UB40: Live At Montreux Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

UB40: Live At Montreux Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 21, 2013

Reggae seems like a pretty straightforward genre, one which accentuates the second and fourth beats of the measure rather than the more typical emphasis on one and three, but as numerous less than stellar artists have proven, it may seem easy, but it isn’t. UB40 is the rare exception of a “non native” band which had managed to invest its music with something approaching a reasonably traditional and accurate sounding reggae beat, chalking up a huge variety of chart hits in the process, especially in the United Kingdom. This 2002 set from the Montreux Jazz Festival finds the band in incredibly good form, with a propulsive brass section punching up the tunes admirably and vocalist Ali Campbell (actually pulling frontman duty more than Astro) sounding great as well. The band traverses the bulk of their career up to that point, and of course gives rousing renditions of their biggest U.S. hits late in the concert.

UB40's set list includes:

1. The Way You Do the Things You Do
2. Here I am (Come and take Me)
3. One in Ten
4. Come Back Darling
5. If It Happens Again
6. Homely Girl
7. Kingston Town
8. Reggae Music
9. Don’t Break My Heart
10. Love It When You Smile
11. Rat in My Kitchen
12. Rudie
13. Cover Up
14. Since I Met You Lady
15. Maybe Tomorrow – Anything Mi Chat
16. Johnny Too Bad
17. Wear You to the Ball
18. Red, Red Wine
19. (I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You
20. Cherry Oh Baby
21. Many Rivers to Cross

UB40: Live At Montreux Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's a rather marked difference between close-ups and midrange and wide shots on this AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. As you can see from the screenshots accompanying this review, close-ups boast at least very good detail and sharpness (if not quite at the top tier we've seen from other Montreux offerings from Eagle Rock), while midrange and wide shots are often pretty fuzzy looking. The stage lighting, once again in blues, purples, and reds (as well as a kind of sickly pea green on occasion), exacerbates this problem somewhat, tending to rob the image of some inherent fine detail and sharpness.

UB40: Live At Montreux Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix as well as an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down adorn this disc, and both sound great. The 5.1 mix offers much better separation, especially with regard to the brass section, but it also pushes the ubiquitous audience response up a bit, perhaps due to its more realistic hall ambience. Vocals are still nicely prioritized and always easy to hear. Fidelity is excellent, offering a nicely crystalline accounting of both the fantastic rhythm section and the accompanying brass contingent.

UB40: Live At Montreux Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.

UB40: Live At Montreux Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of UB40 will no doubt be delighted with this live performance, evidently the only time the band ever appeared at Montreux. The brass guys are especially strong throughout this concert, offering just the right amount of punch to tunes that should have even casual listeners tapping their feet to in appreciation.