is a concert of good
performances, big mistakes and many missed opportunities.
The image is credited as 4 X 3 (1.33 X 1) full screen, yet
the DVD case gleefully celebrates the fact that the show is shot on
Hi(gh)-Definition video. The problem,
all current HD is 1.78 X 1 aka 16 X 9.
The result is we actually get a compromised reframing that is not
anamorphic and looks like some lopsided version of 1.66 X 1, which defeats the
whole purpose of shooting in HD to begin with.
That is unfortunate, but that’s what has been done here, so be
forewarned. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is
better than the Dolby 2.0 with Pro Logic surrounds, but would have been better
had it been in DTS. Like German TV’s Ohne
Filter series, many installments of which have been reviewed elsewhere on
this site, the new Soundstage does its best to boast state-of-the-art
playback. This combination is passable,
but not everything it could or should have been. Extras include bio/discography of the band, a
“backstage pass” feature that shows how the new show is set up that is
interactive, a stills gallery and a “meet the band”: segment that is fine for
what it is.
For those who want the original band, there has not been
much on the band to enjoy in new formats.
The 2001 Chicago – RAW DVD was the worst of the three DVD-Videos
noted, while the second and fifth albums have been issued by Rhino Records as
DVD-Audios. Those versions of Chicago
II and Chicago V are recommended of the ailing DVD-Audio format and
if you have problems with the 5.1 mix on V,
go for the two-channel. So, if you are
curious to see what went wrong, you can still pick up this Soundstage
installment, but you might be better off with the multi-channel Chicago II. Now, where are the rest of the original
albums up to 17, and can anybody dig up a decent concert from the old
days when Cetera was still with the band?
- Nicholas Sheffo
