Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 21, 2013

Longtime fans of Hugh Laurie, whether they be from his more recent tenure on House M.D or the now seemingly far distant Jeeves and Wooster, have always known that Laurie harbored a musical side to his persona which he frequently like to trot out on display. With House, M.D. having come to an end, it seems that Laurie is perhaps willing to spend more time making music a front and center activity, and this often charming concert aboard the Queen Mary proves that he’s an able instrumentalist and at least a passable vocalist, sounding at times like a cross between Tom Waits and Randy Newman.

Laurie is quite an affable host in this concert, speaking at length and drawing more than a few boisterous laughs from the audience. But the highlight is the music, which tends to be in a kind of 1920s jump blues genre, replete with female backup vocalists and a nice mini-brass and reed contingent (including a female trombonist). Laurie's set list includes:

1. Hamp’s Hump
2. Junco Partner
3. Evenin’
4. Kiss of Fire
5. Staggerlee
6. Day and Night
7. The Weed Smoker’s Dream
8. Didn’t It Rain
9. Winin’ Boy Blues
10. Louisiana Blues
11. Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair
12. Wild Honey
13. Careless Love
14. Swanee River
15. I Hate a Man Like You
16. Tipitina
17. Go the the Mardi Gras
18. Changes

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. While certainly decently sharp looking and boasting some nicely saturated color, this presentation has a few minor anomalies that videophiles will notice. Contrast is a bit inconsistent, with a milky overlay robbing the image of clear differentiation between light values in at least a few shots. Noise also spikes noticeably when the camera pans over the audience in the darkest scenes. Otherwise, though, this is a sharp and clear looking presentation that boasts really good fine detail, especially in close-ups.

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary features both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix as well as an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these options offer sterling fidelity, presenting Laurie's somewhat raspy vocals very clearly and supporting the nice contributions of the rhythm section and the brass and reeds.

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Hugh Laurie (1080i; 20:28)

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary is a very enjoyable, if musically rather narrowly focused, romp that finds Laurie and his band in fine form. There are a number of standouts on this set, including a great reading of Alan Price's fantastic "Changes" (not the Bowie tune), and Laurie makes sure to let his sidemen (and women) all shine at various times. Recommended.