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BMG Music presents

Eurythmics - Peacetour (1999)

"Sort of symbolically, I - I feel that Dave and I have gone 'round a circle, and we're back at the beginning, where we're kind of fresh. It's like an open book, with that sort of clean page, y'know, having been through so much together."- Annie Lennox

Stars: Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart
Director: David Barnard

Manufacturer: Sonopress USA
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (no objectionable material)
Run Time: 01h:35m:40s
Release Date: 2000-06-20
Genre: pop

Style
Grade
Substance
Grade
Image Transfer
Grade
Audio Transfer
Grade
Extras
Grade
A- AA-A A

 

DVD Review

BMG's Arista label recorded the final concert of the Eurythmics—Peacetour concert series on December 6, 1999 at London Docklands Arena. The concert tour was launched to benefit international charities Amnesty International and Greenpeace, and this performance includes 21 songs written and performed live by David A. Stewart and Annie Lennox, a.k.a. The Eurythmics:

I Want It All
Missionary Man
Thorn in My Side
When Tomorrow Comes
It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)
I Saved the World Today
Who's That Girl?
I Love You Like a Ball and Chain
Would I Lie to You?
Sisters are Doin' It for Themselves
17 Again
You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart
Love is a Stranger
I Need a Man
Walking on Broken Glass
There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)
Here Comes the Rain Again
Why
The Miracle of Love
Peace Is Just a Word
Sweet Dreams [Are Made of This]


The 1980s were not a particularly fertile period for pop music; the 80s groups that endure today are greatly outnumbered by the "one-hit-wonders" who have vanished without a trace. The Eurythmics created some finely-layered pop tunes based on Stewart's synthesizers and Lennox's striking vocals, after which Stewart and Lennox went their separate ways for a time, re-forming the combo in the late 1990s. Thankfully, both artists continued to mature in the interim, and their collaboration today is both more innovative and more technically solid. Stewart has truly mastered the guitar, bringing a much more expressive character to the pair's old hits, while Lennox's performance style has become more dynamic, a sort of David Byrne/Aretha Franklin hybrid with a palpable joy matched only by her vocal virtuosity. The concert features new takes on all the expected "oldies" as well as a number of songs written in recent years, which tend to be more lyrically generous and musically diverse, influenced by blues, gospel and contemporary "alternative" rock, among other genres. It's a pleasure to see a reunion that's not just a rehash.

David Barnard's direction of the Eurythmics—Peacetour concert video footage is sound; he uses crane shots effectively but not too often, focusing mostly on the performers in close shots that capture the effort and pleasure of Stewart, Lennox, and their backing musicians and singers. The Eurythmics aren't particularly theatrical in concert, and this video record wisely focuses on the musicians at work, capturing the uniformly excellent performances with solidly engineered audio and video (see details below). Final concert tour appearances are reputed to be the best, and everyone involved here seems to be giving their all, knowing this is the last time they will perform these songs under these particular circumstances.

Music is ultimately a subjective matter, and your mileage may vary depending on your familiarity with the Eurythmics and your affinity (if any) for their music. I considered myself a casual fan of the Lennox/Stewart combo prior to viewing this fine concert performance, and came away with a newfound respect for, and appreciation of their work. Great stuff.

Rating for Style: A-
Rating for Substance: A

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.78:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratioyes
Anamorphicyes


Image Transfer Review: BMG presents Eurythmics—Peacetour in its original 1.78:1 (native 16x9) widescreen aspect ratio, shot on high-quality videotape and presented with an anamorphic DVD transfer (neither the aspect ratio nor the anamorphic enhancement are mentioned on the packaging, so it was a nice surprise to this reviewer.) A few video artifacts manifest here and there, with occasional edge enhancement, moire effects and some "blooming" when the camera catches a high-intensity stage light, but colors are rich and solid and fine detail is visible in many shots. A few interlacing artifacts show up when the camera or its subjects are moving quickly, but it's rare to see shot-on-video footage looking this good. Very, very nice by concert video standards.

Image Transfer Grade: A-
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
DS 2.0Englishyes
Dolby Digital
5.1
Englishyes


Audio Transfer Review: Eurythmics—Peacetour features two English audio tracks, both of which are worthwhile. The default Dolby Digital 5.1 track is the main attraction here, capturing the concert performance atmosphere with audience noise and singing in the rear speakers, solid bass, crisp music and vocals and a strong live presence that really fills the soundstage. The alternate Dolby Digital 2.0 track is in simple stereo, suitable for casual listening with less emphasis on the concert environment (audience noise is included, but subdued.) Both tracks are clear and technically sound, digitally mastered with broad frequency range and well-engineered, almost flawless recording, difficult to achieve in a live venue; the quality is especially apparent during a handful of acoustic numbers. Whether you're looking for the "you are there" experience or just playing the DVD as background music, one of these tracks will deliver. Excellent work from BMG/Arista.

Audio Transfer Grade:

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Music/Song Access with 21 cues and remote access
2 Multiple Angles with remote access
1 Documentaries
Packaging: Amaray
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: RSDL
Layers Switch: 00h:17m:31s

Extra Extras:
  1. Eurythmics Discography
  2. Song Lyrics
  3. Photo Gallery
Extras Review: BMG and Arista present Eurythmics—Peacetour in grand DVD style—features include 21 song stops, nicely designed and thoroughly navigable menus (with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound), and a comprehensive set of supplements:

Peacetalk Documentary:

A 60-minute documentary about the Eurythmics' history, music and involvement with Amnesty International and Greenpeace, presented in 1.66:1 non-anamorphic form with Dolby 2.0 audio and 12 chapter stops. Interview segments with David A. Stewart and Annie Lennox are interspersed with music video clips, comments by their colleagues, and spontaneous live acoustic performances by Stewart and Lennox from the interview sessions. About half of the footage is musical in nature, but the remainder provides quite a bit of insight into the Eurythmics' formation, working methods, breakup and reunion; it's an interesting look at two artists who do their best work together and are mature and insightful enough to understand their relationship. As an added bonus, Annie Lennox's gorgeous, piercing eyes (obscured by her glasses during the concert feature) are much more visible in the music video footage included here.

Song Lyrics:

The lyrics for all of the songs performed in the Peacetour concert are included as text screens, with hyperlinks to each song's concert performance. One of those ideas that seems obvious in retrospect, this is a very valuable addition.

Eurythmics Discography:

Two screens listing the Eurythmics' ten albums to date, with thumbnail images of the cover artwork.

Photo Gallery:

Ten black-and-white publicity photos of Stewart and Lennox, stylishly shot and posed while retaining a casual sense of fun.

Multi-Angle:

Two of the concert's songs feature multi-angle support, allowing the viewer to choose two alternative camera angles on the fly. I've never found this feature as useful as it purports to be, and the director's judgment in this particular case seems to make the best use of the available camera footage; still, it's a nice "show-off" capability only possible on DVD.

Extras Grade: A
 

Final Comments

Eurythmics—Peacetour is a great concert video, featuring talented musicians at the top of their form. BMG's DVD presentation features excellent audio and video, with substantial supplements to boot. A must for Eurythmics fans and worth a look by music lovers of any stripe. Highly recommended.

Dale Dobson 2000-11-07