Various Artists (see below)
Studio: Woodcharm Ltd. (EMI/Capital) C9 0946 3 41982 9 5 (4 DVDs)
Video: 16:9 widescreen
Audio: DTS 5.1, DD 5.2 & 2.0
Length: 10+ hours
Rating: ****
One example of DVD concerts done right is Live 8. It is from the July
2005 concert for aid to Africa. There are over ten hours of music on
the four DVD set. The video is somewhat mixed in quality but high
quality in general. Some of it looks near high definition in quality.
The DTS sound is effective and at times near-audiophile quality. The
reason for the variation in quality is that the concert happened in
eight locations around the world. The music is extremely varied and
very few listeners will like all the songs. But that’s what the chapter
advance button is for. I think almost every rock fan will find lots of
music which they will enjoy on the discs.
The discs were a musically growing experience for me. I heard some hard
rock groups that I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. I also
heard some artists that I have not heard of before. There were also
artists I had heard before on radio but had never seen before. There
are several videos with songs that are very moving. In a video of
starving children in Africa with The Cars song ‘Drive” as the music, it
is amazing how well the song fits into the video. I think that
the highlight of the set is disc three. It contains 6 songs by the
reunited Pink Floyd, 4 songs by Paul McCartney, 4 songs by Stevie
Wonder, two songs by The Who and a really fantastic performance of
“Four Strong Winds” by Neil Young. The Neil Young performance made me
want to hear a lot more of his folk songs and his early songs. The Pink
Floyd made me wish they had a full two-hour concert. The above lineup
is only two-thirds of one of th 4 DVDs. Disc four contains more
performances from Live 8 plus performances from an affiliated concert
in Edinburgh, Scotland four days later. There are also a couple
of music-based short films and documentary pieces. There are over 100
performers and hundreds of songs included. [See below.] With the
combination of good picture, good sound, great artists and great music
this is a must-have DVD set for any rock music fan. It is the 2000’s
Woodstock.
– Clay Swartz
DISC 1
Paul McCartney & U2 – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
U2 – Beautiful Day
U2 – Vertigo
U2 – One
Coldplay – In My Place
Coldplay with Richard Ashcroft – Bittersweet Symphony
Coldplay – Fix You
Elton John – The Bitch Is Back
Elton John – Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
Elton John with Pete Doherty – Children Of The Revolution
Dido & Youssou N’Dour – 7 Seconds
Stereophonics – Bartender And The Thief
REM – Everybody Hurts
REM – Man On The Moon
Ms Dynamite – Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
Keane – Somewhere Only We Know
Black Eyed Peas – Where Is The Love
Black Eyed Peas – Let’s Get It Started
Black Eyed Peas with Stephen Marley – Get Up Stand Up
Duran Duran – Wild Boys ( Rome)
Bob Geldof – I Don’t Like Mondays
Muse – Time Is Running Out ( Paris)
Travis – Sing
Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot
Kaiser Chiefs – Everyday I Love You Less And Less
UB40 with Hunterz & The Dohl Blasters – Reasons
UB40 – Red Red Wine
Green Day – American Idiot ( Berlin)
Snoop Dogg – Signs
Snoop Dogg – Who Am I (What’s My Name)?
Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
Annie Lennox – Why
Annie Lennox – Sweet Dreams
DISC 2
Destiny’s Child – Survivor
Destiny’s Child – Girl
Razorlight – Somewhere Else
Razorlight – Golden Touch
Bryan Adams – All For Love
Kanye West – Diamonds From Sierra Leone
CBC Ethiopian Famine Film
Madonna – Like A Prayer
Madonna – Ray Of Light
Madonna – Music
Will Smith – Getting’ Jiggy Wit It
Will Smith – Switch
Will Smith – The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air
Brian Wilson – Good Vibrations ( Berlin)
Snow Patrol – Run
Toby Keith – Stays In Mexico
The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done
Dave Matthews Band – American Baby
Daniel Powter – Bad Day
Linkin Park – In The End
Linkin Park with Jay-Z – Numb
Joss Stone – Super Duper Love
Joss Stone – Some Kind Of Wonderful
Jars Of Clay – Show You Love
Scissor Sisters – Laura
Scissor Sisters – Take Your Mama
Alicia Keys – For All We Know
Velvet Revolver – Fall To Pieces
Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me
Jet – Are You Gonna Be My Girl?
Sarah McLachlan & Josh Groban – Angel
Sting – Message In A Bottle
Sting – Driven To Tears
Sting – Every Breath You Take
DISC 3
Mariah Carey – Make It Happen
Mariah Carey – Hero
Vusi Mahlasela – When You Come Back ( Johannesburg)
Roxy Music – Do The Strand ( Berlin)
Maroon 5 – This Love
Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved
Neil Young – Four Strong Winds ( Toronto)
Pet Shop Boys – Go West ( Moscow)
Robbie Williams – We Will Rock You
Robbie Williams – Let Me Entertain You
Robbie Williams – Feel
Robbie Williams – Angels
Keith Urban – Somebody Like You
Placebo – Twenty Years ( Paris)
Rob Thomas – Lonely No More
Faithless – We Come 1 ( Berlin)
Stevie Wonder – Master Blaster (Jammin’)
Stevie Wonder & Rob Thomas – Higher Ground
Stevie Wonder & Adam Levine – Signed Sealed Delivered
Stevie Wonder – So What The Fuss/Superstition
The Who – Who Are You?
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
Pink Floyd – Speak To Me
Pink Floyd – Breathe
Pink Floyd – Money
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Paul McCartney & George Michael – Drive My Car
Paul McCartney – Helter Skelter
Paul McCartney – The Long And Winding Road
Finale – Hey Jude
DISC 4 EXTRAS
EDINBURGH CONCERT
The Walk to Edinburgh – Highland Fling
The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Wet Wet Wet – Love Is All Around
1 Giant Leap – My Culture
George Clooney
Annie Lennox – Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves
Bono
Nelson Mandela
Bob Geldof – The Great Song Of Indifference
The Thrills – Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far)
Herbert Gronemeyer & Claudia Schiffer
Midge Ure & Eddie Izzard – Vienna
Texas – Say What You Want
Katherine Jenkins – Nessun Dorma
Travis – Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
James Brown – I Got You (I Feel Good)
James Brown & Will Young – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag
Bob Geldof, Bono, Midge Ure
Murrayfield crowd – Flower Of Scotland
McFly – All About You (Live 8 Tokyo)
Good Charlotte – Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous (Live 8 Tokyo)
Dreams Come True – Love Love Love (Live 8 Tokyo)
Bjork – All Is Full Of Love (Live 8 Tokyo)
Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying (Live 8 Roma)
Faith Hill – Breathe (Live 8 Roma)
Shakira – Whenever, Wherever (Live 8 Paris)
Audioslave – Black Hole Sun (Live 8 Berlin)
Audioslave – Like A Stone (Live 8 Berlin)
“Who Are You?” Film – The Who
“Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” film – Travis
Ricky Gervais – Enjoy the day
Backstage at Hyde Park
Pink Floyd rehearsal and interview footage
