Well it’s about time they made a film about those hard working cinema people with torches! Oh no, sorry this is the singing and dancing Usher. He is not bad at what he does too, but the cinema staff blockbuster is still long overdue!

Usher Raymond IV was first spotted in a talent show in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia and was quickly offered a recording contract at the ripe old age of 14. His debut self-titled album was released in 1994 with his debut single Think of You achieving gold status. His second album My Way was released in 1997 and along with co-writing most of the songs, he enlisted the help of big hitting producers Jermaine Dupri, Babyface, and Sean "Puffy" Combs. The first single from the album You Make Me Wanna topped the US R&B charts for 11 weeks and reached number two in the pop charts. He followed this single with Nice & Slow and My Way, which both achieved platinum success, Nice & Slow being his first number one pop chart topper. Being a man of many talents he ventured into the world of acting and appeared in The Faculty and Light it Up. After the release of the live album, funnily enough called Live, in 1999, Usher released his third studio album All About U at the end of 2000. Album number four 8701 was released in 2001 and contained the worldwide hits U Got it Bad and U Remind Me which made this R&B star an international name.

Usher Live Evolution 8701 is a concert release that captures the full stage production that many fans throughout the world enjoyed during this tour. Along with performing his many hits, he enlists the help of a group of talented dancers and a band that sounds terrific. The choreography and pyrotechnics are highlights, as is the fact that not a word is mimed. The track list is well paced and makes the transition from dance track to ballad smoothly.

Track listing:

Many artists such as this have trouble replicating their sound live and quite often resolve to miming to achieve that sound, Usher thankfully sings live and doesn’t miss a note. The only annoyance with this concert is the continual mimicking of Michael Jackson and the obviously staged interaction with the audience. A good example of this is with the bonus rehearsal track, where he interacts with an audience that is non-existent. Also the continual need to remove his shirt is tiresome although fans may enjoy it. Taking into account these issues which I daresay will only annoy non-fans, this is a fine performance.

Being a concert release, the expectation was for the standard video problems, such as grain, aliasing, pixelisation and lack of detail, but surprisingly these are all extremely minimal. This 1.85:1 aspect ratio transfer is 16x9 enhanced and looks wonderful. Picture is sharp throughout and colours are true. The editing is a highlight of this show and the viewer is left feeling they have missed nothing. There is a layer change at 49:20 that causes no intrusion and there are no subtitles.

The audio for this release is a choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, DD 5.1 surround and DTS 5.1 surround. All are good, but the track of choice is the DTS as it offers a much fuller sound. Audio is clear at all times and synch is never a problem. Separation is used well to offer the full concert sound and to enhance some of the musical instruments. The subwoofer gets a solid workout, from subtle to pumping as required. The DD 2.0 track is of CD quality and the DD 5.1 is close in comparison to the DTS track but for those that have the capability the DTS is definitely the better track.

There are a couple of nice extras with this release. First we have the Rehearsal Song U Don’t Have to Call. This is filmed in an empty venue and, as stated earlier, is just as the concertgoer would see it. It runs for six minutes and is a nice bonus. Next is the Usher Bio Video. This is the same video montage shown at the beginning of the concert. A series of text pages makes up the next feature, a combined biography and discography. There is also a photo gallery containing many pictures that can be seen in the “Bonus Booklet� (small note: one page folded in half does not a booklet make). Lastly is a web link for www.usherworld.com. Overall a nice balance of extras.

This is definitely a must have for fans, but also an enjoyable show for those with a passing interest in this performer. The audio and video are of very good quality and a nice balance of extras make this a worthy purchase.