Customer Reviews

Mel Bay presents Tommy Emmanuel: Live at Sheldon Concert Hall

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you have never heard of Tommy Emmanue, you will love this.

If you don't like acoustic guitar, you will love this.

If you don't play guitar, you will love this.

If however, you are a guitar player. Don't buy this DVD.

It will make you cry like a baby.

Audio: 9

Video: 9

Performance: 10+

This man is absolutely beyond stunning! He makes me happy, and totally overwhelmed. I've searched for great guitarplayers for 30 years and this is truly a master ... he stands second to none, and is truly incomparable IMHO ...

This DVD will bring you endless times of joy and admiration, and also for people like me that actually play guitars themselves it's a bottomless source of inspiration.

This is the DVD you should have bought yesterday!

:)

The five star rating is for the performance. I give no stars to the production of this disc. I find it hard to believe that this is the best Mel Bey could do for this concert. Obviously, this was dubbed in someone's garage studio using a VHS copy and put on DVD. They didn't even take the VHS disclaimer off the end of the tape. No liner notes, no extras and no special sound.
Now, I play guitar.Well, I used to think I could play guitar, until I saw this man play.My friend and I, (also a player) just sat and watched Tommy play, both mezmerized by his skill. After the concert was over,we just sat there in amazement. I have always liked this finger picking style made popular by Chet Atkins. Tommy has taken it to another level. There are no words to explain his ability. Just buy this disc and perpare to be entertained. Not only by his playing ability but the joy he exudes when he is entertaining the audience. Every song is a gem, but my favorite on this DVD is Initiation, a combination of percussion, and sounds and guiter, --enthralling! I found out later that Tommy was completely exhausted when he did this concert. He had to reach down deep to do this concert. The result was magic.

Tommy Emmanuel is not only an extremely gifted finger-style guitarist, he's a first rate showman who enjoys his own show nearly as much as the audience. If you can't see him play live, this is really the next-best thing to being there. The show runs the gamut from fresh arrangements of old standbys to intriguing original compositions, and not a clunker in the bunch.

Tommy Emmanuel is simply the most amazing guitar player imaginable. How can that much music come from one man and one guitar? Mesmerizing stuff, and I can't believe he isn't better know. I have told everybody about his music, and can't recommend him highly enough.

Worlds best straight and near straight tuning guitar player at this time in my opinion. Check it out and go see him live if possible. Funny guy as well.

Mel Bay presents Tommy Emmanuel: Live at Sheldon Concert Hall

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because it would have been better with less singing. Tommy Emmanuel fans want to hear him play. Having said that, if you like Tommy Emmanuel, you'll like this DVD. The extras give some insight into his personality. If you've never heard Tommy, but appreciate great guitar playing, this is sure to please you.

Speaking from the viewpoint of being a HUGE Tommy fan as well as a professional music producer, video producer and performing guitarist of almost 4 decades, I will share that this DVD was disappointing to me. Tommy is fabulous on it - of that make no mistake. However, the production quality, especially the audio is disappointing. If you own all the other Tommy DVDs then buy this one to complete your collection. If you are looking for good Tommy stuff, then I suggest one of the others. TE Live at Her Majesty's Theater in Ballarat is good although the up close camera work is too 'rock 'n' roll' for my taste. (I just directed and shot a four camera live rock n roll concert last night, so I am not against the style at all - it's just not well suited for Tommy in my professional opinion.) So what is my complaint against the audio for this DVD? A fair amount actually - there is no selection for Dolby etc compared to the other I just mentioned which gives you options including DTS - (Hooray) and the overall sound is not Tommy's signature 'bigger than life' sound. It is rather ambient in quality which takes a lot of the impact away from it. Tommy has done a marvelous job of getting an acoustic guitar with pickups installed to sound very close to a mic'ed sound but bigger than life - lots of EQ etc which is his signature sound. This DVD comes nowhere close to that which is a disappointment if you are expecting typical TE bigness.

Just picked up "Tommy Emmanuel Center Stage" two nights ago at his concert and expect that to be fantastic - haven't yet had a chance to sit down and enjoy. It is his latest which probably means it will have all the bells and whistles. ...and yes, as always, the concert was off-the-hook-fantastic!

I read an article about Tommy In Guitar Player magazine and decided to take a chance on buying one of his DVD's after watching a few performances on [...]. He is truly an amazing talent. It's too bad that the current state of radio airplay doesn't allow artists such as Tommy Emanuel exposure to listeners. While I really enjoyed Tommy's original compositions, its his covers that really rock. Mason Williams "Classical Gas" really gets a shot of steroids! I highly recommend this to any fans of acoustic guitar virtuosos.

Wow... I had never heard of this guy before... if you want some fantastic music as well as a great DVD... this is it...