Rating: 
Summary: A Great Live Concert of a Fantastic Album
Review: An excellent live concert of one of the Pat Metheny Group's best albums, Imaginary Day Live is all over the map, musically speaking and a great primer for the music fan who might not be familiar with the group. Whether you're looking for beautiful ballads (Across the Sky), straight up jazz (A Story Within The Story), pop-inspired songs (Follow Me) or thrash metal (Roots of Coincidence) the group has something for every musical category. It's also pretty amazing to see Pat switch effortlessly between different guitars (electric, classical, guitar synths, etc), often within the same song. About the only gripe I have is that it's all over too soon; it would have been nice to have even more songs on the DVD. Give this one a try, I think you'll be amazed with the quality of the playing and the range of the music.
Rating: 
Summary: For Completists Only
Review: By all means buy the Imaginary Day music disc, but skip this turkey. I am a major PM(G) fan but this DVD bites. Editing looks to be done by a curious junior high kid, but was done by Steve Rodby, the normally talented beyond belief bassist/producer of PMG. Here's hoping if Pat does another DVD he will have it professionally shot and edited. Turn up the disc but turn off the picture. Boo. Hiss.
Rating:
Summary: Imaginary Day - Pat Metheny
Review: Great Concert !!!
Very good sound and Video
A must for any Pat Fan
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible Video of a Good Concert
Review: I bought this video in the hopes that I would be graced by the Pat Metheny Group but instead ended up annoyed and dissappointed. The band's performance was musically great and worth hearing however, I couldn't get over how poorly this DVD was produced and directed. I assume it is because Pat let Steve Rodby, the bass player, execute his hobbyist level skills on what should be a professionally produced and directed project. The concert is full of bad camera shots where all you see is Pat's back or side during most of his improvisations and other extended portions of his performance. There are a few decent shots of Pat and Group playing but even those are obscurred by a cymbal stand or drum rack standing in the way .... I would estimate you can't see Pat playing half the time. On top of the poor camera work Steve Rodby chose to use a bunch of cheesy 80s production effects that are distracting and ruin what is left of something worth seeing. Given the credibility of a great jazz artist such as Pat it is embarrassing that these cheap effects and poor production was even used. They remind me of something you'd see in a high school talent show just to give you an idea of what they look like. ...
Rating: 
Summary: A Pat Metheny Must-Have
Review: I had never viewed a live performance recorded on to DVD before and when I ordered this DVD I had no idea how fantastic it would actually be. I was looking forward to being able to see the performers since that always makes a huge difference in the depth of the music, but hearing it in 5.1 surround was incredible! I was so surprised at the difference it makes. It really lets you enjoy the music on a new level. If you're a fan of the album this is definitely a must-have item.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't quit your day job, Steve.
Review: I have owned the cd of Imaginary Day since it was released but never had the chance to see PMG live. This seemed like my chance to put images with the music Ive been listening to. First of all, the music is amazing. I am always blown away listening to Pat Metheny because his musical ideas are always so emotional and complete. The sound quality on the DVD is also very good, you can barely tell its live and not in the studio. I thought I was paying to see a Pat Metheny concert in my living room, instead I shelled out twenty bucks to watch Steve Rodby play with amateur video effects. It looked to me like he just got bored editing the footage so he starting playing with colors and transitions to the point I almost had to turn it off. I would have if it hadnt been that the music is so damn good. For example, it was pretty common that in the middle of someone's solo, the picture would turn into a little box in the middle of the screen and then turn blue. Then maybe it would get really fuzzy. I guess it was supposed to be visually pleasing but I just found it funny. So in conclusion, music and concert: excellent
Production: not even close.
Rating:
Summary: A 24 bit Feast for the Ears
Review: I own 8 DVD-Audio titles. Imaginary Day was made for DVD-Audio. The 5.1 mix is the best I've heard yet. I own the CD but when I got the DVD it was like I never heard this music before. Pure ear candy!
Rating:
Summary: Not so bad...
Review: I really wish I had bought this earlier. I was put off by the bad reviews of the visuals, and as a pro cameraman, that was enough to dissuade me ...but I had to see it for myself, as Imaginary Day is one of my 2 fave PMG albums. I'm sure Steve Rodby learned a lot from this. Now, the camerawork is perfectly adequate- despite being fairly unprofessional. There are many late adjustments, obvious zooms, and some soft shots... as though two guys were running around trying to keep ten cameras following the action. The editing- mostly the transitional effects- are also quite indulgent & amateurish... but I felt that even if this DVD offered a less polished view of the PMG, It makes up for it with the feeling that this was the band's own home movie of a day or so at work, with all the immediacy that that implies, and also gives rackspotters a bigger eyeful than usual. Interestingly, they hired Tak Watanabe to direct their next DVD (Speaking of Now), a man I got to work with in 1988...In contrast to Imaginary Day, the Speaking of Now DVD is almost flawless...That said, I'm glad they let Steve Rodby man the controls. I think this is a more intimate viewing experience, despite the flaws, and I feel we all got an interesting and different look at the band for it- after all, the director is a member of the band.... I also thought the sound, esp. the DTS surround, was fabulous. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of like sex, the worst I ever experienced was fantastic
Review: I saw three performances of the "Imaginary Day" tour. They were all blow away. Unfortunately, the video production on this DVD misses the mark. There were several times when I found myself wishing for a simple front shot of Pat or Lyle to see some detail. It just seemed that so much was missed. It was obvious the camera operators and/or director of the shoot were not familiar with the music. Instead of anticipating solos and having the shots ready, the cameras often pan off one thing to catch up to the soloist. The lighting was not conducive to video, the shots were often overexposed and the contrast range was too much for the video cameras to handle. Musically, some of the performance seemed a little forced. I remember those three shows I saw being so much better. That being said, anything on video showing the mastery of Pat, Lyle and the group is money well spent. One of the highlights is "September Fifteenth," which is absolutely enchanting. The "More Travels" video (1992) definitely spoiled me. Even with the mixture of film and video, it was complete. The video really offered the viewer many nuances that "Imaginary Day" fails to show. After watching this DVD I am anxiously waiting for PMG's next release, tour and video. But, in the back of my mind, I'm hoping the video will be a little better.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of like sex, the worst I ever experienced was fantastic
Review: I saw three performances of the "Imaginary Day" tour. They were all blow away. Unfortunately, the video production on this DVD misses the mark. There were several times when I found myself wishing for a simple front shot of Pat or Lyle to see some detail. It just seemed that so much was missed. It was obvious the camera operators and/or director of the shoot were not familiar with the music. Instead of anticipating solos and having the shots ready, the cameras often pan off one thing to catch up to the soloist. The lighting was not conducive to video, the shots were often overexposed and the contrast range was too much for the video cameras to handle. Musically, some of the performance seemed a little forced. I remember those three shows I saw being so much better. That being said, anything on video showing the mastery of Pat, Lyle and the group is money well spent. One of the highlights is "September Fifteenth," which is absolutely enchanting. The "More Travels" video (1992) definitely spoiled me. Even with the mixture of film and video, it was complete. The video really offered the viewer many nuances that "Imaginary Day" fails to show. After watching this DVD I am anxiously waiting for PMG's next release, tour and video. But, in the back of my mind, I'm hoping the video will be a little better.
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