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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Everything was terrific... except for the video editing, November 24, 2004
First off, Sarah is gorgeous. She looks beautiful, her singing is lovely, and her songs are as elegant as ever. The concert looked like it was a highly entertaining evening. Unfortunately, my head's still reeling from the super-choppy, over-stylized filming/editing. What the director, Russell Thomas, was going for was a 'high-energy, cool' feel, but what he ended up with was a botched presentation that confuses and bewilders (and not to mention nauseates those of us easily prone to motion-sickness, myself included). This DVD suffers from the same mistreatment that Sheryl Crow's "C'mon America" endured.
I LOVED Mirrorball, and one of the things I loved most about it was the way it was filmed. The pace of changes between camera angles felt appropriate and well-timed with the laid-back vibe of Sarah's music, and the focus was always on Sarah. That's pretty much the complete opposite of the way the director mishandles this wonderful concert. The camera rarely lingers longer than 5 seconds from any particular angle. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't blur the camera or swirl it around on purpose for 'added effect' (I had a reaction to it but I don't think motion sickness was the effect they were hoping for). Within any given 20 seconds, the camera will blur, clear, zoom in on Sarah's mouth, change to focus on Sarah's hands, move out into the crowd, change back to a shot of the band, then go back to Sarah. There is a fine line between style and overkill, and that line is crossed on this DVD.
What feel you get is less "high energy" and more "ADHD." With no real feeling of centeredness (due to the constant zooms, blurs, camera changes, constant movement, etc.), you don't get a chance to appreciate Sarah's stage presence and charisma. She could be giving you the performance of a lifetime but you wouldn't know it because the camera's too busy filming away at her toe, the bass player's guitar pick, and the crowd. I also didn't get a sense of placement because of all the quick changes between angles. The abuse of excessive changes of camera angles isn't as bad as what happened on Sheryl Crow's "C'mon America," but saying something was less nauseating to watch than that DVD is like saying a movie was less boring than watching the formation of glaciers. (Note: To Sheryl Crow fans out there, I love Ms. Crow and I'm not saying her performance was atrocious. Like Sarah, she shined and gave the concert performance of a lifetime, but the actual editing of her DVD is what I have issue with, much like in this case, since both singers derserve better.)
Sound quality seemed good, as I had no complaints, but I'm not a sound buff, so I'm not sure how the DVD sounds playing from high-end equipment. What I do know is that it sounded fine playing from my television and computer stereos.
Actual video quality seems to be a step up from Mirrorball as far as video noise is concerned, since it's noticably less grainy, but it's not crystal clear by any means. Video noise (graininess) is particuarly noticable in long shots. Along with that, when the camera moves too quickly, motion artifacts (blurring) are apparent.
Aside from this, Sarah and her band performed in top-notch form. Despite my complaints against the filming, watching this concert makes me wish I had gone to see her live when she was touring earlier this year. When the camera lingers on Sarah, the shots are lovely. Lighting is warm, atmospheric, and ambiant, and the songs are performed in true McLachlan fashion. Her live performances are generally better than her studio stuff, and this concert is absolutely no exception. She and her band look like they're having a blast and are enjoying themselves on-stage, and that energy definitely comes across -- without the help of the psycho camera work, which actually *detracts* from their energy.
In a nutshell: 1. As far as actual direction and filming, Mirrorball's filmwork and editing is superior to Afterglow Live. 2. Afterglow Live's sound and video quality seem better than its predecessor, however. 3. Sarah's performance is just as good (if not better) on Afterglow Live as it was on Mirrorball. 4. Yes, despite the botched presentation, it's still worth buying.
It's just baffling why someone would want to film and portray Sarah in typical "rock star, seizure-inducing" style. Courtney Love? Sure. Sarah McLachlan? No. If the camera work had been handled a little more maturely and the style elements had been worked in in a more subtle, nuanced manner, it would have been a success. Sarah is not a rock star, and when you film her like one, it's just weird. She deserves a director who understands her style of music and will rise to the challenge of complementing her style (laid-back yet passionate, all at the same time) instead of taking the easy way out with camera tricks.
Regardless... Sarah delivers a bravura performance, and the 4 stars from this review are a credit completely to her and her band.
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67 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Turn off your PC's AUTORUN feature!!! CD's locked!!!, December 24, 2004
If you want to make copies for backup, car, diskman or MP3 Player TURN OFF YOUR AUTORUN FEATURE on your CD ROM!!!
Everytime you insert it in your PC it autoloads, makes you verify a CD Key then forces you to listen through a modified Windows Media Player. You can copy songs to your hardrive, but you can't burn them and you can't rip them as MP3's. they Stutter.
So, make sure that your Autorun is turned off, if you don't know how then go to your CD-ROM properties in WIN XP and tell it to "TAKE NO ACTION" On all media types of disk.
Now, insert disk. If you already did this with autrun and installed the CD Key you are forever out of luck unless you use System Restore to go-back before you did it. So do it. Now, you can burn copies for your own, legal, personal use and not to distribute or sell to others. Remember, burning is legal, distributing or boot-legging is a crime. I don't condone it and am not suggesting it here.
Now for the Concert. If you've seen Mirrorball you pretty much know what you're in for. The sets and outfit is different, the music is more current (about half from Afterglow,) but the performance is standard Sarah.
If you don't have a live CD I recomend Mirrorball, the songs are better the performance more energized, if you do have it and you really like it then by all means this is worth it. The stage is brighter, the atmosphere more open and Sarah is more engaging to the crowd and less distanced and in her own world than on Mirrorball. However, her voice and performance on Mirrorball far out-peform her studio records, this is about the same with little difference.
A solid DVD and CD, great sound and good performance.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The baby is fine and Sarah is back doing concerts, December 26, 2004
It might just be news to me, but I was rather impressed that both of the concert DVDs we got for Christmas this year came with a CD as well. The bad news is that with Sarah McLachlan finally back on tour a couple of years after the birth of her daughter (which gives the title "Afterglow" a pretty specific meaning) she is obviously committed to giving her fans their money's worth which results in the problem that of the 23 songs that appear on the DVD on "Afterglow Live," only 15 of them make their way to the accompanying CD. Every fan will be able to look at the omissions and wish that several of them had been included on the CD (I would have liked to have had "Ice," "Fear," and "Blackbird," but those are just my thoughts tonight; ask me again tomorrow). This is not a significant point for me because given a choice between the DVD and the CD of a concert, I am usually going to go with the former, even when I just want to listen to the concert more than watch it.
The concert was filmed at Molson Amphitheater in Toronto, Canada and directed by Russell Thomas ("Placebo: Soulmates Never Die - Live in Paris 2003"). I certainly liked the look of this concert film more than "Mirrorball," but part of that was the sense of familiarity since I had seen Sarah when she did that tour, so I was familiar with the way certain songs were being performed and the look of the set. But one thing about Sarah that we have loved from the beginning is that she keeps finding new ways to do some of her songs, and while we will have our favorites (e.g., I like the hard rock version of "Hold On" from her first concert video), she is always presenting us with new approaches. So even when many of the songs remain the same, the singing of them is different, which is why I really liked the intimate arrangement of "Ice."
It was interesting to see who was still around from the old band. You knew that Ashwin Sood would still be on drums, one of the advantages of being married to the lead singer, and is Brian Minato was not on bass it would just be too strange. Luke Doucet is still playing guitars, but Kathryne Rose is the new backing vocalist providing the harmonies, and the big change seems to be having a pair of keyboard players (Vincent Jones and David Kershaw). Included in the bonus features on the DVD are a Photo Gallery, Lyrics for all of the songs perfomed, an interviw with Sarah, and the three music videos from the "Afterglow" album, "Fallen," "Stupid," and "World On Fire" with its pointed political message about the things in this world that you could spend $150,000 that would be more worthwhile than a music video.
Overall the mix of songs from Sarah's albums in the concert is pretty good, although long time fans would wish her to go back before "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy." But that is the first album where she really felt her lyrics made any sense and I think that is why she tends not to go back to the first two. In the end, the fans who want to quibble about such things will be the ones that will most appreciate seeing Sarah McLachlan in another concert video. Ironically, those are the same people who will notice that her voice has changed since the last time around: it is a bit richer and fuller, which results in some different nuances on familiar songs.
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