Customer Reviews

Paul McCartney: Back in the U.S. - Live 2002 Concert Film

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

Well, I got my copy a week early and all I can tell you is that it is the best shot and produced Macca DVD/video to date. The band is strong and does what they need to do. Those who saw the concerts left with a bit of the magic from those shows, and I think they will all be thrilled with the DVD. The song choices are the best that have been released on video yet. You get some of the very best Beatles stuff (we can argue forever on what was left out here) along with the best Wings and solo works. In the end, you only have so much time, but you get a great overview of an amazing career. Paul's voice and playing have never sounded better.

It was way cool to see the sound check stuff with a very relaxed Paul on his Les Paul playing the old Bo Diddley classic, "Bring It To Jerome."

There is a touching tribute to John (Here Today) and George (Something solo on ukele). George was an accomplished ukele player and Paul's tribute is fresh and does not wallow in despair over the very heavy losses through the years.

All I can really say is that this DVD beats all the other McCartney concert DVD's of the past.

The concert I went to was great. All of the reviewers of this DVD appear to be reviewing the concerts they attended. My argument is with the DVD version. This DVD is lousy. First of all the stage is too dark. Good DVDs bathe the stage in lots and lots of light. Hard to see the performers the way the stage is lit. Second, much of it is grainy, as if the director was going for an arty effect. And what is with the constant cuts, in performances, to adoring fans? Yes we love the music but really, Paul and the band should be the show - not the adoring fans. A little bit is fine but shots of the fans seem to make up an awful lot of the show, and they keep popping up when the main focus should be the music and the band. I thought I was watching a fan club function. And why the recurring shots from the back of the hall? A DVD with recurring shots of the TV screens behind the performers? And the close ups of the players are rarely true close-ups. Didn't they have any hand held camera operators? It looks like all of the close ups are zooms from the back or sides of the hall.

For great DVD concerts, well lit, check out the Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon, the All Star Tribute to Brian Wilson, Roger Waters in the Flesh Live, or Elton John One Night Only. These are fine examples of how it should be done.

The whole thing looks like a partial upgrade from a home movie.

The music though .... the music rates 5 stars. I love this music.

However, the purpose of a DVD is to bring the sights and the music to you at home. It fails miserably on the "bring the sights" part of the equation, unless your primary interest is constant shots of fans.

A disappointment. I'll turn off the TV and listen.

I admit that the performances of All My Lovin' and Hey Jude got me all choked up, but the overabundance of inane non-concert
footage (fan one-liners, crew members congratulating themselves,
and even a 'wild kingdom' segment) nearly made me throw up.
As an individual who was around when all of those songs were
new, as well as a hard-core Beatle fan, I was truly touched
by each performance. McCartney's vocals were strong, and he
can still hit the high notes. The band did their homework learning the original arrangements. The drummer kicked [...],
for sure... The performances were intense. As far as the
DVD presentation, it's not up to par in video and sound
quality, but it's presentable, nonetheless. My major
problem with it was the fluff... Even the celebrities in
the audience were listed in the closing credits! Sheesh!!
The only thing missing was an opening monologue from Bono.
I still say buy it! The music's that good.

Without question, Paul McCartney's 2002 tour may have been his best post-Beatles performances. His voice was far stronger than his 1990 and 1993 tours, and his young band really made McCartney work harder than he'd done in decades. While not as many surprises in the set list as before, those selected made for a well-paced exciting show.

But, this DVD isn't quite as good of a souvenir as those of us who attended the shows would've liked. First off, it might be THE most fawning video of a performer. An artist of his stature hardly needs the gushing validation that this offers, plus all the superstar accolades. And all this fawning takes up time away from the music. Only about 29 of the 35 songs played on the tour are performed in the concert film (another three are in the bonus section), and not all the songs are performed complete. Sadly, his sweet tribute to George Harrison, "Something" is trimmed by a whole verse. Surely we could have cut out one more shot of a middle aged soccer mom screaming "PAUL!"......... to find room for this lovely song complete. Finally, the songs aren't in the order they were played, which is likewise disappointing as it was the pace of the show that was part of its success.

As for the disc quality, the authoring of this is really sad, almost like it was done on a home computer. The same footage appeared in the ABC-TV special in far better quality, so this is just a mediocre DVD master. The disc's authors have also put the scene/track selections in the "Special Features" section (not exactly where I'd look for them), but you can quick access your favorite song.

But on the plus side - it sounds fantastic. The performances chosen from the tour footage are outstanding, both McCartney and band are in terrific form. The bonus materials (soundchecks, backstage, etc.) are generous and will make McCartney fans happy.

So...a mixed review. But all the details aside - it IS a great show that I know I'll enjoy often.

