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  • Full Frame
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  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
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  • Cast/crew biographies - Biographical details on Stevie Nicks
  • Discography - Album listing 1981-2001
Stevie Nicks - Live at Red Rocks
Warner Bros./Eagle Vision . R4 . COLOR . 57 mins . G . PAL

  Feature
Contract

An integral part in the resurrection of Fleetwood Mac’s fortunes in the 1970s and a successful solo artist in her own right, singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks is perhaps one of the music industry’s most enigmatic performers. Her poetic and cryptic - some would say indecipherable - lyrics tend to evoke mystic images within the minds of her listeners, with their common themes of chivalrous rogues, ethereal women, gypsies, nomads and surreal otherworlds. Yet, her elaborate fables also delve into love’s sordid underbelly, with stinging self-penned songs about shattered dreams, self-debasement and abandonment - classics such as “Dreams,” “Gold Dust Woman,” and “Edge of Seventeen” immediately spring to mind.

For two decades, Nicks was a signature voice in Fleetwood Mac’s lineup, crediting the band with a string of mulit-platinum hits and embarking on a profitable solo career with the chart-topping albums, Bella Donna (1981), The Wild Heart (1983), and Rock A Little (1985). Her 1989 release, The Other Side of the Mirror, received negative reviews and was significantly less successful, heralding her eclipse by other acts at the start of the 1990s. Although she has since been supplanted by the current generation of female acts such as Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, and Shania Twain - thus, ensuring her limited relevance to today’s audiences - Nicks, in association with her contemporaries, Suzi Quatro, Deborah Harry and Pat Benatar, was of pivotal importance to the advancement of women in Rock & Roll.

Filmed at the Rocky Mountains, Colorado during her sell-out “Rock A Little” tour in 1986, Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks is touted as a dynamic live performance, featuring “state-of-the-art special effects.” However, director Marty Callner proves that he is no David Mallet and utilises far too many techniques that not only cheapens the concert’s look, but deprives it of any sense of spontaneity and true excitement; the integration of separately filmed inserts into the live presentation is awkward, while Nicks’ inclination to stare directly into the barrel of the cameras is irritating and begins to grate rather quickly. The lasting impression is of a presentation that has succumbed to its own delusions of grandeur.

Track Listing:

  1. Outside the Rain
  2. Dreams
  3. Talk to Me
  4. I Need to Know
  5. No Spoken Word
  6. Stand Back
  7. Has Anyone Ever Written
  8. Edge of Seventeen

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks is presented in a screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not anamorphic.

To say that this is an abysmal transfer would be something of an understatement and, in many ways, demonstrates the total need for companies and distributors to cease pressing obscure and sub-standard pre-90's live video material onto the digital format. There are number of ailments that afflict this presentation to the point where this reviewer found it a chore to sit through - perhaps the worst is the copious amount of grain that presides over the concert, which often results in noticeable pixelation. Coupled with frequent instances of bleeding and almost constant oversaturation, the viewing pleasure is severely diminished as every frame of the presentation exhibits headache-inducing problem after problem.

Black levels are quite low and do not seem to achieve true substance; they can be considered to be almost permanently opaque. Shadow detail, as one would expect from a live presentation, is poor. Ironically, the major bane of most concerts - that of aliasing and moiré - are completely absent. Readers should not rejoice, however, as this “benefit” is made possible only through the sacrifice to both detail and definition. To make a deliberately controversial statement: the transfer for Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks - itself lifted from the original 1987 video release - would not, in terms of picture sharpness, be that much more distinguishable from the version available on VHS.

There is but one audio selection available: the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound track. At best it can be considered serviceable - at worst, flat and anaemic. When Nicks is not screaming and spitting venom like a rabid chihauahua, her vocals are understandable, while the sound pertaining to her backing vocalists and the band’s instrumentation are competent, but not spectacular. There are deficiencies, to be sure, regarding dynamic range throughout the presentation’s audio, but are mostly tolerable - with the exception of the concert’s finale, “Edge of Seventeen.” Here, the backing vocals and, importantly, the song’s distinctive machine-gun staccato riff seem weaker than usual; in particular, the power chords are deflated.

The extras consist of a one-page discography featuring a listing of Nicks’ albums to date - from 1981’s Bella Donna to 2001’s Trouble in Shangri-La - and a four-page biography recounting the songstress’ humble beginnings with the acts Fritz, Buckingham-Nicks and her pivotal role in Fleetwood Mac, before her embarkation onto her lucrative solo career. The information contained in this latter section is concise and informative.

There is an illogical aspect associated with this title. The disc itself is not time-coded for some peculiar reason and, while there are chapter stops for each song, it is inaccessible by any other means except for the selection from the main menu or the forward and back buttons on the DVD remote. If you are like me, and discard the “channel surfing” method, but, instead opt for the “surgical technique” - that is, actually use the number keys in order to access a particular chapter - then you are assured of an unpleasant surprise. Upon using this method, selecting individual chapters (1-3) rerouted me - not to the desired track - but to pages of the biography and discography included on the disc.

The judgment on Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks is simple. Unless you are a complete masochist and are willing to sit through an uninspired live presentation with inept direction and poor performances, then I would recommend avoiding this title like the plague. For those who are interested in a dynamic performance from the lady herself, rent or purchase the superb Fleetwood Mac: The Dance.


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  •   And I quote...
    "A treat for masochists and a major disappointment for fans of this unique artist... Complemented with poor direction and a lacklustre performance from Nicks herself... "
    - Shaun Bennett
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Panasonic SC-HT80
    • TV:
          Panasonic TX-43P15 109cm Rear Projection
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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