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PAUL IS LIVE
Paul McCartney in Concert on the New World Tour
Review by Mark Wiechman
Stars: Paul
McCartney, Linda McCartney, Hamish Stuart, Robbie MacIntosh, Wix Wickens, Blair
Cunningham
Director: Aubrey Powell
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Studio: Rounder Records
Features: Photo Gallery, Biography
Length: 82 Minutes
Release date: August 12, 2003
Film **1/2
It pains me to say that any concert with Sir McCartney, my
favorite Beatle, is less than fab, but this one is. But at only 82 minutes, this brief concert of mostly Beatles
songs and solo hits that never were is only going to elicit interest from
serious McCartney devotees, and they might only watch it once and put it away.
For some reason film has always been bad to Paul if he is involved in its
production in any way. You would think he would have learned from Magical Mystery Tour, but even in many of his concert films, there
are problems. In this case, instead
of just normal filming, the picture shakes in an MTV way that was only cool for
brief moments in the 1980s and just does not work for a whole concert.
The sound is good but not as good as the more recent Back
in the US concert, which also has much better features.
This disc is partly the victim of bad timing since it came out after that
concert.
On the other hand, this is a valuable work because Paul
still looks young and his Lovely Linda is by his side and healthy and these are
the only live performances of some of these songs. I can hear no musical
flaws or mix problems, it is just not more than expected or on par with other
musical releases such as The Who: Live at
Albert Hall or the U2 Elevation
Tour, both of which were double disc sets with excellent picture and sound. You would think that a former Beatle would step up to the
plate. The SRP is pretty low, and
is probably worth that much.
Song Listing:
1.
Drive My Car 2. Let Me Roll It
3. Looking For Changes 4. Peace In The Neighborhood
5. All My Loving 6. Good Rockin' Tonight
7. We Can Work It Out
8. Hope Of Deliverance 9. Michelle 10. Biker Like An Icon 11. Here, There
and Everywhere 12. Magical Mystery Tour 13. C'mon
People 14. Lady Madonna 15. Paperback Writer 16. Penny Lane 17. Live and Let Die
18. Kansas City 19. Let It Be 20. Yesterday 21. Hey
Jude
Video
*1/2
No flaws or
problems but the irritating jumpiness which I mentioned above makes it nearly
unwatchable. An otherwise well-shot
concert with great camera angles and flow which was ruined by an overactive film
editor.
Audio
**1/2
The 5.1 and
2.0 are better than average but not much. No
sound problems or irritants but its 1993 production quality is evident.
There is also a “Dolby Headphone” setting, which I cannot figure out.
Features
*
None except
a photo gallery and a biography which will not impress anyone.
Summary: