“Status Quo: Pictures (Live at Montreux)” Blu-ray Review
British Rocker’s Status Quo has been no stranger to touring or performing in large venues. I say this because in the U.S., the group is relatively unknown. But in their home turf fans have been listening and rocking out to their music for forty years now. With the recent release of their album entitled “Pictures,” Status Quo took to the stage in Montreux to perform songs from their new album as well as some of their most famous songs that helped make their forty-year career possible.
Synopsis
In 2009, Brit rockers Status Quo took to the Montreux stage to perform some of their biggest hits, in support of their PICTURES album. And with a back catalogue spanning 40 years, they had plenty of material to choose from. Songs like ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, ‘Down Down’, and ‘Whatever You Want’ went down a storm with the usually reserved Swiss crowd and stood as testament to the band’s enduring appeal.
Yes, yes…once again another band I’m not familiar with. But I’ve quit paying much attention to that and instead just enjoyed the ride that this concert gave. Midway into the concert I’d realized that I had, in fact, heard some of their material before, particularly “Pictures of Matchstick Men” (only the version I’d heard previously was Ozzy Osbourne’s cover). Despite a general lack of familiarity, I was really surprised by just how hard the type of rock these guys played was. I mean it’s quite literally some fantastic sounding songs throughout this set and I have to say I’m really surprised that they never made it big in the U.S.
As great as they sound, it was interesting to watch the concert as there was often a clear line between the songs from the different eras. Their more recent composures had a more structured sound while the earlier stuff was a lot looser and contained a higher number of solos and the like. That’s still the case with the new material, of course, but there’s just a specific sound you get when more old-school hard rock is played. It’s the same with Ozzy, Metallica, or pretty much every other band ever.
Fan’s will get the most of this set-list and concert, but newcomers will find this an excellent “primer” as to what Status Quo has to offer. Included in the set list:
01. Caroline
02. The Wanderer
03. Rain
04. Don’t Drive My Car
05. Mean Girl/Softer Ride
06. Beginning Of The End
07. Is There A Better Way
08. Proposing Medley: What You’re Proposing/Down The Dustpipe/Little Lady/Red Sky/Dear John/Big Fat Mama
09. Pictures Of Matchstick Men/Ice In The Sun
10. The Oriental
11. Creepin’ Up
12. In My Chair
13. Living On An Island
14. In The Army Now
15. The Killer
16. Roll Over Lay Down
17. Down Down
18. Whatever You Want
19. Rockin’ All Over The World
20. Juniors Wailing
21. Rock n Roll Music/Bye Bye Johnny
Twenty one songs make for a helluva set list, so there’s plenty for fans (and newcomers) to enjoy. But that’s not all this set has to offer. In addition to the full concert mentioned above there is a documentary, “Pictures: The Story of 40 Years of Hits,” included as well. This is a great piece as it helped me get acquainted with the band and their history. All total you’re looking at over three hours of content, plus extras. Not too bad at all and a Recommended release.
The Blu-ray
Eagle Rock Entertainment brings Status Quo – Pictures to Blu-ray in a standard Elite Blu-ray case. A booklet inside contains information and photos from the concert as well as information about the group, while the menu system for the disc lays out everything in a nice and tidy fashion. There are a few extras as well, so it’s a pretty solid package.
The video arrives in an AVC encoded 1080i transfer and seeing as this concert is from this year, there’s nary a flaw to be found. The usual inhibitors of a live concert are here, such as the lightning or smoke/fog making for a sometimes overly smooth picture, but overall the transfer here is really solid with a lot of detail. As is usual with Eagle Rock releases, the film boasts three audio tracks as well, a DTS-HD MA, DD5.1 and a PCM track. All three have their merits, but it’s the DTS-HD that is the king of the listing here, with plenty of surround output and subwoofer jangling to rock the house with this concert. For the documentary it’s just a standard definition transfer, but it’s a documentary—hardly what you need to see in HD.
Extras include:
Quo in Montreux (20:00, HD)
Rossi Cam: Down Down & Roll Over (11:46, HD)
Parfitt Cam: Whatever You Want & Rain (10:00, HD)
“Pictures” Auction (4:18, SD)
The “Cam” is just alternate angles from the concert itself, but the “Quo in Montreux” is a nice HD piece that covers their concert at the festival. The “Auction” focuses on actual pictures drawn by individuals in honor of Status Quo. All solid pieces and worth checking out if you’re a fan of the band. A Recommended release.
Status Quo – Pictures (Live at Montreux) is now available on Blu-ray.