The Strat Pack – Live In Concert
PLEASE NOTE: Despite the DVD case having the DTS logo four
times on the artwork and one time on the disc itself, it is sadly nowhere to be
found in audio playback.
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B
Though there are a few rough spots, The Strat Pack –
Live In Concert is a solid Autumn 2004 concert tribute to the Fender
Stratocaster guitar and the point of the show is to salute the instrument on
its 50th anniversary.
However, with so much talent around, a few more things happen. The songs and performers are:
1) The
Crickets, Albert Lee & Brian May – Peggy Sue/Maybe Baby/I Fought The
Law/Oh Boy!/That’ll Be The Day
2) Hank
Marvin & Ben Marvin - The Rise & Fall Of Flingel
Bunt/Sleepwalk/Apache
3) Theresa
Anderson - I’m On My Way
4) Paul
Carrick & Mike Rutherford – How Long/All Along The Watchtower/While My
Guitar Gently Weeps/I Can’t Dance
5) Gary
Moore - Red House
6) Jamie
Cullum - Angel
7) Amy
Winehouse - Stronger Than Me
8) Paul
Rogers - Muddy Waters Blues
9) Paul
Rogers featuring Jasmine & Steve Rogers - Drinkin’
10) Paul Rogers & Brian May - Alright Now
11) Paul Rogers & Joe Walsh - Can’t Get
Enough
12) Joe Walsh – Funk 49/Life’s Been Good/Life
In The Fast Lane/Rocky Mountain Way
13) Paul Manzanera - 6PM
14) David Gilmour – Marooned/Coming
Back To Life/Sorrow
15) Ronnie Wood - Ooh La La
16) All-Star Line-Up – Stay With Me
Everyone here is in at least decent form, though some have
peaked to be honest, yet there are a few surprises. Joe Walsh makes up for some roughness with humor. Paul Rogers is good. The Crickets are interesting. And then there is Paul Carrick. The great pop vocalist has had hits with Ace
(How Long, as covered here), Squeeze (Tempted) and Mike + the
Mechanics, which is why Mike Rutherford of genesis joins him; it was their band. There is even a fine cover of the
then-recently-late George Harrison’s classic While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Little did anyone know that Mr. Carrick was
soon to leave us for his own health reasons a few months later. This is one of the last, if not the last,
major concert he did that was recorded and especially in this way. He was a great light in the music industry
and one of the great voices of Pop and Rock music. His showmanship is totally in tact here and is reason enough to
get this disc. Add all the other
remarkable name talents gathered and The Strat Pack is an event worth
your time.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 x 1/16 X 9 image is
pretty good among the digital HD-to-DVD concerts we have seen so far, and that
has been a good few dozen at this point.
The cameras are a bit more kinetic and have better choice angles than
what we have seen so far, making this a better watch than most of them to
date. Sadly, the DTS promised does not
exist, which is an awful disaster. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds and the Dolby 5.1 works
better, but even the 5.1 sounds like it is covering up the best possible sonic
performance. Extras include a fine
pullout with an essay, credits and color stills. On the DVD itself, you get a promo to request support for the
most worthy Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy project and there are interviews
section with many of the performers speaking the praises of the hallowed
instrument and how ahead of its time it was.
There is even s little behind the scenes footage. This runs 27:55, while the concert runs
about two hours.
- Nicholas Sheffo
