k.d. lang: Ingenue Redux - Live from The Majestic Theatre Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.5

k.d. lang: Ingenue Redux - Live from The Majestic Theatre Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 11, 2022

A lot of major musical artists put on shows that are visual and auditory phantasmagoria, basically assaulting the audience with a psychedelic array of light effects, projections and overpowering sound. Those major musical artists don't have one salient asset this particular concert does: the voice of k.d. lang. This is about as far removed from an overproduced arena rock outing as you can imagine, with lang and her band simply running through the track list of Ingénue , along with a few extra bonus tunes culled from Hymns from the 49th Parallel, without anything approaching fuss and/or bother, and certainly without the bluster one often associates with large scale concert videos. This was shot live at the stunning Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas in 2018, as part of lang's tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of one of her best remembered albums. The result is absolutely captivating, largely due to that incredible instrument that seems to inhabit lang's body and soul. Aside from some patently goofy dancing she does in Miss Chatelaine, which suggests she's momentarily been possessed by Martin Short's Ed Grimley, there really isn't much movement here, at least of the typical concert choreography variety, and instead lang and the band just sing and play, which is more than enough.

The set list for this concert is as follows:

1. Save Me
2. Mind of Love
3. Miss Chatelaine
4. Wash Me Clean
5. So It Shall Be
6. Still Thrives This Love
7. Season of Hollow Soul
8. Outside Myself
9. Tears of Love's Recall
10. Constant Craving
11. Honey and Smoke
12. I Dream of Spring
13. Help Me
14. Helpless
15. Hallelujah
16. Sing It Loud
17. Sleeping Alone

The band is comprised of Daniel Clarke (keys, vocals), David Piltch (bass), Grecco Burrato (guitars, vocals), Rich Hinman (pedal steel, guitars, mandolin, banjo), Andrew Borger (drums, percussion) and Moorea Masa and Tahirah Memory (backup vocals). Trivia fans may know that lang made her home in my hometown of Portland for a while, and Tahirah is the daughter of the late noted (no pun intended) Portland musician Thara Memory.

k.d. lang: Ingenue Redux - Live from The Majestic Theatre Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

k.d. lang Ingénue Redux is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is a generally excellent looking presentation, albeit it is hampered somewhat by some omnipresent deep cobalt blue lighting regimens which definitely tamp down detail levels upstage from lang herself, as can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. The material further downstage where lang tends to stay is much more fulsomely detailed, to the point that you can make out some of the downy cheek hair on lang's face at times. Some minor crush intrudes in the darkest moments, and there are some kind of odd noisy anomalies on what I'm assuming was a crushed velvet curtain.

k.d. lang: Ingenue Redux - Live from The Majestic Theatre Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

k.d. lang Ingénue Redux features great sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio options. As is often the case, the stereo track tends to be a little bit more forward in the mix in terms of lang's voice, but the surround track is beautifully spacious, with lang's vocals still maintaining their paramount position in the mix. The surround track also provides some really warm, layered accountings of the generally kind of low key instrumental accompaniments. Fidelity is excellent throughout, and there are no issues of any kind to report.

k.d. lang: Ingenue Redux - Live from The Majestic Theatre Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bonus Interview (HD; 30:18) is a sweet sit down with lang moderated by James Read.

For those who have set shelf heights, this DigiPack is a bit oversized at 7.5" tall.

k.d. lang: Ingenue Redux - Live from The Majestic Theatre Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Evidently when you have a voice like lang does, you don't even need to wear shoes to your concerts, which is just one of the kind of odd but charming aspects to this hugely enjoyable performance. Anyone looking for arena rock flash, sturm and/or drang had best keep looking, but for anyone just wanting some gloriously beautiful music and a voice that is (to my ears, anyway) unlike any other in contemporary music, this is a great way to revisit lang's Grammy winning album, along with a few "extras". Technical merits are generally solid, and k.d. lang Ingénue Redux comes Highly recommended.