Live at Radio City, Blu-ray
Dave Matthews (voice, guitar, piano)
Tim Reynolds (guitar master)
I will not waste time and say this is the best sound I have ever heard from a concert video and by a wide margin. In fact it is also the best pop guitar sound (mainly acoustical) that I have heard for a long time in any musical format. In other words the sound on this recording is as good as my best DVD-As and SACDs. I like to have visiting friends listen to my best recordings (just for a short time, not to bore them :-) ) and if I want to illustrate the fantastic potential of the Blu-ray format I will surely use this recording.
The video presentation is pristine. Naturally the majority of the presentation is made of zoom in on our two players, but it is regularly mixed in with overviews of the public and often we see people that seems to know all the words in the songs, others dance or take picture from their cell phones. This gives a sense of the concert itself and help us feels we are with the crowd with a great view of the stage and makes us feel included in the buzz of the live performance.
My favorite part of the video being certain close shots of Tim Reynolds fingers moving all over his guitar. With a pedal Tim sometimes creates synthesized effects that makes his guitar sounds a bit like strings of even a plaintive voice. He also uses a small metallic tube for glissando effect. For an uninitiated like me this is very interesting and helps understand the craftsmanship of a "pro".
The sound quality of the guitars is surprising coming from a live concert recorded in a large venue. I was expecting the typical pick-up sound, too dry and with no feel for the complex harmonics of the guitar body. Here the problem is minimized (due probably to top quality pick-up and recording engineers). For example the lower notes have more body to them and the highs a pearly quality. Of course it is not the equivalent of the best sound take for a classic guitar in a nice natural venue, but really excellent in the context of this concert.
On track 12 Dave plays piano (and sings) and Tim (of course) plays the guitar. We appreciate the proper pitch between piano and guitar (not obvious! particularly on sustain notes at unison between the 2 instruments) and again the sound quality. The piano is solid and the lows large, we feel the body of the piano resonating. The guitar and voice are mixed in perfectly and the equilibrium between the 3 musical lines is absolute.
On track 22 Dave sings and accompany himself with an electric guitar. I will say something simplistic but the difference of sound is huge with the more aggressive and dry sound of the electric guitar coming through ( generally 2 acoustic guitars are used on the other tracks). What I am trying to say is obvious, but is another good example of the overall sound quality. As the concert moves along they sometimes switch guitars for a different effect ( a more bluesy feel, a more spanish feel, etc.) and the sound difference between the different instruments is easy to feel.
A last comment on the speaker balance. The sound comes from the front 3 speakers and there is no "holes" in the front image. The balance between the center speaker and the the 2 mains is excellent with one coherent sound from left to right. The rear speakers are used delicately to help feel we are in a large space and a with a bit of crowd noise,but just enough to keep the illusion of a live event in our listening space.
I had no problem getting grabbed by the excellent work of Tim Reynolds, but it took me more time to appreciate David Matthews even if it is him the star (of course he wrote the majority of the material). Tim Reynolds does not talk, David Matthews talks too much. Tim the little virtuoso plays standing up and seems to hold a giant guitar. David stays sitting, and this is a good idea because he is a lot taller than Tim. But while listening to the nice documentary included on a second (BR) disk I also understood that Dave's fan like these more intimate concerts (Dave has also a band) and expect Dave to give more details on the history of some of his songs. Fortunately in my case I can fast forward when needed.
The virtuosity of Tim Reynolds is obvious this was my first contact with him. Wow! Evidently the technical quality is obvious, the sound is beautiful and he has a nice sense of rhythm. But I was particularly impressed by his control of the high notes on his guitar, it is quite astonishing to see him go to the end of the strings and always stay in pitch and pace. It is a cliché but a real virtuoso does not only need to play very well he needs to be able to play music and touch his audience.
To give an overview of the music and how my reaction to the music changed over several listen here is a short discussion for my 3 favorite tracks:
Track 13 "Betrayal"
As I was explaining my first gut reaction at the first listen of this Blu-ray was a visceral reaction to Tim Reynolds playing (and a more mitigated reaction toward Dave Matthews that gradually warmed up see the next two tracks). But the easiest illustration of my initial reaction is this track which is one of 2 solos by Tim.
At the beginning of the piece, Tim is having fun with synthesizer effects (controlled by a pedal) of multiple repeats and echoes. But this was just the warm up. Tim starts the real music with a good beat and clearly punching each note. As he varies the main material, faster and faster we enjoy his control of tempo, the way he suspends some notes and then go full speed again. He plays with the rhythm and accent while keeping a good groove going. He finishes with a fast coda and you get the feeling the guy has 3 hands. His reaction to the applause his funny, he kneels and bows in front of the audience probably to thank them to be such a good crowd.
Track 28 "Two Step"
After some additional listening I started to realize that in several track Dave leaves a lot of space (often either in the intro, or at the end) so that Tim can take off and embellish the music, and Dave is actually very good at sustaining Tim and keeping the music grounded. A good example of this is the last encore at the end of the concert. This piece starts with a solo by Tim with all kind of synth effects, glissandos, etc. Then the two guitars merge and Dave sings in a relatively high register an happy song on the joy of shared love:
link to the lyrics:
At the end of the song again Tim takes over sustained by Dave and we see him looking at Tim admiring him jamming freely on his guitar. This track is a good example of the collaboration of the two musicians seen throughout the performance
Track 26 "Dancing Nancies."
This track is a good example of the complex music that our two friends can produce. I am assuming as for much of the material in this concert they know the material so well that they can play with it and give a different flavor to it from concert to concert.
Link to the lyrics:
This songs is about immature fancies and the need to accept reality. So the musical style starts on a kind of imaginary vibe (nearly science-fiction) full of energy, but the song gradually gets anchored in
reality and terminates with something akin to flamenco! Again the musical range shown by our two musician is impressive indeed. Also Dave shows a more vulnerable side in his singing and this seems to please the women in the audience.
The package includes a second Blu-ray which contains a documentary on Dave and Tim. It is also in HD but only in stereo. It is interesting to understand the professional relation of the two musicians, including the fact that they had humble beginnings. It is an excellent complement to the concert.
If you are already fans of these two excellent musicians you do not need my recommendation. But if you want to be introduced to them (and are also curious about the sound potential of Blu-ray) than of course I highly recommend the purchase of this disk.