Bruce Springsteen - London Calling (Live In Hyde Park)
Performance
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Bruce Springsteen - London Calling (Live In Hyde Park)
Performance
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Although I have always appreciated most of Bruce Springsteen's stuff, his whole folk-rock, storytelling, Dylan-on-steroids, style of music has never really been my main cup of Joe. I only have the two requisite "Born" albums in my collection, and this is my first incursion into Springsteen concert video territory. So considering my relatively limited knowledge of all things Bruce, I was not even going to attempt to review this new Blu-ray from the Boss, but London Calling - Live In Hyde Park is just so damn spectacular, I wanted to do my part in getting the word out. I'll keep it short and sweet though. London Calling captures Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band blowing the minds of nearly a million onlookers at the Hard Rock Calling Festival, in London, on June 28, 2009. The Boss was 60 years old at the time of this concert, and other than getting a little winded from walking up and down the giant staircase that allowed him to get up close and personal with his adoring fans, the old man put on an incredibly energized, three-hour performance that should serve as an example to all the lame frontmen out there, who often act like they are bothered to be playing for you. The chemistry Bruce and his band have, especially he and long time guitarist Steven Van Zandt (aka Silvio Dante), is the best it has ever been, and they really made some of the old war horses come alive with new fervor. The 27-song setlist is heavy on the deep cuts and may have casual Springsteen fans asking where all of the monster hits are that they know and love from the radio, but the hardcore fans will be drooling at the bit from this eclectic mix of songs. Nowhere to be found are such chart toppers as "Human Touch," "Tunnel of Love," "Brilliant Disguise," "Born In The USA," or "Hungry Heart," but how cool was it to see them open the show with the Clash classic, "London Calling," and then follow up with two of the least heralded Born To Run tracks, "Night," and "She's the One." The overall choice of songs, and the fact that they were playing in complete daylight during the first half of the set, left me a little cold at first, but the second half really heated up when the darkness finally prevailed, the light show fired up, and they stung together some amazing performances of "Born To Run," "Rosalita," "Jungleland," and "Glory Days," to close things out in style. The Blu-ray edition of London Calling: Live in Hyde Park boasts one of the best looking live concert pictures I've ever seen. The picture remains incredibly sharp and immaculately detailed throughout both the sunshine-drenched first half of the show, as well as during the light show illuminated second half after the sun had finally set. The Blu-ray edition offers two lossless audio tracks, an LPCM 5.1 surround and an LPCM 2.0 stereo mix, as well as a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, and they are equally as impressive as the video presentation. This is definitely one of the discs to pop in to show off that new AV system of yours. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - November 2010 |
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Performers Additional Musicians: Special Guest: |
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Running Time: 172 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - June 2010 |