The Rolling Stones: GRRR! Live! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

The Rolling Stones: GRRR! Live! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2023

If you were to enter "The Rolling Stones" in the search box at the top of this page, you might be somewhat amazed at just how many Blu-rays featuring the band in live concert settings have been released (so many, in fact, that the entire results box will be filled with titles, and not even to display all of the available titles at that). That glut of offerings is testament to the fact that, not to state the obvious (but to state to the obvious), the band has been around for decades and has been wisely documenting its live performances for much of that time. Unfortunately, as Blu-ray collectors interested in the Stones have probably long been aware, a number of releases, especially those subbranded with From the Vault, like The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - No Security - San Jose '99 (to cite just one of several possible examples), are so- called "SD Blu-rays" with upscaled video that is often far from optimal. That particular issue is not of concern with this "true" high definition presentation, one that may perhaps be of further interest to audiophiles for its Atmos audio option. Even with sometimes shoddy video, however, the sheer energy of the band over the course of so many years is often revelatory, and my hunch is even longtime fans of the band may be surprised by the general enthusiasm shown by the performers in this particular concert. As this review is being written, a certain CNN anchor is in considerably hot water for unwise comments he made about when women are in their ostensible "prime", and it might be comically astute to point out that few if any would probably question when and/or whether any of the surviving men in The Rolling Stones either were or in fact are still in their prime, and if this concert's 2012 vintage means that the boys are at least a bit younger than they are now, and obviously when the great Charlie Watts was still with us, they were still well into their "senior citizen" years, not that you'd be able to tell by their general energy level and performance acumen in this invigorating live performance.

For the unindoctrinated, GRRR! was a career spanning greatest hits collection that the Stones released in 2012, and if some might quibble with an inclusion and/or an omission or two, it at least provided an opportunity to revisit some of their most iconic tunes. The Stones were celebrating their Golden Anniversary in 2012 and 2013 and they went on a globe trotting tour both to celebrate that fact as well as to support the album. This concert features the band on stage at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The set design features a walkway that allows Mick to strut out and around what I suspect were very pricey "seats" (though understandably no one is sitting). Perhaps surprisingly, there's a refreshing absence of "smoke and mirrors" and instead just good old fashioned musicianship combined with Mick's always electric stage persona. The concert has several high profile guest artists, including Lady Gaga (who does one of the weirdest "dances" imaginable), Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer and Mick Taylor.

The band's set list for the concert is as follows: 1. Get Off Of My Cloud
2. The Last Time
3. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)
4. Paint It Black
5. Gimme Shelter (with Lady Gaga)
6. Wild Horses
7. Going Down (with John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr)
8. Dead Flowers
9. Who Do You Love? (with The Black Keys)
10. Doom And Gloom
11. One More Shot
12. Miss You
13. Honky Tonk Women
14. Band Introductions

15. Before They Make Me Run
16. Happy
17. Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)
18. Start Me Up
19. Tumbling Dice (with Bruce Springsteen)
20. Brown Sugar
21. Sympathy For the Devil
22. You Can't Always Get What You Want
23. Jumpin' Jack Flash
24. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

The Rolling Stones: GRRR! Live! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Stones: GRRR Live! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Mercury Studios with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This live performance is incredibly well covered by a plethora of cameras, many of which can easily be seen in other shots, but which are never very distracting. Detail levels are generally excellent throughout, aided and abetted by a commendable decision to actually light things well enough that everyone can be seen on stage. There are some occasionally moody lighting choices, including a couple of moments bathed in deep reds or blues, and it's arguable that detail levels may suffer a bit then. There are some very minor combing artifacts on the usual suspects like Charlie Watts' drumsticks, but the pixellated light panel behind the band doesn't offer any major resolution issues. One camera which is upstage behind Watts shooting toward down center seems to have perhaps had some issues, as the clarity of those shots isn't quite as excellent as the bulk of the rest of the presentation. That same downgrade in quality, along with a slightly noisy appearance, can accompany some of the crowd shots and what I assume may have been drones capturing the "high altitude" shots.

The Rolling Stones: GRRR! Live! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Stones: GRRR Live! features Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio options, and you can't really go wrong with any of them, and in fact I'd suggest that real diehard fans revisit the concert at least in dribs and drabs, sampling all three, as the mixes can be noticeably different. The Atmos mix frankly may not add a ton to an already excellently immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, but the Atmos track probably offers a more accurate rendering of the immense acoustics at play in the Prudential Center, and the roar of the crowd clearly offers some verticality. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers both really nice separation and commendable fluidity, and for once I don't have any complaints about vocals getting buried in the mix. The stereo track is probably the least "wet" of the three and therefore may offer the most pronounced presence for the vocals.

The Rolling Stones: GRRR! Live! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bonus (HD; 15:03) on the main menu brings up a trio of extra performances, authored together, though you can select the second and third songs separately, at least to begin with (i.e., the three songs are authored to move on automatically to the next one, so if you select the first or second, you get either the second and third or third to boot). Respectable features John Mayer, Around and Around is "just" the Stones, as is Gimme Shelter, though "backup" singer Lisa Fischer sets the place on fire. I highly recommend Fischer's solo output for those interested.


• 2 CDs of the concert are included.

Additionally, the DigiPack features an insert booklet with some good photos.

The Rolling Stones: GRRR! Live! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

After having had so many of the "SD Blu-rays" of Stones concerts in my review queue over so many years, it was kind of a kick to see the band in actual "new, improved" high definition. The even better news is this concert finds the band and guest stars firing on all cylinders. I'm docking the concert a half point for the glaring omission of "Angie", but otherwise this is a really fun and enjoyable live performance with solid technical merits. Highly recommended.