Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band – Live In Dublin (Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: D     Concert: C+

 

 

A writer once said that music artists going back to their roots was not always a good idea and that has held true for a long time.  Bruce Springsteen is no exception.  A mid-November 2006 concert (three days) where the all-time hit music makers did a series of tribute concerts to Pete Seeger and music in his mode.  Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band – Live In Dublin now comes to Blu-ray and it is no surprise Columbia Records would make any material by him one of their initial high definition format releases.

 

What could and should have been a new kind of concert from “The Boss” lands up being more muddy and flat than expected, with sincere performances throughout that never add up to his dynamic legend.  Sure, there is always trouble living up to being one of the best live performers in the business, but it was not that the band was having a bad night.  There is just something about this performance that never adds up for this critic.  You get 23 songs in all, including two so-called bonus tracks, but unless you like this side of his work, this is a Springsteen concert you might want to pass on.

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is like many recent concerts shot in HD we have seen in HD formats in that they are not as impressive as expected.  Besides some directing issues, there are one too many poor shots or awkward moments visually that do not use HD to its best extent.  That I have seen DVD-Video with better moments says something.  The PCM 16/48 5.1 is better than the PCM 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes, but there are limits in all the mixes where the surrounds are not used to the fullest or most natural extent.  Sure, Seeger’s classics are Folk music, but that is no excuse for the mix’s limits, especially since some of these are Springsteen compositions.  There are no extras, though the case comes with a paper foldout.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo