The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - The Marquee - Live in 1971 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - The Marquee - Live in 1971 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 25, 2015

Unlike The Beatles, who after all didn’t even manage to last a decade as a public supergroup, The Rolling Stones seem to have been around forever in one form or another, with little to no sign of slowing down. That longevity means there are various “eras” in the Stones’ history that tend to foster debates among fans, with some arguing that early Stones is the inarguable best the band ever was, while others prefer later timeframes. This latest From the Vault offering from the Stones (The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - Hampton Coliseum - Live in 1981 came out last year) is an extremely rare piece of footage culled from 1971, certainly one of the most protean years in the band's long history, made shortly after the band had completed a tour of the United Kingdom. This concert (evidently planned for broadcast in the United States) actually previewed tunes from Sticky Fingers, which did not see the light of day until a few weeks after this concert was captured.

What’s so interesting about this piece is that it was filmed in a rather intimate venue, The Marquee Club in London, an almost claustrophic feeling hall that is about as far away from the massive stadiums the Stones would go on to conquer as could be imagined. Performing before a very small audience, the Stones are incredibly energetic as they offer some “new” tunes from Sticky Fingers and other gems. The smaller stage means that the boys can’t get quite as outrageous as they tended to in larger outlets, but this release will be an undeniable treat for Stones fans, no matter which Stones era is their personal preference.

The band’s relatively short setlist is as follows:

Live With Me
Dead Flower
I Got The Blues
Let It Rock
Midnight Rambler
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Bitch
Brown

The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - The Marquee - Live in 1971 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Rolling Stones: From the Vault — The Marquee Club Live in 1971 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. This is another in Eagle Rock's line of so-called "SD Blu-rays," releases which offer upscaled video that is frequently of at least questionable quality. That's the case here as well, with wide shots looking like dancing blobs, but with close-ups offering at least a smattering of decent detail. The transfer suffers from quite a few video anomalies, and has some of the worst posterizing I've personally seen (see screenshot 2). But at least Eagle Rock is being up front with their description, sending out an unmistakable caveat emptor to persnickety videophiles.

The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - The Marquee - Live in 1971 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are no such qualms to be had in either of the tracks included on this Blu-ray, an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo offering and a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The 5.1 track boasts a very vivid low range, offering excellent support for the thumping bass and kick drums, while also never masking Mick's sometimes plaintive wails. Fidelity is excellent with good prioritization and wonderful clarity.

The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - The Marquee - Live in 1971 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternate Takes (1080i; 21:57) are authored to play automatically one after the other, though individual starting points for the four tunes are accessible:

  I Got The Blues Take 1 and Take 2

  Bitch Take 1 and Take 2

• Brown Sugar (Top of the Pops) (1080i; 4:07)


• Bonus CD contains all the tracks of the concert.

Note: This release comes housed in tri-fold packaging which is the size of standard CD releases.

The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - The Marquee - Live in 1971 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The historical importance of this performance easily outweighs any concerns the less than stellar video presentation may present, and The Rolling Stones: From the Vault — The Marquee Club Live in 1971 comes Highly recommended.