Soundstage: Sheryl Crow Live on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Brandon A. DuHamel
The Performance
Sheryl Crow has been burning up the airwaves with infectious heartland-inspired pop ever since her seven times platinum debut album Tuesday Night Music Club hit the charts in 1993. With chart-topping hits like "All I Wanna Do", "Leaving Las Vegas", "If It Makes You Happy" and "Soak up the Sun", Crow's formula of three-chord rock and easy melodies is territory that has been traveled by everyone from Tom Petty and John Mellencamp to Bruce Springsteen.
Perhaps the biggest feats Crow has pulled off in her career are saturating the Top 40 airwaves with so many country-influenced tunes and having many an unsuspecting hater of the country genre gladly plunk down hard-earned cash for her albums or sing along unknowingly to an an obvious country song like "Strong Enough." For all these years, while the hipsters were crowing (no pun intended) about Ryan Adams, Wilco, and The Jayhawks, or while the long suffering Maria McKee was trying to hold on to what little she had left of an audience, perhaps Sheryl Crow has been the true savior of country music from the generic Nashville machine.
Is she the one who has clandestinely brought alt-country to the masses? It's debatable, perhaps, but when The Dixie Chicks needed someone to do a remixed version of their cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Landslide" on their 2002 bluegrass/alt-country, multi-platinum album Home, who did they turn to? None other than Sheryl Crow, that's who.
In this live performance for the PBS series
Soundstage, Sheryl Crow's influences are on display, and, my, oh, my, do they all come together nicely. I have to admit that I never realized just how many hit singles she had until I sat down to view this release. This is one of only a few concert discs that I can honestly say I can almost watch straight through without ever having to reach for the remote to skip a song.
From the opener "My Favorite Mistake," Crow and her band go straight into her instantly recognizable hits "You're an Original" and her cover of the Cat Stevens-penned "The First Cut is the Deepest." You'd think things might let up a bit, but they don't, because "Leaving Las Vegas," Crow's first hit single, follows before the pace slows a bit with the acoustic country ballad "Strong Enough."
If I had to pick highlights from the show, they would probably be the addictive "Soak up the Sun," with its summertime vibe and harmony chorus, the energetic performances of "If It Makes You Happy" and the cover of the Nick Lowe written/Elvis Costello popularized anti-war number "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding."
Comments on the show cannot be made without noting Sheryl Crow's excellent backing band, which is extremely tight. They help to capture the essence of the studio recordings, but also add an extra edginess of a real, live rock and roll show, but without sloppiness. They are polished, but not sanitized and boring.
The Picture
Originally captured in high definition,
Sheryl Crow Live comes to Blu-ray in a 1.78:1 1080i AVC/MPEG-4 encoding averaging 30Mbps. The encoding shows good detail and vibrant colors on close-ups, but long shots often suffer from softness and washed out colors that could either be attributed to the 1080i source, varying quality levels of the original HD cameras, or some combination of the two issues. There are also some motion artifacts that spring up around the drum kit, keyboard, and rear stage lighting that I would attribute to the 1080i source.
Black levels are a little inconsistent, ranging from washed out to inky and contrast is on the hot side, causing some mild blooming. For a live performance, it might be easy to write this off as being due to changing levels of lighting, but the lighting for this show remains relatively consistent throughout the performances. Thankfully, video noise is subdued providing a clean image.
The Sound
Soundstage: Sheryl Crow Live comes with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless (48kHz/24-bit), PCM 2.0 (48kHz/-24-bit) and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio options.
The DTS-HD Master Audio option is the star attraction on this disc. Mixed from an audience perspective with ample amounts of ambience in the surrounds and crowd noise kept to a minimum, the mix shows good dynamics. Crow's vocals are never buried in the mix and her lyrics are all recognizable. The midrange is a little muddy and boxy sounding, and high frequencies are just a bit tweaked which can cause some listener fatigue if you really want to blast the volume. Those criticisms aside, the mix is effective at capturing a live vibe, opening up the soundfield and placing you in the performance space.
The PCM 2.0 mix, in comparison, is a different beast entirely. I was surprised to find, first of all, that there was actually more low frequency extension in the 2.0 mix even in the absence of the LFE channel. Those out there who have front speakers that are full range will be able to take advantage of that. The downside of the PCM mix is that its dynamic range is more compressed and the high frequencies are even more emphasized than in the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix.
The Extras
There is only one extra offered on this release and it comes in the form of the bonus song "Members Only" (1.78:1/high definition/DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) exclusive to this Blu-ray release and from this
Soundstage performance. The song itself is fine, but certainly not one of the stronger numbers from the show.
Final Thoughts
Soundstage: Sheryl Crow Live is an entertaining Blu-ray concert performance. Crow and band put on a show of goodtime rock and roll with timeless, modern hits that are sure to please fans and many newcomers alike. The audio and video quality are not absolutely top notch, but they are definitely not disappointing and therefore should not deter anyone from giving this title a go either as a rental or a purchase.
Where to Buy
Product Details
- Performer: Sheryl Crow
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), PCM 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit) Dolby Digital 2.0
- Region: A
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: Not Rated
- Studio: Koch Vision
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: November 11, 2008
- Run Time: 97 minutes
- List Price: $24.99
- Extras:
- Blu-ray Exclusive:
- "Members Only" (Bonus Song)
