Rating: 
Summary: ok at best
Review: ok at best. Dissapointing, and average. Sting is(was) cappible of so much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Great DVD if you like the "Brand New" Sting
Review: This DVD is the perfect example of why Sting has remained a musical icon for so many years. Sting has the ability to evolve with time, as this collection shows. Only a few greatest hits - most titles here are from his latest studio release "Brand New Day" and that is not a bad thing if you enjoy the Sting of the present. Those looking for a Police reunion or 20 "Greatest Hits" songs should stay away. Although he performs a few titles from the past - Sting really shines with the new material, mostly attributed to the incredible band backing him on the tour. Great sound and video quality, whith applause, percusion and a bit of echo filling your back speakers in 5.1 If you enjoy Stings solo career, buy this DVD - you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Sting has stung once again.
Review: This is an excellant DVD with state of the art picture as well as sound. DVD and home theater owners have been fortunate the last few weeks with several great DVD releases from veteran artist like James Brown, Santana and now Sting. Sting's DVD features compositions showing he has grown as an artist with his songs sounding like he has gone to another level for music artistry. His music is more refined with numerous styles evident in almost every composition. The sound although 5.1 uses the rear speakers for ambient effect with most of the music coming from the front three speakers and the sub. It is a very entertaining DVD especially if you are a fan of good creative music. Sting has stung us again with an excellant show and music. Buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Sting...the mellow lounge lizard
Review: ...yeah Sting continues to mellow and surround himself with competent musicians and not folks who challenge him. The set list is weighted towards the Brand New Day CD...with several chestnuts from the POLICE and early Sting catalog given new (if not always better) arrangements. I guess I have a love/hate relationship with this concert film. I seem to be playing it more than most of my recent purchases which I may rate higher....and it has its moments. Sting..virtually solo with a nylon string guitar singing Message in a Bottle certainly is nice. Stevie Wonder joining the show on Brand New Day ...doesn't work for two reasons...1) his harmonica solo is too low in the mix and he is not given enough room..and 2) Wonder doesn't even have to sing a note to dwarf Sting and it is slightly uncomfortable to see this TRUE legend in that akward situation. Chris Botti on trumpet ..basically takes the parts that Branford Marsalis used to on Sax..Dominic Miller is vanilla on guitar (he actually shines on previous concerts when Rock was the goal)...Stings Louis Armstrong vocal approach to Bourbon street wears on me... the extra Bonus footage is interesting to watch ..ONCE and the output level on it is almost ZERO compared to the concert which actually is very high..another good point. If you like the jazzy, middle of the road ..STING you will love it.. IF you miss the Sting (even at his 40th at the Hollywood Bowl) who rocked out...you may be slightly dissapointed. IF you like the POLICE...Forgetabout it...and speaking of that..isn't it about time to give Andy and Stewart a call? Heck David Lee Roth is rehearsing with VanHalen..You can certainly do worse than this DVD..but one is left feeling that Sting ...certainly could do better.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another display of Sting's
Review: While this is early in the tour, Live At The Universal is a good display of how far Sting has come both lyrically and musically since The Police not to mention displays the great talents of Chris Boti (trumpet), Domminic Miller (guitar), and others. Plus a good apperance from Stevie Wonder on harmonica during Brand New Day and Cheb Mami during Desert Rose makes this concert well worth owning for any and all Sting fans.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent concert, but the audio compression is quite poor!
Review: Let me preface this by letting you know that I have both seen Sting live during the "Mercury Falling" tour and I have spent over 10 years performing live and recording, so I am a bit more heavy on the scrutiny than most. [....] Let me tell you, if you want a concert that replicates the CD, then you should be buying the CD, not the concert DVD. Concerts are not necessarily supposed to be "perfect" in the sense that everything in an 18-song set is identical to a performance that takes months of studio recording to perfect (and even then it's NEVER perfect). Concerts are supposed to be a bit of an experience that brings the audience closer to the artist. I feel that the DVD does this successfully, and I find that the concert itself is rather enjoyable, including an excellent trumpet player (Chris Botti, who was remarkable!), Stevie Wonder, and Cheb Mami (on Desert Rose). While I personally miss Kenny Kirkland and Vinnie Colaiuta, Manu Katche (whom I remember from "Nothing Like The Sun") does very well behind the drums and out front for a couple of songs. Sting tries several things during the course of the concert to deviate a bit from the norm. He roughs it up a bit for "Moon Over Bourbon Street", which caught me a bit by surprise (and completely annoyed my wife!), and Manu Katche coming out front to rap in French was quite refreshing. The quality of the visual end of the DVD was very good, but the real reason for the three-star rating was the poor sound compression. While the sound itself was not bad, the compression used while mixing down the live audio to the DVD was HORRIBLE!!! It can't be put any other way. I read [that someone] was checking his 5.1 system and components. I laughed when I read that, because I did exactly the same thing. There are times where the mix is BRILLIANT and the clarity is what you expect from the very best of DVD audio. Then immediately, the music drops quite low, only to accentuate vocals, and then it tries to correct itself over a 10-15 second time period. It just gets ugly at times and puts a HUGE black eye on what I consider to be a DVD for any Sting fan. It is just really difficult to look past this blight. [....] Then I can maybe pull out this DVD after he releases something else with a better audio track. Of course, I find Sting to be an incredible artist and may watch it again in the near future, since my Ten Summoner's Tales video is going bad from my frequent viewing habits...
Rating: 
Summary: Brand New Day Tour
Review: I have to say I'm a big Sting fan, although I don't necessarily like all his new material in the last year. This DVD however, which should have been a grand slam for him, turned out to be a very disappointing experience due to the audio quality. The camera footage was excellent as well as the lineup of talent, but I couldn't over come the poor sound mix. In fact I returned the DVD for another, which also turned out exactly the same. I wrote the label with no success. Shame on them! Shame on Sting for letting this fly by him! If you must have a Sting fix, put your money elsewhere!
Rating:
Summary: Great Music, Horrible Sound Transfer
Review: I must agree with most of the reviewers on this site. I wish I had listened to them before buying this DVD. The music is great, as usual from Sting. But the sound is CRAP! Even listening on stereo headphones the sound goes in and out, up and down, really loud and then barely discernible. It also always seems to go down when Sting is singing or speaking. Whoever was running the board this night should be shot... repeatedly... in the knees... with a bow & arrow... for days. I mean, it's ridiculous. I'm going to try and return it, but I'm not hopeful. See if you can rent this first (try Netflix) and see how it does on your sound system. If it's good (or even okay) buy it, because it's a great concert. Please take this review to heart from someone who didn't.
Rating:
Summary: Dolby Digital is the ONLY way to listen to this DVD
Review: ...I first heard and saw this DVD about a year ago when I borrowed it from a friend of mine. It is nothing short of amazing!!! Not only did I end up buying it, but I another friend of mine who borrowed the DVD from me while I was borrowing it bought it too...I find this DVD to be one of the better Dolby Digital DVD's that I own. I saw the concert live when it was here in Cincinnati and this DVD is better than being there! Keep in mind, I do have my DVD player hooked up digitally to my receiver which is hooked up to Bose speakers. It isn't top of the line, but it is better than your average set-up. I enjoy just popping the DVD in and cleaning my apartment or relaxing. There are very few DVD's or CD which have the same effect. In conclusion, I would highly reccommend this DVD to any Sting fan. If you are unsure about the audio after reading other reviews, see what you can do about renting the DVD or borrowing it before you purchase it. Again, I have had no problems with it...
Rating:
Summary: Occasionally fun, but disappointing
Review: It's true that Cheb Mani's voice is about 10dB too loud on Desert Rose. What were they thinking? The sound quality on the rest of the disc is ok - sure it's live, but it's no James Taylor-level quality. This is one of those discs that you watch once, and may occasionally pull out for single songs.
|
