Filmed in 1990, Status Quo - Anniversary Waltz is a documentary/concert style record of the 25th anniversary of the partnership of Status Quo stalwarts Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi. To commemorate this occasion, they decided to go back to where they first met, Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Minehead. Invited guests ranged from family and friends to celebrities and media representatives. To get everyone to Minehead, they hired a private train “The Quo Express”, allowing everybody to once again experience the quintessential Quo.
Parfitt and Rossi first met at Butlin’s in 1965 when they were both performing in separate bands. They formed an instant friendship and soon after formed Status Quo. 25 years later and with over 100 million albums sold, they have reached legendary status. In this performance, in front of an appreciative audience, they belt out all of their hits, many of which will be recognised by those that would never class themselves as Quo fans. Their honky tonk style rock'n'roll has become instantly recognisable to fans the world over - all seemingly based on one simple guitar riff.
Track listing:
Caroline
Roll Over, Lay Down
Little Lady
Medley 1
Mystery Song
Railroad
Most of the Time
Wild Side of Life
Rollin' Home
Again and Again
Slow Train
Hold Yer Back
Down Down
Medley 2
Dirty Water
Whatever You Want
In The Army Now
Rockin' All Over the World
Don't Waste My Time
Medley 3
Roadhouse Blues
Irish Hat Dance
Mexican Hat Dance
The Wanderer
Marguerita Time
Living on an Island
Break The Rules
Something About You Baby I Like
The Price of Love
Roadhouse Blues
The Happy Wanderer
Burning Bridges
Medley 4
Let's Dance
Red River Rock
No Particular Place to Go
The Wanderer
I Hear You Knocking
Lucille
Great Balls of Fire
The concert performance itself is terrific, with the band sounding better than ever and not looking much different. The obvious friendship of Parfitt and Rossi shines through, along with their sense of fun. The only criticism with the concert itself is that due to their extensive catalogue of hits, the majority of tracks played are brief or in the form of medleys.
There are, however, a few things that are, to me, incredibly annoying. Firstly, while showing the band performing at this anniversary show, we are transported back to footage from years earlier. This isn’t the problem, as the footage used in these flashbacks is very good, even though it is black and white. The problem is the way in which it is done, going back and forth from one to the other during the same song, at times running both on screen with the sound from one or the other. This may be only a personal annoyance though.
Secondly, during the start of each song, the year is plastered all over the screen and text scrolls across the bottom with historical events from the year in point. Now I could live with this if it was kept to the start of the song and for the most part it is, but when the majority of songs are brief, it can take up the whole track. For those that want a history lesson, this is great and very informative, but most of us want to see the band perform and this interferes greatly.
Thirdly, at the start of each song or medley there is a cine projector icon that appears at the bottom right of the screen. When you click on this icon, you are taken to a bozo called “the Rockmeister” and his two bimbo offsiders for an introduction to the song. This feature is a total waste of time and space.
Lastly, and again this may only be a personal grievance, but the use of some of the visual techniques is excessive. There are things such as floating screens, multiple screens and of course the scrolling text that just seemed to be a distraction rather than an asset to the experience.
Sadly these annoyances do take a lot of pleasure out of what otherwise looks like a great show. The band are really tight and the crowd loves them, but all the other things happening on screen take the viewer's attention away from what they want to see. Fans may enjoy this release regardless of these matters, but it totally spoiled it for me.
Presented in full frame and therefore not 16x9 enhanced, this transfer is quite good. Picture is sharp throughout, even on the archival footage used. Colours are vibrant and do suffer on occasion from the usual problems associated with stage lighting and also in the scrolling text. Detail also suffers minimally in this respect, but overall it's very good. Aliasing can also be found in the usual places such as guitar strings, but these are not too distracting. Grain is occasionally a problem and blacks vary slightly in depth, but neither cause any real problems. Please also note that this is another NTSC-only release so having that capability is a must.
Audio supplied is a choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 or DD 5.1. There isn’t a lot to choose between the two with very little in the way of separation. Sound is clear at all times and synch is never a problem. The subwoofer gets a little action, but not anywhere near as much as expected. Overall the audio and video are sufficient, nothing spectacular but good enough.
A couple of extras accompany this release but, nothing too wonderful.
Jukebox
This is an animated jukebox-style feature that allows you to select certain songs. Be aware that you cannot select individual songs that are part of a medley.
Review
This is a bit of a "behind the scenes" look at the day in question. With a brief running time of 4:58 it is fun, but not too informative.
Brit Awards and Credits
This is the best feature available, containing the medley performance from the 1990 Brit Awards. The 'Credits' part is what should have been placed at the end of the main feature. The credits run for almost half of this feature, but the Brit Awards performance is very good.
Overall this release is only really something that true Status Quo fans will enjoy. It gives a good recollection of this anniversary event and along with decent audio and video, fans should be satisfied. Those that only have a mere liking for the band and would like to get a full concert performance will be disappointed by the irritating way this is presented. I would suggest you either buy one of their compilation albums or wait for a full concert DVD release.