Live From The Great Wall Of China features an eight-song, one-hour set from the Doyle Bramhall II power-trio. His performance was part of a large benefit concert that also featured Alicia Keys, Boyz II Men, Cyndi Lauper, Nellie McKay, and a host of Chinese artists. Bramhall played a selection of songs that touched upon each of his thee solo albums, but focused mostly on what is probably his best one, Jellycream.
The DVD features short interview segments mixed in between each of the song performances, with no option to play the concert uninterrupted. Strike one! There was also no 5.1 surround audio track included, even though the measly one-page insert listed two 5.1 surround engineers. The only audio option that is provided is a less than stellar sounding Dolby Digital 2.0 track, where nothing was even mixed to the rear surround speakers. The audio level of the interview segments is also annoyingly louder than the song performances. Big strike two!
Not a very good start to such an anticipated DVD.
Fortunately strike three never came, but Bramhall never really hit the thing out of the park either - although the stage was certainly set for him to do so. The stage design for this concert was one of the most visually impressive that I have ever seen. The stage backdrop was the Great Wall itself, along with an enormous and breathtaking Chinese temple centered just behind it.
Two monstrous Chinese dragons decorate the back of the stage, and dozens of large statues line each side. Giant video screens adorn each of the two castle towers that flank both sides of the stage, and provide an excellent view for the thousands in attendance. The stage lighting was quite remarkable, and it perfectly highlighted the overall splendor of this incredible site.
The performance was also filmed for HD TV broadcast, and the widescreen picture looked stunningly sharp and vivid. The camera crew and director also did an award-worthy job filming this show. Their timing was flawless, and the picture flowed smoothly, and slowly (thank you), between some brilliant camera angles that captured all of the essential guitar-fanatic close-ups, as well as the overall majesty of the venue.
Article comments
1 - stu
who listens to rock and roll in dolby? and if you think all 3 albums aren't gold, you've missed the point already... not catching something!
2 - Paul Roy
Actually I prefer DTS. These are live concert videos we are talking about, not albums. Obviously you don't watch/listen to your concert DVDs through a surround system.