Product Details

• Actors: Arrow, Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Jools Holland
• Directors: Julia Knowles
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305071578
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,293 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On the evening of September 15, 1997, legendary British music producer George Martin (who had risen to prominence with the Beatles) held a benefit concert at London's Royal Albert Hall for the small Caribbean island of Montserrat, which had recently been devastated by a volcanic eruption. All of the invited superstars had recorded some of their biggest hits at Montserrat's Air Studios, which Martin had founded in 1970, and this shared history gives Music for Montserrat an added sense of enjoyment among friends. Despite a few vocal dropouts and forgivable mixing problems, this outstanding concert has been captured with impressive fidelity, and while each artist performs songs appropriate to the occasion, they share the stage (along with a house band, choir, and orchestra conducted by Martin) in brilliant combinations that bring out the best in everyone involved.

The show hits full stride with Mark Knopfler's exquisite "Brothers in Arms," which segues nicely into "Money for Nothing" with guest vocals by Sting, who then performs two hits from his Police years. And while Elton John and Eric Clapton form the centerpiece of the concert (especially Clapton and Knopfler's acoustic "Layla"), Paul McCartney anchors the show with a spectacular four-song conclusion. Phil Collins's expert drumming is matched throughout by legendary percussionist Ray Kooper, and McCartney's fully orchestrated "Golden Slumbers" is a genuine show-stopper, followed by a "Hey Jude" sing-along with everyone on stage. They all follow McCartney's lead for a rockin' rendition of "Kansas City" (which the Beatles had performed as early as 1960), by which time Music for Montserrat had given its royal audience a show they would never forget. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

On September 15th, 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall, legendary music producer George Martin assembled many of the world's greatest music stars in this spectacular benefit concert for the island of Montserrat. Performing their hits in this all-star show are Elton John, Sting, Paul McCartney and Carl Perkins in one of his final appearances. Songs: Take Me Home (Phil Collins), Hot, Hot, Hot (Arrow), Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins), Volcano (Jimmy Buffett), Brothers in Arms, Money For Nothing (Mark Knopfler), Message In a Bottle, Magic (Sting), Your Song, Live Like Horses, Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me (Elton John), Broken Hearted, Layla, Same Old Blues (Eric Clapton), Yesterday, Golden Slumbers, Hey Jude, Kansas City (Paul McCartney).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but one of the best, January 14, 2000

By 

CRCat (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music for Montserrat (DVD)

I've owned the laserdisc version of this concert since it was first released. While the sound quality is occasionally disappointing (especially Sting), it's generally quite good. And most of the performances are excellent, particularly Knopfler, Elton, Clapton and McCartney.

I'd buy it again, if only for the McCartney/Elton exchange on "Hey Jude." I've watched this concert many times, and it still sends chills everytime Elton's voice appears in the second verse of this song.

As for the complaints about the "tambourine bloke" -- that's Ray Cooper, the legendary (with good reason) percussionist who has backed most of these performers in studio sessions, and who is a mainstay of almost every all star concert. If you want a video concert that will absolutely knock you over, try to find "An Evening with Elton John and Ray Cooper" -- it used to appear occasionally on the Disney Channel (oh, well, so did Annie Lennox's Central Park concert), and if I ever found it on a commercially released video, I'd pay almost anything for it. Listen to Cooper's incredible performance on this concert (or better yet, see one of the live Elton John/Ray Cooper, sans band, shows) and you'll never again complain about Cooper being a "distraction." Ray rocks!

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best DVD concerts available., April 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Music for Montserrat (DVD)

I love my DVD music performances. I have a large collection. This is one of the very best. In some ways, for me, a child of the 60's it is the best. When Paul McCartney sings "Yesterday" I got a tear in my eye. It means even more than ever from a 50+ year old. The video and music recording are excellent in every way. Seeing Clapton, McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Carl Perkins, Sting, Elton John, Phil Collins and Jimmy Buffet on stage together for the final songs was UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! They looked like they were having as much fun playing as I was watching. It is a mistake to not have this in your collection.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you are on the fence, please read this review, December 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Music For Montserrat Live - Dolby Digital & DTS (DVD)

The concert performances are par excellent... but when I bought this video, I truly thought it was defective. Phil Collins faded in and out on "take me home" and the sound was extremely uneven on many other tracks. I immediately logged in to check this and other reviewer websites and found that many complained about audio quality, but there were a FEW who DID NOT. After closer inspection, I found that there were two versions of this DVD-- one with Dolby 5.1 only (released 02/02/99) and one with Dolby and DTS (released 10/26/00). Well, I searched around until I found the DTS copy and low and behold-- audio is MUCH better on DTS format-- like night and day for me and my sound system is definitely NO great shakes.... I highly recommend this DVD, even though ths sound still won't quite rate a 5 star, but the performances and collection of musicians definitely come close. BUT buy the DTS version!!!!!!