The Rolling Stones From the Vault: Live at the Tokyo Dome Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Rolling Stones From the Vault: Live at the Tokyo Dome Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 3, 2015

That old adage claims that a rolling stone gathers no moss, and if one needs actual visual evidence, a quick cursory look at Rolling Stones From the Vault Live at the Tokyo Dome provides it in spades (no matter what the deficits of the actual video presentation may be). As part of their Steel Wheel World Tour, the Stones took the stage of the behemoth Tokyo Dome in early 1990, playing before a rapt audience of over 50,000 (according to the liner notes of the insert booklet included with this release). This is a high octane concert which may take place in a “Dome”, but which is the very paradigm of Arena Rock. Hyperbolic, high energy and a little silly at times, Mick and the boys maraud through a rather wide swath of Stones tunes, giving an almost proto-punk ambience to evergreens like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.

The set list for this concert is:

1. Intro: Continental Drift
2. Start Me Up
3. Bitch
4. Sad Sad Sad
5. The Harlem Shuffle
6. Tumbling Dice
7. Miss You
8. Ruby Tuesday
9. Almost Hear You SIght
10. Rock and a Hard Place
11. Mixed Emotions
12. Honky Tonk Women
13. Midnight Rambler
14. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
15. Can’t Be Seen
16. Happy
17. Paint It Black
18. 20,000 Light Years From Home
19. Sympathy for the Devil
20. Gimme Shelter
21. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll
22. Brown Sugar
23. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
24. Jumpin’ Jack Flash

The Rolling Stones From the Vault: Live at the Tokyo Dome Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rolling Stones From the Vault Live at the Tokyo Dome is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Music Group and Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.30:1. This is another in Eagle Rock's line of so-called SD Blu-rays, but even taking the usual lo-fi ambience of many of these upscaled releases, this one looks pretty ragged. The best news is that the concert probably looks at least incrementally better in motion than some of these screenshots might suggest, but maybe not by much. There are recurrent issues with stair stepping (jaggies), plus anomalies like rampant posterizing, tracers shooting from lights during pans, and just an overall kind of fuzzy and indistinct appearance a lot of the time. Anemic contrast and milky blacks don't help matters, often seeming to cover the imagery with a sort of inchoate haze. A few brightly lit close-ups of Mick pop relatively well, but this release should probably best be appreciated as an audio Blu-ray with a substandard video component.

The Rolling Stones From the Vault: Live at the Tokyo Dome Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Luckily there's no similar issue with either of the boisterous tracks included on this Blu-ray, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo iteration. According to Eagle Rock's press materials, the source audio has been newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain for this "first official release" of the concert, and the results are largely exemplary. The mid- to lower ranges are incredibly robust and forceful on the 5.1 track, a tad less so on the 2.0 version. Prioritization is generally quite good, positing Mick's vocals (which are occasionally a bit on the wobbly side) on top of the propulsive rhythm section. Fidelity is top notch and there are no problems of any kind to report in this review.

The Rolling Stones From the Vault: Live at the Tokyo Dome Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While there are no supplements on the Blu-ray disc itself, this package comes housed in a CD sized four fold case which also includes a 2 CD set of the concert. There's also a well done insert booklet with a good essay and lots of photos.

The Rolling Stones From the Vault: Live at the Tokyo Dome Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As an ostensible audio Blu-ray, this release is aces. As an actual video record of the show, it leaves a bit to be desired. Taken as a whole, The Rolling Stones From the Vault Live at the Tokyo Dome comes Recommended.