Review of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons In Concert

Introduction

This is a gig recording done the way gig recordings should be done. A nice, simple presentation and top-notch sound.

Pop legends Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were American contemporaries of the Beatles. The band, which had its roots in "The Variety Trio" formed in 1949, enjoyed their greatest fame during the 1960s. In 1990, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Best known for standards such as "Walk Like A Man" and "Silence Is Golden" (included on the disc), Valli`s signature falsetto predated the hypersonic warblings of the BeeGees.

Made in 1992 at the Atlantic City concert during that year`s tour, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons evoke their original recordings. It`s always refreshing when a performer delivers what the audience expects rather than adding needless embellishments (possibly to sustain their own interest in material they could sleepwalk through). You can see in this concert that Valli is a performer thoroughly enjoying himself, and the audience enjoys his performance all the more for it.

Video

Presented in standard 1.33:1, the quality of the video recording is satisfactory. The lighting of the venue is sympathetic to the video coverage (no flares of blinding colour, although the lead guitar sports a scary-looking mullet).

Audio

Coming in a plain vanilla DD2.0 Stereo and a genuinely impressive Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix that puts you squarely in among the Atlantic City audience, the disc presents 21 tracks including the theme from "Grease", Cole Porter hit "I`ve Got You Under My Skin" and one of Valli`s signature songs "Big Girls Don`t Cry". Curiously, although the disc is in English and carries no additional language tracks, the soundtracks are flagged as "German".

Features

There are no subtitles carried, and supplemental material is restricted to a series of freeze-frame "stills" lifted from the video. The concert can either be watched as a straight feature, or individual tracks can be accessed from the "song list".

Conclusion

A very enjoyable 76 minutes for anyone`s money but especially nice for anyone into the "Grease" era.