Carly Simon - Live from Martha's Vineyard: The Classic Concert Review

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(More customer reviews)Pop singer Carly Simon has rarely performed a "Live" concert, which makes this DVD version of her 1987 live concert from Martha's Vineyard (which originally aired as a special on HBO) all the more a collector's item. The concert on this DVD represented her first live performance since 1980, and is one of a mere three concerts by the smooth-sounding singer ever to be captured on film.
This concert was filmed on June 9, 1987, which turned out (after some rain earlier that day) to be a beautiful Tuesday afternoon/early evening. Pretty Massachusetts seafront scenery complements the proceedings nicely. Carly's "Live" audience this day seems to be a rather small one, which allows for a more natural, relaxed, and "homey" feel to the performance.
The previous VHS version was pretty good too....for VHS videotape. But it's really nice to be able to upgrade this great Martha's Vineyard outing to the improved DVD format. This Digital version looks pretty darn good to me. It's not perfect, but definitely an improvement over the VHS version. Not having to deal with annoying VHS "tracking" difficulties, and being able to directly access each song via chapter selections, make the DVD version of this concert the ultimate video format of choice.
In the parlance of DVD-Video terminology, the picture quality here might be deemed as being slightly on the "soft" side. And there's still quite a bit of grain evident. It could definitely have been a bit sharper in places, but it still looks fine to my eyes. And the colors look very "warm" and natural.
Audio .... There's a new re-mixed Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack here. Sounds fantastic! There's a second audio track included also -- an "enhanced" Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track, which ain't half bad either. Both audio tracks are quite full and robust.
There's a convenient chapter stop for each of the concert's 13 songs, so you can go straight to your favorite Carly tune. And there are many "favorites" here (as far as I'm concerned). About the ONLY thing that would have made this exemplary concert (and DVD) any better would have been if Carly had also performed "Haven't Got Time For The Pain", which isn't included in this concert's roster of hits. But, even without that great 1974 ditty, the song selection is superb.
Here is a listing of songs contained on the DVD, in order of appearance (total running time for the concert = 59:45):
1. Give Me All Night
2. Anticipation
3. You Have To Hurt
4. You're So Vain
5. Do The Walls Come Down
6. Two Hot Girls
7. It Happens Every Day
8. Nobody Does It Better
9. All I Want Is You
10. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
11. You Belong To Me
12. Coming Around Again / Itsy Bitsy Spider
13. Never Been Gone
Menus .... The menu system on this DVD is a silent and static one, with no lengthy (or animated) transitions between sub-menus. (Kudos to this type of menu design!) Several good pictures of Carly are seen on the various sub-menus.
A nice batch of Special Features adorn this first-rate DVD as well. Let's have a look.......
>> A new interview with Carly, filmed in January 2004, which was created just for this DVD release. It's a very interesting and informative bonus, as Carly reflects back on the "Vineyard" concert. The interview is presented in three separate segments, with a total running time for all segments amounting to 20 minutes and 10 seconds. The individual sections of the interview are entitled "The Concert", "The Songs", and "The Band" -- with segment #2 ("The Songs") lasting the longest, at 9:23. We see lots of bonus concert footage throughout this twenty-minute interview, most of which was taken from a second day of filming on Martha's Vineyard. None of this second day's worth of filming actually made it into the final televised concert version. This is a very nice and well-done bonus feature!
>> "Carly's Scrapbook" (Photo Gallery) -- I love a good photo gallery on DVDs. And this one is quite nice indeed, featuring (as stated in the disc's official press info) many "rare photographs from Carly's personal archives". This well-crafted gallery runs for 2:35 with no user intervention required. The gallery CAN, however, be paused for longer looks at any image. Thankfully, the "pause" button has not been disabled here. This is a very interesting collection of Carly photos, displayed while Carly's 1992 ditty, "Back The Way", plays in the background. Within this gallery, we see Carly alongside some other big-name stars in the world of music, such as Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and others. There's even a photo featuring Carly with that great sax player, William Jefferson Clinton. Yes, the former President himself must also be a Carly Simon fan. :)
>> A Carly Simon "Discography" -- This text feature utilizes multiple screens to paint a word picture of the long career of the dynamic songstress.
>> Bonus Track: "The Right Thing To Do" (length -- 2:55). This extra song can only be accessed through the "Special Features" menu on the DVD.
>> English subtitles for all songs. On-screen subtitles are also included for all of Carly's between-songs dialogue, as she briefly addresses the audience occasionally during the concert.
One special bonus that didn't end up making it to the DVD is a 2003 performance by Carly of "Let The River Run". When the DVD was initially being planned, this extra song was expected to be included. But evidently there was a snag, and the tune was left off the disc. But even without it, this DVD amounts to a thoroughly pleasant sonic (and visual) music experience.
Any Carly Simon admirer with a DVD Player who does not yet have this terrific disc should add it to the "To-Get" list asap! The angst brought on by not having this DVD on the shelf just might cause serious physical side effects. :-)

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One of the truly original, trailblazing female singer/songwriters of all-time. Carly Simon "Live From Martha's Vineyard" -The Classic Concert captures a true musical icon performing some of her best-loved hits live on stage in a rare and extraordinary performance.Includes the hits You're So Vain, Nobody Does It Better, The Right Thing To Do, Anticipation, You Belong To Me, Coming Around Again and a new version of her Academy Award winning song Let The River Run.