Sheryl Crow: Live Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Sheryl Crow: Live Blu-ray Movie Review

All She Wants to Do Is Have Some Fun Singing

Reviewed by Michael Reuben March 22, 2012

By the time Sheryl Crow's career took off in the Nineties, I had stopped paying attention to new musical acts, because my job had monopolized my time. But it says something about the extent of Crow's success and the impact of her music on the American scene that one number after another in this concert from Soundstage, the concert series presented on PBS by Chicago's local station, WTTW, in partnership with HD Ready, LLC, sounded comfortably familiar, like it had come from the soundtrack of daily life. Even when I thought I wasn't paying attention, it turns out I had been listening to Sheryl Crow.

Crow comes from a family of musicians in Missouri, grew up playing music, studied music, taught music after college, toured as a back-up singer for Michael Jackson and Don Henley and worked her way dutifully to the point where she released her 1993 debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club with its breakout single, "All I Wanna Do" (which, let's face it, everyone heard at the time). Albums have followed steadily since then, along with occasional movie and TV appearances, a sometimes colorful personal life (notably a broken engagement with cycling champion Lance Armstrong in 2005-2006 and a bout with breast cancer thereafter), and a record of political activism. But as with all born musicians, the songs come first.

The concert on this Blu-ray was broadcast by WTTW in June 2004, although reports indicate it was recorded the previous year. Koch Vision released the program on DVD July 8, 2008 and then on a Blu-ray that is now out of print the following November. This remastered Blu-ray is by Image Entertainment and is the only version currently available.

Crow's band for this performance consists of Shawn Pelton (drums); Mike Rowe (keyboards); Tim Smith (bass and guitar); and Peter Stroud (lead guitar). Crow herself alternates among bass, electric and acoustic guitars, as well as piano and seems equally comfortable with each instrument. Indeed, "comfortable" is one of the watchwords for this performance. Crow has the ease of someone who not only enjoys playing for an audience but doesn't make a big deal out of it either. All of the energy flows through the voice and the instruments, and none of it is wasted on displays of showmanship or the kind of razzle-dazzle with which some performers burn off nervous tension. One often gets the sense from Crow that she's confident enough in being a professional, and also in being an attractive and talented woman, that she never feels any need to underline it. Notice her qualities or not, as you choose, as you long as you enjoy listening to the beat.

The session opens with "My Favorite Mistake", which was long rumored to be about Eric Clapton, despite Crow's denial. (She has refused to identify the perpetrator, thus joining Carly Simon with "You're So Vain" in immortalizing an unidentified ex.) The set also includes her soulful cover of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which she had only recently included on a greatest hits album and was quickly achieving major radio play. (She says after finishing the song that she wishes she'd written it.) Major hits like "All I Wanna Do", "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Everyday Is a Winding Road" are performed with drive and gusto.

Of particular note is Crow's performance of a song popularized by Elvis Costello, though written by Nick Lowe: "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding". Costello's challenging punk delivery gave the song an ironic effect, because it almost sounded like an invitation to a fight, but Crow, who at the time of this concert was an outspoken opponent of the invasion of Iraq, removes all the irony from the lyrics and makes them a genuine plea. It's in moments like these that Crow reveals the serious underside of the good-time girl on display in "All I Wanna Do". (And this was before the major life events that she would encounter in the years ahead.)

The complete song list follows:

1. My Favorite Mistake
2. You're An Original
3. The First Cut Is the Deepest
4. Leaving Las Vegas
5. Strong Enough
6. Redemption Day
7. Sweet Rosalyn
8. If It Makes You Happy
9. Home
10. All I Wanna Do
11. Soak Up The Sun
12. Everyday Is A Winding Road
13. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
14. Let's Get Free
15. Safe And Sound
16. I Shall Believe
17. Steve McQueen
Bonus:

18. Members Only

Sheryl Crow: Live Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The video on Image's 1080i, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is consistent with the discs I've previously reviewed in this series. The picture is generally free from jaggies or other artifacts from the interlaced format while the image is in motion. (Screencaps are a different issue.) Black levels and resolved detail are consistently good, and colors are rich and well-saturated. As is customary with Soundstage concerts, the audience is fully illuminated along with the performers, which no doubt contributed to the quality of the image capture.

While I do not have the Koch Vision Blu-ray for comparison, I have it on excellent authority that the total space used on the Koch disc's BD-50 was just 27.6 GB, which hardly seems worth the effort of expanding to the larger-capacity disc. Image has remastered the title, dropping a redundant Dolby Digital soundtrack and using the full extent of a BD-25 for a disc image of 22.6 GB. Given the efficiency of the AVC codec and the increasing skill of compressionists, it's unlikely that anything was sacrificed. Certainly I saw no indication that this title fell anywhere below the high standards set by Image's other releases of Soundstage performances.

(Note: Despite the complaint in a user review that the video on the bonus song is "on the level of DVD", it is in fact 1080i of the same character and quality as the remainder of the program.)

Sheryl Crow: Live Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is up to the usual standards met by director Joe Thomas and the technical crew at HD Ready. As per the typical mixing approach for Soundstage concerts, the viewer is placed in the position of an audience member with the sounds of cheering and applause directed to the surrounds, while the band and vocalists remain spread across the front soundstage, with some degree of presence in the surrounds to create a sense of space and depth. The instruments are well-balanced, and, as I have said in previous reviews, Soundstage and Image continue to set a high standard in simulating the feel of a live performance in the home environment, as much as such an experience can be reproduced. One user review noted a steady increase in volume after track 7, but that was not my experience. The track is certainly mixed to be played at concert-level volume, which is how I played it, but I did not perceive any change in levels. Likewise, the audio quality of the bonus track, which is also available in DTS-HD MA 5.1, is consistent with the remainder of the disc; I have no idea why this user found it to be "on the level of DVD".

(Note: A PCM 2.0 track is also available for all selections, including the bonus track.)

Sheryl Crow: Live Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Since I don't count the "bonus" track, I evaluate the disc as having no extras.

Sheryl Crow: Live Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sheryl Crow has a lovely voice and writes beautiful music. She has said that she'll take musical inspiration from anything with a drum beat. The results, as captured by the technical gurus at Soundstage and HD Ready, are a pleasure to see and hear. Highly recommended.