Jethro Tull – Live At Montreux 2003 (DTS DVD-Video + CD Set/Eagle Eye)

 

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

 

 

Jethro Tull arrived in 1968 as the first Rock band to include a flute in their music, as played by the virtuoso, lead singer, band leader Ian Anderson.  After a huge run of hit albums and singles (including many non-singles that pushed albums sales higher via FM Rock radio play) the band launched at Reprise Records helped put Chrysalis on the map (they started there in 1972) and they’ve been going on ever since.  Live At Montreux 2003 is one of their more recent concerts.

 

They play their classics and try some variances.  Anderson himself has said he has played out Living In The Past as far back as 1987, but after 35 years as of this concert, you have got to try different things.  Fortunately, the material is more than flexible enough to do this to without ruining it.  The tracks on this DVD-Video include:

 

1.      Some Day The Sun Won’t Shine For You

2.      Life Is A Long Song

3.      Bouree

4.      With You There To Help Me

5.      Pavane

6.      Empty Café

7.      Hunting Girl

8.      Eurology

9.      Dot Com

10.  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

11.  Fat Man

12.  Living In The Past

13.  Nothing Is Easy

14.  Beside Myself

15.  My God

16.  Budapest

17.  New Jig

18.  Aqualung

          19. Locomotive Breath

 

 

Running nearly two hours, my only problems with this still-decent concert is that Anderson seemed out of his element and the result interfered with the energy of a typical Tull concert, several of which have been issued on DVD already.  Otherwise, there is enough for fans and the interested to enjoy, but it was a mixed experience for me and I like the band.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is colorful and is in between with its detail and depth, meaning it is a good HD taping, but not quite up to the Yes concert form the same time that same year (see my HD-DVD and DVD reviews elsewhere on this site), but fares nicely enough and above the now-many widescreen HD concert production that only seem to be outnumbered by straight-to-video Horror flicks.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 mixes play better than the PCM 2.0 Stereo here, though the DTS has the slightest edge.  Too bad they seem to have retained the better soundmaster.  There are no extras, but a CD version is also available with PCM 16/44.1 2.0 Stereo on par with the PCM on the DVD.  Now if only Warner and Capitol would issue DVD-Audio versions in multi-channel of the classic albums.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo