Peter Gabriel: New Blood, Live in London 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Peter Gabriel: New Blood, Live in London 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Is New Blood's 1080p 3D experience worth the upcharge? Read on...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 5, 2012

From Dr. Svet Atanasov's Blu-ray review: Filmed live at The HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London on March 23rd and 24th, 2011, New Blood is an interesting project that sees the music of Peter Gabriel performed without guitars, bass and drums. Instead, the ex-Genesis man is assisted by Ben Foster and the 46-piece New Blood Orchestra, as well as a duo of backup singers (including popular Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun).

Gabriel performs a total of twenty two songs with brand new orchestral arrangements by John Metcalfe (who also conducts "In Your Eyes") that are likely to surprise a lot of his longtime fans - or not, because practically all of them have the same art-rock qualities that his music is known for. The new arrangements blend elements from a variety of different styles, from New Age to Electronica to Celtic folk, and feature elaborate orchestral solos.

The program includes classic Gabriel songs, such as "Red Rain", "Don't Give Up", and Mercy Street", as well as various covers of popular songs, such as "Boy In The Bubble" (Paul Simon), "Apres Moi" (Regina Spektor), and "The Book Of Love" (Magnetic Fields). Various laser effects (for "Red Rain") and images are also projected on the large screen behind the orchestra. With the new arrangements essentially all of the songs sound calm and relaxed (the major exception is "Solsburry Hill, which gets everyone in the venue up and dancing). Naturally, Gabriel creates the impression that each song he sings is meant for someone special.

The most impressive new arrangements, in my opinion, are for "Biko" and "Don't Give Up". The former has been spiced up with outstanding solos (fantastic bassoon solo by Sarah Burnett) and lush string support that dramatically change the entire complexion of the song. The latter has benefitted from a simple but very elegant orchestration that adds just a bit of extra color to what is indeed a perfect song.

Tracklisting:

1. Intruder
2. Wallflower
3. The Boy In The Bubble
4. Apres Moi
5. The Drop
6. Washing of the Water
7. The Book Of Love
8. Darkness
9. The Power Of The Heart
10. Biko
11. San Jacinto
12. Digging In The Dirt
13. Signal To Noise
14. Downside Up
15. Mercy Street
16. The Rhythm Of The Heart
17. Blood Of Eden
18. Red Rain
19. Solsbury Hill
20. In Your Eyes
21. Don't Give Up
22. The Nest That Sailed The Sky

Peter Gabriel: New Blood, Live in London 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

If it weren't for a few dizzying, migraine-inducing shots, New Blood's 1080p/MVC-encoded 3D presentation would be a more fully engaging experience. In 2D, these moments disrupt the proceedings, even if ever so slightly: the image splits into red and blue halves on occasion, stage light and laser beam trickery are aggressive enough to diagnosis epilepsy, '80s-era gimmick shots are a nuisance, twirling standard definition cameras swing and spin over Gabriel's audience and, every now and then, the producers all but step in front of the lens and scream "In Your Eyes!" In 3D, these brief blips, however insignificant in the grand theatrical scheme of things, are murder on the eyes and left me with little choice but to look away until the concert itself came back into focus. Otherwise, I didn't have any major misgivings. The rich primaries and deep shadows of the HMV Hammersmith Apollo stage give Gabriel, conductor Ben Foster, and singers Ane Brun and Melanie Gabriel the opportunity to do everything short of stepping off the screen. (At least when the lights are up.) There aren't many shots of the breathless, in-your-face variety, mind you, but depth and dimensionality remain reasonably convincing throughout. And while the New Blood orchestra and the audience often appear flatter than everything else on screen, the disparity has nothing to do with the encode itself but rather the venue's dark stage and the auditorium's dimmed lights. Colors are bright and bold, contrast is vivid, and skintones are accurately saturated. Midrange shots of Gabriel and other performers also reveal a fair amount of detail, from decidedly decent (albeit imperfectly resolved) textures to pleasing edge definition. Tighter closeups fare better, as is to be expected, and I doubt fans will be disappointed with the finer qualities of the image.

The 3D Blu-ray release of New Blood includes three high definition presentations of the concert on two BD-50 discs. On the 3D disc, the 2D and 3D presentations are presented in 1080p. On the included 2D-only disc, Gabriel's live performance is presented in 1080i. The differences between the interlaced and progressive encodes, though, are nominal. Both presentations share the same minor shortcomings -- intermittent ringing, uneven noise, and inconsistent clarity -- but most, if not all of these issues, are inherited from the source and aren't indicative of an actual problem. Pixel for pixel screenshot analysis may lead to the discovery of other negligible differences, but when the concert is in motion, it's difficult to tell which presentation is which. Moreover, very few shots in the 3D version are prone to crosstalk. Even then, it's important to note that any crosstalk that does crop up is a product of a viewer's 3D display and glasses, not the disc's technical encode. (The lone exception being the faint and infrequent crosstalk-esque optical illusions and double images that haunt the 2D and 3D presentations. Just pay close attention to the enormous video screen, you'll see them, especially when giant white animated stick figures hobble and wobble to life above the orchestra.) Beyond that, there isn't really anything to criticize. And in both the 2D and 3D versions, be they 1080p or 1080i, substantial artifacting, banding and other eyesores are either kept to a bare minimum or nowhere to be found. (Slight aliasing being the only thing that really creeps in from time to time.) Ultimately, New Blood's 3D release is a solid one. That said, if you're only interested in this edition for its 1080p 2D presentation, save some cash and go with the lower priced standalone release. Unless you're scouring the screen, pixel by pixel, you won't notice the difference. But if you're dying to see Peter Gabriel in 3D, for better or worse, this edition is the way to go.

Peter Gabriel: New Blood, Live in London 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From Dr. Svet Atanasov's review: There are three audio tracks on [each] Blu-ray disc. English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0, and English Dolby Digital 5.1. I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the other two tracks for the purpose of this review. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track boasts a wide range of nuanced dynamics that handle the new arrangements for Peter Gabriel's songs very well. What impressed me the most was the lush orchestral sound and the prominent solos -- the bassoon and flute solos, in particular, sound as well rounded as the vocals (quite a rarity), while the strings are never overpowering. Surround activity is modest, but frankly, the new orchestral arrangements do not demand anything more than what the loseless 5.1 track delivers. Finally, balance is very good and there are no problematic audio dropouts or sync issues to report.

The English LPCM 2.0 track is serviceable but lacks the depth and fluidity of the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. A lot of the nuanced dynamics mentioned earlier are simply missing. This is fairly easy to hear if one compares "Biko" (listen and compare the double bass entry and the bassoon solo that follows) and "Don't Give Up". Lastly, I tested only two songs, but as expected, the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is anemic at best.

Peter Gabriel: New Blood, Live in London 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While the 3D disc doesn't feature any supplements, the bundled 2D-only disc includes a worthwhile featurette: "Blood Donors" (HD, 19 minutes), a look at the new arrangements Gabriel performs on stage, the changes involved and the reasoning behind them, and the concert's 3D cameras and effects. It isn't a full documentary, but it covers a good bit of ground in less than twenty minutes.

Peter Gabriel: New Blood, Live in London 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

New Blood's 3D presentation isn't amazing, but it's more than serviceable, and both its 2D and 3D encodes are sound. Of course, the real draw to any live concert release isn't its video, it always comes down to the audio, and New Blood excels where it counts. Its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is excellent and will plant fans in the middle of the HMV Hammersmith Apollo audience, even when the 3D presentation fails to do so. All in all, if you have a 3D display, New Blood's 3-disc 3D edition is the way to go.