Review of Steeleye Span: 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004

Introduction

Shamelessly borrowed from The Fast Show....

Bob Fleming`s Country Favourites

Hullo there, Bob Fleming here. Ahem. Excuse me. To tell you about my new cough, cough, cough, cough, my new cough, cough, cough, cough, my CD. Featuring some of your best loved folk, cough, cough, folk,cough, cough, folk, cough, folkin` classics. Sung by some of your favourite cough, cough, cough, cough, folk, cough, folk folkin` folk singers.

If you remember that sketch from The Fast Show, and you`ve neved heard of Steeleye Span, then you now know what to expect. If you`re a fan then apologies, but they`re really not my cup of tea, and that was the best way I could find of summing them up.

For all you fans, these are the songs contained here, recorded live in Tewkesbury. The members of the band were Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Ken Nicol and Liam Genockey. This is apparently "mark 16" of the band.

King Henry
Padstow
Prince Charlie Stuart
Four Nights Drunk
Who Told the Butcher?
Mantle of Green
Long Lankin
Samain
Tam Lin
Let Her Go Down
Liam`s Drum Solo
Drink Down the Moon
Si Begh Si Mohr
Betsy Bell and Mary Gray
They Called Her Babylon
The Blackleg Miner
Sir James the Rose
Van Diemen`s Land

Video

A wild and crazy non-anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer, which is kind of like watching a widescreen programme on analogue television, with the little black bars top and bottom (technically that`s 1.56:1). It`s not the greatest of transfers in the world, a bit wishy washy and soft in places, and it also begs the question "why bother with something approaching widescreen if you`re not going anamorphic"? Why not just stop at 4:3, or go the whole way and do anamorphic widescreen.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack, which is not the greatest in the world either. I know that this is only folk music, but the simplicity of it could be rendered beautifully on DVD, giving a wonderful all round sound experience. Think back to Hell Freezes Over by The Eagles. Lots of guitars and bass and drums, perfectly mixed and probably still the reference music DVD. With care and attention this could have been the same, but it just sounds too fake and forced.

Features

A few minutes of interview footage, and two encore songs recorded at a different venue.

Conclusion

I don`t really like folk, I don`t really like Steeleye Span. Having listened to this DVD I`m not converted. It`s dull, it`s boring, and the audio and video presentation haven`t done it any favours. If you`re a fan of the band and you want to check this DVD out, then the DD5.1 sound mix is ok, but you might be better sticking with your original LPs and tapes until a better DVD comes along that`s been lovingly crafted. This one needed more care and attention.