Bad Company: Hard Rock Live Blu-ray

Bad Company: Hard Rock Live

 (2008)

Music



The classic rock event of the year! Live reunion concert from Bad Company, featuring Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs & Simon Kirke performing a one night only sold-out show at The Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on August 8, 2008.

For more details about Bad Company: Hard Rock Live on Blu-ray, see the Bad Company: Hard Rock Live Blu-ray Review

Directors: Anthony Pagano, Rudi Dolezal

Bad Company: Hard Rock Live Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Bad Company: Hard Rock Live was shot natively on high definition video, and while the image doesn’t look bad, per se, the disc’s 1080i/AVC-encoded transfer is certainly not the prettiest concert experience available on Blu-ray. Most noticeable is the rampant noisiness of the image. Digital artifacts buzz heavily over everything and occasional macroblocking can be noticed in the fog and black backgrounds. You’ll even see some slight banding in the color gradients of the big washes of stage lighting. The fog really doesn’t help, as it gives the image a hazy, indistinct quality and robs the picture of contrast. Clarity varies throughout; there are some finely detailed close-ups as well as more than a few soft and muddy shots. When the image is crisp, it sometimes looks overly edgy, with fringing evident on hard lines, like the outline of Paul Rodgers’ microphone. Colors also vacillate, with bold splashes of lighting but pallid skin tones. Black levels often hover in a grayish gloaming, and whites are frequently overheated, blowing out detail. (Someone should have told the band members not to wear white shirts.) Overall, I can’t say I’m too enamored with the picture quality here, but then again, picture quality isn't exactly my first priority when watching a concert Blu-ray.

Do note that since it was nearly impossible to capture clean screenshots in 1080i, all of the screenshots in this review have been captured in 720p and do not represent the disc’s full image quality.

Bad Company: Hard Rock Live Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Thankfully, the concert’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track at least halfway redeems the disc’s A/V presentation. As you might expect, this is a soundboard-centric mix that sounds very “live” and includes a generous but never overwhelming amount of audience participation— cheers, whoops, and sing-a-longs—in the rear channels. If I have one complaint about the track it’s that the bass and drums seem a little low in the mix, which puts more emphasis on the crunchy guitars and Rodgers’ husky vocal delivery. Though the low-end isn’t as potent as it could/should be, the track still carries plenty of weight, and the mid-to-high range is more than adequately detailed. From syrupy, flanger and chorus peddle-heavy solos to overdriven riffs, the guitar work sounds fantastic. And while the volume on the drums does seem marginalized, snare hits are solid and cymbal splashes ring out nicely. The vocals are perfectly prioritized out front, and every nuance of Rodgers’ voice—down to the quietest woah woah woah—is easily heard. Bad Company fans should be pleased.

The disc also includes a Linear PCM 2.0 stereo track, but I’m not as fond of it. Obviously, it sounds “flatter,” and it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough room for the instruments in the front channels. It’s bright and clear, though, so if you don’t have a surround sound set-up, this track certainly won’t do you wrong.

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