Graham Parker & The Rumour: This Is Live Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This Is Live Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 19, 2013

The words “Judd Apatow” and “live concert film” might seem as likely to blend as “oil” and “water”, but if politics makes strange bedfellows, that ain’t nothin’ compared to the bedfellows Hollywood makes. (I would like to trademark that adage.) Apatow needed some live concert footage for This Is 40, and he did something quite remarkable to get it. He didn’t approach the latest “insta-star” or Pro Tools autotuned quasi-celebrity. He went to a legendary figure whose commercial appeal has never really been what it should, and arranged from him and his just then recently reunited band to perform for the film. Graham Parker and the Rumour only barely cracked the Top 40 once in their American chart activity (the group was somewhat more popular in the United Kingdom), and so this choice was a little daring, if not downright odd. Parker fans who saw This is 40 and wondered where that appearance came from will be delighted to know Apatow actually had the band perform an entire set for an enthusiastic audience, from which he culled the few minutes included in the feature film. That concert footage is now presented in its entirety.

Parker and band are in great form here, rocking through a set of twelve songs. Parker’s voice has always reminded me just slightly of Stephen Stills’, perhaps with a somewhat grittier edge, but his songwriting at times is quite similar to Springsteen’s, with an emphasis on working class trials and tribulations. (The Boss himself has pointed to Parker as a seminal influence.) Apatow has captured the energy and excitement of both the players and the audience in this concert fare, and in fact acquits himself rather admirably as a director of this particular genre. If that comedy thing doesn’t work out, he might want to consider doing more of these.

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This Is Live Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This is Live is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As might be expected as something bearing the Apatow imprimatur, there's a certain high gloss look to this live concert video that is a notch above the sort of presentations we normally see in this genre. The variety of angles is great, and the much better than average stage lighting means that no typical issues like posterizing ever rear their ugly heads. Colors are very nicely saturated and accurate looking, and contrast is very solid.

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This Is Live Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This is Live features two audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix, and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these tracks sound great, though the surround mix has a much more vigorous low end as well as a better representation of the hall ambience in the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, where the show was filmed. Fidelity is excellent, with Parker's voice mixed nicely forward, and the rhythm section revealed with sterling clarity.

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This Is Live Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.

Graham Parker & The Rumour: This Is Live Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Major kudos for the sometimes derided Judd Apatow for pushing Graham Parker into some feature film limelight, and even more kudos for arranging for this complete concert to be released in high definition and lossless audio. Parker has always deserved more recognition, and hopefully this Blu-ray can help to make that happen. With great looking video and sounding audio, this release comes Highly recommended.