This DVD is three hours long. That three hours could have been a two and a half hour concert, and a half hour of bonus features. But oh no. Paul decided to cut up the two and a half hour concert to make room for the throw-away extra footage. The concert was filmed very poorly in my opinion - quick cuts, many crowd shots, a bit disturbing to watch. Paul could've redeemed himself if he had at least included complete versions of the songs, but again, some of the best songs from the concert, including "Your Loving Flame," "Freedom," "Something," "Hey Jude," "Coming Up," are all only partially presented. If you want to see a really good McCartney concert video, track down a copy of Rock Show.

If you are getting goosebumps cause you seen Mccartneys new DVD in you local music store, I'd say save yer money, and go buy a bootleg concert from a different store ... who ever thought this DVD did the concert justice must have been under heavy medication. ... not watch half a song and then be interupted by people talking, or some nobody singing "Blackbird". Better yet, I didn't buy it to see Jack Nicolson in the audience, or Tom Cruise. I can't believe that the makers of this DVD screwed up Pauls greatest concert tour ever, not to mention it will most likely be his very last. At 60, it was like Paul was summing up his lifes work with this tour, too bad it was not captured. The DVD could easily be mistaken for a VHS. The picture is grainy, and poor, though not as bad as "Get Back" or "Paul is Live". So what did I get for my [$$$]? I got a concert that I had already seen when they showed it on ..., I got 3 special features, which amount to absolutely nothing, and oh yeah, and this is the best, A secret website which I can't access even though I bought the DVD but I don't have a DVD rom drive. Who came up with these awefuk blue prints. I bought a bootleg from his Las Vegas show from ..., and it's the concert in i't's entirety, I suggest the Mccarttney fan who feels ripped off try that.

...the DVD is a waste of time.
P.S- There isn't even a book with the DVD, just one disc, no pictures, nothing.

First of all, Paul's performance is great, this is not questionned at all. I just regret this DVD didn't let me enjoy the show in full, and without distractions. Because of all this off-stage material, watching this DVD gave me a feeling of a TV show interrupted with commercials every 5 minutes. Song intros and ends are often cut off. The picture quality sometimes is just bad as a lot of shooting was made in the dark. Some really great songs are missing.

Why didn't they just show the concert in its entirety, leaving the interviews and fooling around for bonus materials?

This was the best concert I have ever seen! I was expecting the dvd to match. Boy was I mistaken. There are so many problems I don't know where to begin. Perhaps the most anoying aspect of the dvd is the constant flashbacks away from the concert. While these may have been interesting, it ruined the flow of the concert. These little "extras" should have been included in the special features section. Next the songs are in a very different order than what was at the concert. Again this inhibited the flow of the concert. Another thing is, I bought the dvd to watch the band. There is far to much focus on the fans. While some fan shots would be nice, this went to the extreme. Next there are credits shown over one of the songs, the video is shrunk to half screen. There are songs featured in a "bonus" section, but they were part of the concert. Why aren't they included in the concert section? On the technical side of the dvd, you can't skip from song to song without going to the scene select menu. With all the problems the dvd has, about the only thing positive I can truly say is "Thank God for the cd!" At least it lives up to expectations.

I was so excited to see this become available, and picked up two copies - one for myself and another for a friend who went to the Atlanta concert with me. I settled in to watch the concert, ready to remember some of the electricity and magic of the brilliant concert performance. My first impression was a cautious disappointment as the video quality looked like it was old "Wings" era footage, not the recent (2002) footage. I gradually lost interest as the songs were interrupted with distracting interviews, and excessive shots of the crowd.

After having gone to many incredible performances by diverse artists such as the Rolling Stones and Alison Krauss, I was blown out by McCartney's live performance. But the video? I turned it off after five songs and haven't gone back to finish it. No matter how I wanted to like it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. And the second DVD for the friend? I gave it to someone else and bought him a different Christmas present. because I knew he'd be disappointed as well.

If a different release were made available of the CONCERT, I'd snap it up in a second. This presentation was sad - a lost opportunity to give to many people the performance of a lifetime.

If you want the documentary of the concert, grab it up. If you want a concert, buy the CD set instead. It's fantastic.

I saw McCartney in Atlanta in April. It was an amazing 2 hours and 45 minutes of music and memories. Too bad I can't say the same for the DVD.

If the Menu has something titled Concert Film, then it should be a film of the ENTIRE concert. I don't care if it's compiled from the various shows across the U.S. -- that's fun -- but the DVD is missing at least 7 songs that are on the CD. The 2-disc CD, by the way, is the entire show.

And if it's a CONCERT film, then I don't need to see the backstage patter, the tour bus chatter, the communing with the apes. Show me the concert! Considering that the Special Features on this DVD include soundcheck performances and backstage stuff, none of that should've been part of the concert film.

And what's the point of some songs -- Hey Jude, most notably for me -- not even being shown in their entirety? If you want the audience to share the concert-going experience, this ain't the way to do it.

Finally, because of the choppy nature of the film, it didn't even close to recreating for me the emotions of being there in person. Not even close.

Most disappointing, McCartney is listed as executive producer. He Should've Known Better.