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
