Is George Michael: Live in London Blu-ray available for downloading Free?
Saw it in person, enjoyed the blu ray almost as much
As someone who saw George on his U.S. 25LIVE tour in 2008, I can say that this blu ray does a great job of reproducing the live experience. The video and audio are fantastic!
VIDEO: All the vibrant colors of the light show are brilliantly reproduced. The wide variety of camera angles have been well edited together, giving you a sense of the show from every seat in the house while keeping it visually interesting. For you videophiles out there, very occasionally, there is a little macroblocking as the camera pans across the LED wall, but this is not distracting or prevalent.
AUDIO: I was concerned by some negative comments about the sound on this recording, but I was pleasantly surprised by the audio. I had to switch from the stereo track to the DTS-HD track, but after that, the audio was great. It might be a little bass-heavy, but that is how the performance was originally engineered, and it never interferes with the vocals or the other instrumentals. I suspect other reviewers’ concerns are caused by the live performance nature of the show. At any rate, I can say that it sounds like the original show, and I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable.
SONG SELECTION: Just about every song you’d want to hear at a George Michael retrospective is here. I personally would have traded a few of the songs from his “Patience” album for older hits (I Want Your Sex), but I don’t begrudge his wanting to perform recent work in front of an audience. It is also fun to see the inflatable parody of George W. Bush that was understandably omitted from the U.S. tour. The following is the disc’s set list:
WAITING (REPRISE)
FASTLOVE
I’M YOUR MAN
FLAWLESS (GO TO THE CITY)
FATHER FIGURE
YOU HAVE BEEN LOVED
AN EASIER AFFAIR
EVERYTHING SHE WANTS
ONE MORE TRY
A DIFFERENT CORNER
TOO FUNKY
SHOOT THE DOG
JOHN AND ELVIS ARE DEAD
FAITH
SPINNING THE WHEEL
FEELING GOOD
ROXANNE
MY MOTHER HAD A BROTHER
AMAZING
FANTASY
OUTSIDE
CARELESS WHISPER
FREEDOM ‘90
Bonus Tracks
PRECIOUS BOX
JESUS TO A CHILD
FIRST TIME EVER
BONUS FEATURES: The 42 minute documentary is a bit fluffy and silly, but it gives a nice taste of the European tour. It’s nice to have the crew behind his performances introduced, even if we don’t really learn more than their names. It’s especially interesting to see the little changes he made to his set list for specific locations.
In summary, if you’re a George Michael fan, you should definitely pick this up. It’s likely the only performance you’ll get on home media from George Michael, and it’s a great one. On blu ray, it looks and sounds fantastic.
JUST SAW IT IN THE THEATER!!!
Well, first of all, the theater version was missing several songs from the dvd, including:
Flawless
You Have Been Loved
An Easier Affair
Too Funky
My Mother Had A Brother
Fantasy
Careless Whisper
John And Elvis Are Dead (Intermission song from the concerts)
Precious Box
Jesus To A Child
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
I’d Know Him A Mile Off(Documentary)
That’s a whole lotta stuff to be missing but it was still absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! I felt like I was right back at those three concerts watching George in person. The volume in the theater was extra loud so it really was almost like being there again. If you didn’t have the pleasure of seeing him live, this dvd will make up for it, believe me! The energy of Spinning The Wheel is worth a mention, it’s amazing that this 45 year old man with rods in his back can still get his groove on like that. WOW!! The ONLY thing missing from this entire dvd (for me) was Kissing A Fool. George did that song here in the U.S. as a gift to us. He had never done that song live on any other tour, so it really was a very special gift. Sadly, it is not included because this entire dvd was filmed in London (as you can see from the title). Luckily, I bought a dvd of the Madison Square Garden show, so at least I get to see George sing it on that one. This dvd is beautifully filmed with behind the scenes costume changes, close-ups and shots of the videos/images on the screens behind him as well as some great shots of the audience/arena. To put it simply, if you went to his concerts, buy this!! If you didn’t go to his concerts, buy this!! It’s an experience to remember for a lifetime!!
Great performance, quality visuals, but the audio ….
I read all the other reviews and I’m wondering if any of the previous reviewers actually listened to this before making their comments?
If you have the means, you deserve to watch this in High Def. The depth of color and separation of detail is fantastic. All the way through I was loving the crispness, the colors and the sheer clarity. The concert backdrop is interesting to watch anyway for the artistic vision supported through giant video with appropriate video and photos. The lighting and laser show is about the best you’ll see anywhere. Thankfully George Michael is not overshadowed by supporting band and singers; you know they are there, they sound great, but you don’t get the sense that any of them is ever the main act. And nobody in the audience will feel cheated for not featuring in the credits. Visually, brilliant. You won’t regret buying Blu on that basis.
The audio is something else. There are 3 sound tracks; standard is 2 channel Linear PCM. With multiple speakers this comes across as a little better than crap so I won’t dwell on it. Flip up to DTS 5.1, even for head phones. I experimented at length with different speaker and EQ settings and couldn’t get it quite right at almost any volume. Most of the time I felt there was too much bass. Down low and at medium volumes I felt I needed to keep turning it up to appreciate the whole show. Problem was that distortion kept creeping in and becoming more obvious on any song with strong bass bits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not speaking the mantra as some super-critical audio purist where the sound should always be perfect. I’m saying my wife and her friends noticed it as well the next day before I said anything about it. Crank it up and the dance tracks will make your ears want to bleed out. The peaks in each beat just seem to rumble and vibrate badly and you will be torn between turning it up (’cause it feels like the right thing to do) and turning it down (because it doesn’t sound as damaged). The 3rd sound option is Dolby Digital 5.1 where the volume drops and the quality seems similar to good MP3. Go back to DTS and remember! it is not the default for almost every player!
I really wanted to love this completely and give it top marks, but I have to be fair and take one star back for the quality of the audio. I’m sure the engineers could have delivered better on this if they wanted to, so why isn’t it better? After all, aren’t most people buying this because they love the sounds and the songs and they want the best audio experience possible? Surely the visual is secondary to a killer concert soundtrack?
I don’t feel ripped off, just a little disappointed.
This is the full concert. More than 2 hours and packed with decades of hits. George’s commentary along the way is entertaining and seems heart-felt, but multiple F-bombs means it won’t get the PG13 rating. Great nonetheless.
George Michael: Live in London Blu-ray Description:
Purchase George Michael: Live in London Blu-ray by clicking here!
- Amazon Sales Rank: #5379 in DVD
- Released on: 2009-12-08
- Formats: Color, Live
- Original language: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Running time: 191 minutes
Is George Michael: Live in London Blu-ray available for downloading Free?
