From there it is one hit after another, with a healthy dose of seven new Zoom songs sprinkled in between. Fortunately Zoom contains some of the strongest ELO material since 1979's Discovery album, and the songs held up very well beside all of the classics. "Alright" was the first new song to be performed and it is a vibrant pop-rocker with lush harmonies and a memorable chorus. But Zoom's strength is in it's ballads, such as "Moment in Paradise", "Just for Love", and "Ordinary Dream", which are some of the best Lynne has written in a long while.
The only original ELO member joining Lynne onstage was keyboardist Richard Tandy. Completing the band were the Bissonette brothers Gregg and Matt on drums and bass, Marc Mann on guitar, Rosie Vela on vocals, and Peggy Baldwin and Sarah O'Brien on cello. Most of these musicians are good singers as well, especially Vela, so all of the elaborate vocal harmonies were reproduced brilliantly. The Electric Light Orchestra have always been one of the most unique sounding bands ever, thanks to all of those orchestra-laden pop songs drenched in cellos, multi-layered guitars, and Lynn's instantly recognizable lead and harmony vocals. They are often referred to as a poor man's Beatles, but that is still better than most of the other crap out there.
This DVD was meticulously produced and includes Dolby digital stereo, 5.1 and DTS surround audio tracks which accompany a stunning, 16:9 enhanced, widescreen video presentation. The DTS track provides a rich sound with precise instrumentation and vocals, and the Dolby 5.1 track sounds nearly as impressive. The surround stage was used extensively and you could hear an abundance of crowd noise and music from the rear speakers. Sometimes the instruments were a little too pronounced in the rears to sound natural, but the mix sounded excellent overall.
Some nice bonus features were included with this DVD including a video interview with Jeff Lynne, a brief history of Zoom, and a talk with some of the fans who came from all over the world to attend this show. The interview consisted mostly of questions written across the screen, such as "Why did you disband ELO?", and then Lynne goes on to answer the questions.
Article comments
1 - drtagtedf
yes!!!!! i absolutley love electric light orchestra
2 - Chris
This is absolutely perfect when it comes to a live performance. What a band he setup. I had tickets but the concert was canceled. Bummer! At least I have the DVD.