Review of Ronan Keating Destination Wembley 2002

Introduction

Remember Boyzone? Covers of someone else`s songs and lots of synchronised dancing seemed to guarantee a place in the charts and still does. Then they split and all tried something new. Ronan and Stephen went off to do solo careers. The rest seem to have disappeared but young Ronan is still turning out the hits. Proving that he is not just a flash in the pan he has sung quite a few different styles and judging by his audience, appeals to a wide range of age groups. I even spotted a couple of chaps in the audience but they were clearly very attached to the young ladies they were with and printed on their heads it said, " I paid for the tickets".

Video

Great animated menus and digitally mastered Widescreen, however it is essentially film of a live concert and therefore the visuals are limited to that. Ronan is eye candy of course and he does have two giant screens behind him and some pretty lights.So unless you were there it is a bit boring even for us girls.

Audio

No DTS on this and the Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo is all right but felt a little thin. This was either my ears playing up or maybe the kind of music is just not full bodied enough. When turned up high you get a thumping base, which make its sound even thinner. I like the music and would be more inclined to buy a cd especially as it would cost half the price of the DVD. The audio does capture to some extent what a live concert is like and so the people most likely to buy this must be those who were there.

The music moves between old Boyzone tunes such as "You needed me" and recent releases like "Rollercoaster" and of course "When you say nothing at all" from "Notting Hill" a better song than Julia Roberts deserved I feel.It also includes the soulful duet of Bob Seger`s "We`ve got tonight" recently issued with Lulu. It`s sung here with his backing singer and I prefer this version perhaps it`s the live strain in his voice.

Features

Animated menus with audio backing. This has been put together nicely and the documentary is a good length. The song selection is useful for particular favourites.

Extras as follows
Picture gallery- what the girls want, lots of lovely close-ups and the duet "We`ve got tonight" as an audio background.
Destination Everywhere - an inside look at Ronan on tour and his hectic schedule. I`d quite like his chef to cook for me sometime.
Song selection-select your favourite from three pages of songs
Weblink to Ronan`s website

Conclusion

This disc is purely for the already confirmed fan especially if they have been to one of the shows. Every fan will want this in her stocking. It shows that the live show is a quality production with a lot of time and effort to pull it all together but it does not really do any more than a cd would. The mood is buoyant and the man himself seems to have loads of energy and goodwill. This lad can belt out a tune no problem and the disc is nicely put together.

However if you are interested in the music rather than the concert atmosphere then choose the cd instead. The additional visuals do not add anything to the music unless you want to gaze at Ronan for an hour…what do you mean, what music?