Bachman & Turner: Live at Roseland Ballroom, NYC Blu-ray Review

Posted June 14th, 2012 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Video Codec: MPEG-2
Resolution: 1080i/60 (29.970Hz)
Audio Codec: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: N/A
Subtitles Color: N/A
Region: ABC (Region-Free)
Rating: NR
Run Time: 90 Mins.
Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment
Blu-ray Release Date: June 26, 2012
List Price: $19.98

-

Overall

The Performance

Video Quality

Audio Quality

Supplemental Materials

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All Blu-rayDefinition.com screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

-

The Performance

It’s hard to believe that Randy Bachman’s and Fred Turner’s Bachman-Turner Overdrive only spanned four years given the lasting classic rock hits they racked up in that span of time. “Takin’ Care of Business,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” “Let it Ride,” and “American Woman” are all still in regular rotation on classic rock radio. Decades after their disbandment, in 2009, Bachman and Turner reunited for another album, titled simply, Bachman & Turner, for which they went on tour together to support. This 2010 concert at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom catches the two in support of that album. The twenty song set is a heavy dose of their classic numbers with a mix of solo materials and new album tracks. While this simple set and relatively low key performance isn’t one of the most inspiring I’ve seen from a “foagie rock” band, it was pleasant, and Bachman & Turner show they still have the chops for some bluesy rock and roll.

Track List:

Let It Ride
Rock Is My Life
Not Fragile
Hey You
Hold Back The Water
Waiting Game
Moonlight Rider
Lookin’ Out For #1
Stayed Awake All Night
American Woman
Four Wheel Drive
Slave To The Rhythm
Blue Collar
That’s What It Is
Sledgehammer
Rollin’ Along
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
Shakin’ All Over
Roll On Down The Highway
Takin’ Care Of Business

Video Quality

I seriously feel like I have traveled back to 2006 with this title, even though it was filmed in 2010. Not only is this encoded in the rarely seen MPEG-2 codec, but there is no pop-up menu available during playback, so easily selecting songs is out. Regardless, the 1080i/60 image doesn’t look too bad. It’s a rather high bitrate encodement, but there are noticeable motion artifacts and video noise. Still, black levels are inky and colors look rich.

Audio Quality

Ugh, lossy Dolby Digital in 5.1 and 2.0 are the only audio options provided on this release. Yes, you read that correctly. No lossless DTS-HD Master Audio or LPCM options. As a result, the sound is not the best we’ve heard from Eagle Rock in a few years. The sound of the high frequencies is a bit tizzy, surround ambience isn’t very present and the guitars are just a bit grating.

Supplemental Materials

Zip, zilch, nothin’.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

The music here is still good, but the Blu-ray is a disappointment with its old video and audio codecs. This one is probably just worth a rental and no more.