The Performance
It was the summer of 1996 and the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry was in full swing. Tupac Shakur, only two months away from his violent and untimely death, stalked the stage at L.A.'s House of Blues, spitting his vitriolic rhymes over hypnotic beats in a style that managed to connect with his audience on a more personal level than any rap artist before him.
His visual style by this time had been refined -- smooth, shiny bald head, sculpted muscular and tattooed body, stark white tank shirt, white pants, black belt and black shoes. He took on his East Coast rivals with tracks like "Troublesome" and "Hit 'm Up" and even allowed stage time during his set for the evening's actual headliner Snoop Dogg for crowd pleasing favorites like "Murder was the Case" and "Gin and Juice."
But watching this performance so many years removed from the headlines and controversies of the day, it is impossible not to gaze upon Tupac and wonder if he had any inkling just how close he was to death, despite all his bravado and boasting about his previous escapes from death and troubles with the law. To ponder what the state of hip hop might have been today without the violent end of Tupac and Biggie Smalls, we will never know. For now, we just have this document of one of the icons of 90's hip hop in what is forever to be a defining concert moment.
The Picture
The dark background and dimly lit set do not make for a great picture on this 1080i/60 AVC/MPEG-4 release, captured in HD in 1996. The picture is quite soft most of the time and performers are doused in a heavy dose of video noise. It's just good enough to present a passable reproduction of a live performance, but nothing spectacular.
The Sound
The audio fares much better on Tupac: Live at The House of Blues. As is usually the case with live hip hop recordings, vocals aren't always as clear and intelligible as one might like, but the low frequencies in the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix are downright thunderous, just as any self-respecting hip hop fan should want it. The surround channels are filled with a good bit of ambience, but crowd noise is thankfully minimal.
The Extras
Eagle Rock has loaded up the release with a good selection of Tupac music videos, all in standard definition for obvious reasons given the time period, but fans should be happy to see and own them nonetheless.
The Music Videos provided with this release are:
Final Thoughts
Tupac: Live at The House of Blues is an all out hip house party on stage and a final chance to catch Tupac at the top of his game before his untimely death. Aided by appearances from Snoop Dogg and a booming lossless soundtrack, this one should please hip hop lovers for sure.
Product Details
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