Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S.
Performance 
Production 
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Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S.
Performance |
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I remember enjoying this DVD much more the first time I watched it probably because I was so hypnotized by the overwhelming Beatles' nostalgia that this film invokes. You cannot be a Beatles' fan and not get a little giddy when watching Paul perform all of these great songs live. This review is based on my subsequent, more critical viewings of the DVD, when I was a little more clear-headed, and not quite as lost down memory lane. Unfortunately, this is more of a documentary of the Paul McCartney tour experience, than it is a concert video. The actual concert footage is interspersed with distracting behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and endless shots of adoring fans crying tears of joy and reverence, and spouting words of adulation. The film begins with a montage of celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone, Brian Wilson, Howard Stern, John Cusack, and many others praising Paul and all things Beatle. The non-music material is blended into the concert material reasonably well, if you like that sort of thing, but the director broke the holy rule of concert videos by abbreviating several of the song performances. This DVD screams out for a "Concert Only" option, which could have upgraded it from merely good, to awesome. The Concert For George DVD handled this perfectly, providing a "Complete Concert" version, as well as the "Theatrical Release" version. The behind the scenes stuff is actually very interesting, and quit appropriate for an event as grand as the rare Paul McCartney tour, but it belonged in the Special Features section, not interrupting the song performances. The concert material used for this DVD was taken from various shows recorded during Paul’s Driving Rain tour of 2002. You definitely get your money’s worth as Paul plays for over two hours covering most of his great Beatles, Wings and solo tunes. Paul is truly one of the genuine musical geniuses of the past century who wrote, or co-wrote many of the best rock/pop songs ever. My first real memory of music is from when my older brother would put on his Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper albums for me to fall asleep to when I was about six years old. This music stands the test of time and has a great affect on many people. This is proven numerous times when they show grown men and women throughout the audience with tears welled up in their eyes, while at the same time displaying these huge grins of satisfaction. This happened to me just from watching the DVD, so I can only imagine having been there in person. Paul's voice was strong and sounded great. He assembled a top-notch backing band who did an excellent job reproducing the Beatles' sound. They all had these looks on their faces like they were thinking, "did we land a fucking cool gig or what!". Early into the set, Paul performed stunning versions of "Blackbird" and "We Can Work It Out" - just him and an acoustic guitar. "Blackbird" has to be one of the finest finger-picked, acoustic songs ever - simple, yet brilliant. I was pleasantly surprised when Paul strapped on a Les Paul and strummed the instantly recognizable opening chords of "Getting Better", from the Sgt. Pepper album. I was instantly transformed back to my childhood, when I used to sing along to it, and the rest of Sgt. Pepper. Paul said that he had never performed this song live before, making it all the more special. The overall production quality of this DVD was a disappointment. You would think a perfectionist like McCartney would ensure better quality, especially for such a major project as this. The video was not very sharp and was somewhat grainy. The camera changes were too hectic and they showed the audience much to frequently. I don't need to see EVERY reverent fan. The audio mixes were average at best, even the DTS mix. This was a disappointment because DTS mixes normally sound outstanding. The 5.1 surround mix was effective, sending the crowd noise to the rear speakers and creating a good live ambience, but the instrument separation and clarity was lacking. Oddly, the center channel was barely used in this mix, and McCartney’s vocals were projected from the front-side speakers. Everything sounded somewhat muddled together. It's too bad that this is the best we can get when McCartney does such a historic tour like this. Hopefully he will realize the mistakes that were made with the production of this DVD, and try again in the near future. And next time make it a live concert video - one "concert film" is more than enough for me. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - July 2004 |
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Set List |
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Running Time: 123 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - November 2002 |