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  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
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  • Behind the scenes footage
Dave Mason - Live at Sunrise
Warner Vision/Warner Vision . R4 . COLOR . 66 mins . E . PAL

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"Dave who?" most will probably ask, and that's a fair thing, for he's certainly no household name. What might come as a bit of a surprise though is the roll call of more legendary artists that this guy has played with, and the level of his popularity in the United States. For fans, this DVD release has no doubt been quite anticipated, though some may feel cheated by its brevity at just over an hour.

At 18, Dave Mason co-founded legendary British rock band Traffic, a lineup that also included a very young Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi. Although only around for their first album, and leaving during the recording of the second, he penned Feelin' Alright, which has become a rock standard covered by more than 300 artists, most notably Joe Cocker. After leaving Traffic, the young Mason traveled to the USA and recorded the first of many solo albums, Alone Together, which, like the next three, achieved gold status. His third album, Let it Flow, included his first US Top 10 hit, We Just Disagree.

His solo career quickly gained momentum, and sold out live shows were soon commonplace. In addition, he can be heard on such legendary albums as the Stones' Beggar's Banquet, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. The song All Along the Watchtower remains a staple of Mason's live shows and can be found on this DVD.

It's been business as usual since then, though there was a brief stint in Fleetwood Mac (yes, the same one) from late 1993 to 1995 and Dave played and sang on their little known Time album. Oh, in case you're wondering, no, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham were not part of the band at that time.

Dave Mason - Live at Sunrise was recorded at the Sunrise Musical Theatre in Sunrise, Florida, in front of 4000 people. The musicianship is not in question from the opening chord, the vocals are great from both Mason and there are plenty of tight harmonies from the band. Some of the songs can truly be called epics, Dear Mr. Fantasy clocks in at almost 15 minutes, but all nine tracks are catchy, musically appealing, and well structured.

With a technically faultless disc, great songs (including a couple of Traffic numbers), and great playing, this DVD has been a pleasant surprise, and folks who love Eric Clapton and such artists, will find this very pleasant also.

Tracklisting

Let it Go, Let it Flow
World in Change
We Just Disagree
40,000 Headmen
Look at You Look at Me
Dear Mr. Fanatsy
All Along the Watchtower
Feelin' Alright

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

Noticing that this is an Image Entertainment release I should have expected near perfection, and I have not been let down. These guys really know their stuff when it comes to DVD and they have provided another excellent example of what a DVD can look and sound like in the right hands.

The only ‘down’ side, if it can be called that, is the full frame aspect ratio, but when that’s as bad as it gets, who’s gonna complain? The image is razor sharp, marred only very infrequently by some of the coloured stage lights, but that counts for nothing. The image is extremely clear and detailed. Shadow detail is ever so slightly diminished at times again by stage lighting, but trust me, it is not significant.

There is also some slight shimmer on some of the guitars, but this can also be filed under “not frequent or bad enough to matter.” Colours are bold, bright, and solid with no evidence of noise or bleeding. Top quality equipment has obviously been used to record this show.

Ah, DTS 5.1, who could ask for more? This is a beautiful sounding presentation that shows what talented musos these guys are. The sound range is very dynamic, from deep, rich bass notes, through to crystal clear trebles such as percussion and acoustic guitar. All vocals are clear and nicely mixed. The sound is slightly front-heavy, with not a great deal of left and right separation. The rear channels are used for quite noticeable spill over of acoustic guitars and vocals. Crowd noise is evenly spread between front and rear channels. Dave Mason's guitar solos are placed all along the front sound wall and the whole show has been mixed in such a way that the instruments and vocals very much ‘weave’ in and out of each other, rather than being spaced out.

There is also a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that sounds identical to the DTS 5.1, and a very nice Dolby Digital 2.0 that really only misses out on the feeling of being in the audience, for it too is well mixed and well balanced with a great dynamic range.

With the feature being a bit meagre, I guess any extra should be appreciated, and as such there is one here to give thanks for, and it is The Dave Mason Band – Behind the Scenes. With a running time of 15:30, it is a full frame, Dolby Digital 2.0 look at rehearsals, pre-show hi-jinx, an interview with Dave Mason, and other associated snippets. It is loosely structured but works quite well.

This DVD will probably not find its way into a great number of homes, but those that do bring it home will be well pleased. It is technically very good, the songs are very well structured and performed, and there is a great deal of fine camerawork capturing the whole thing. Recommended for sure.


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  •   And I quote...
    "Perhaps the most pleasant DVD surprise I’ve had in the last year…"
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