Michael Schenker Fest Live Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Michael Schenker Fest Live Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 31, 2017

Michael Schenker comes off as a somewhat unlikely combination of the Energizer Bunny and a rambunctious elf in Michael Schenker Fest Live, a concert whose “fest” in the title indicates a certain honorific for the legendary guitarist. The concert was filmed at Tokyo’s expansive International Forum Hall A, where an excited audience came in August 2016 to see and hear Schenker perform with instrumentalists Chris Glen, Steve Mann and Ted McKenna, as well as what were arguably the big marquee draws along with Schenker himself, vocalists Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley. The concert, as might be expected, is a high energy affair from start to finish, bolstered by riff driven material that allows the backup band to kind of provide a rocking foundation (without frankly stretching their collective techniques all that much) while Schenker goes a little gonzo on guitar over it all. While the instrumental portions of the show are often boisterous, the vocals are on the ragged side now and then.

The Schenker family has been rather well represented on Blu-ray and even 4K UHD recently, what with the releases of Michael Schenker: Temple of Rock (also available in a deluxe Michael Schenker: Temple of Rock edition), Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock: On a Mission - Live in Madrid 4K, The Michael Schenker Group: The 30th Anniversary Concert - Live in Tokyo, Scorpions: Live in 3D, Scorpions: Live in Munich 2012, Scorpions: Forever and a Day and Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory. Anyone who is a fan of the Schenkers knows that they can be counted on to bring a lot of energy to their live performances, but what’s kind of amusing about this particular concert is how (perhaps unintentionally) impish Michael is as he dances around the stage and interacts with the audience.

As might be expected given the participation of the three vocalists who collaborated with Schenker at various points in his now long career, the concert is split into three sections devoted to tunes from those eras. Each vocalist gets to trot through some of the songs associated with them, and while none of these performers is exactly younger than springtime, everyone sounds fine for the most part, though Barden occasionally sounds a little ragged and Bonnet’s stage presence made me wonder if he had been indulging in “party favors” before the performance.

The concert includes the following tunes:

Intro: Searching for Freedom
Into the Arena
Attack of the Mad Axeman
VIctim of Illusion
Cry for the Nations
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Armed and Ready
Coast to Coast
Assault Attack
Desert Song
Dancer
Captain Nemo
This is My Heart
Save Yourself
Love is Not a Game
Shoot Shoot
Rock Bottom
Doctor Doctor

Michael Schenker Fest Live Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Michael Schenker Fest Live is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of in-akustik with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is generally a nicely sharp and well detailed looking presentation, one that benefits from some bright and relatively natural looking lighting at various moments which helps to elevate fine detail levels and which keeps the palette looking more or less lifelike. However, as tends to be the case in the arena rock performances, there are also a number of lighting choices that do not exactly help support detail and fine detail levels, as can be seen in several of the screenshots accompanying this review. The progressive presentation nicely handles quick movements like guitar strumming with no motion artifacts, and there similarly are no problems with banding or posterizing when the cameras are aimed squarely at the lighting arrays. For the record, the disc boots to the actual concert without any Main Menu "intruding". Setup, Track Listing and Bonus options are available via the Pop Up Menu at any time.

Michael Schenker Fest Live Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Michael Schenker Fest Live features two nice sounding tracks, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo offering. As often tends to be the case with these concert presentations, the stereo version probably offers a somewhat more pleasing accounting of the vocal tunes, pushing the voice forward in the mix over the often overwhelming forces of the rhythm section. As a result, some may find the stereo option better, for the surround mix can sound just a trifle muddy at times with regard to the voices. Otherwise, though, the surround mix offers sterling fidelity that easily handles the quicksilver guitar work of Schenker while also providing distortion free renderings of both instrumental and vocal elements.

Michael Schenker Fest Live Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the bonus material features fun candid footage of the band in Japan.

• Leaving Osaka (1080p; 6:32)


• Arrival at Tokyo (1080p; 7:29)


• Soundcheck (1080p; 12:41)


• Impressions from the Fans (1080p; 12:41)


• Behind the Stage (1080p; 20:43)


• Slide Show (1080p; 7:24)

Michael Schenker Fest Live Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In a way Michael Schenker Fest Live fulfills that "fest" part of its title by providing what amounts to a career overview of the legendary guitarist. With three of the vocalists who collaborated with Schenker at various points in his career on tap, and a top notch rhythm section, the concert rarely takes a breather (so to speak), offering one high energy tune after another. There's a bit of wobbliness in a few of the vocals, but generally speaking this is a fine looking and sounding concert and comes Recommended.