Dead End Drive-In: Now Showing – Motörhead – ‘Stage Fright’ Blu-ray
Written by Gaz E
Sunday, 07 December 2014 03:00
Motörhead – ‘Stage Fright’ Blu-ray (Steamhammer/SPV)
I remain the only person in my inner circle of acquaintances to have a collection of the now-defunct HD-DVD format, the last decade loser to Blu-ray in the Beta vs VHS-style gunfight at the Hi-Def corral.
Seeing discs priced as low as 49p I took a punt on a player – £20, still boxed – and have been revelling in Hi-Def on a budget ever since, my Blu-ray collection taking a back seat.
Some HD-DVDs still command a much higher price, though – generally titles that have yet to see release on Blu-ray. One such disc was ‘Stage Fright’ by Motörhead which also had the added bonus of being part music collectable – this was, I believe, the world’s first high definition music disc. It’s all change now, however, as the title – first released on double DVD in 2005 – gets the Blu treatment via a timely re-release from Steamhammer / SPV.
Recorded at the Phillipshalle in Düsseldorf on December 7th, 2004 ‘Stage Fright’ was made to be seen like this: no, really – under the direction of Sven Offen, the show was filmed using 23 high definition cameras, the director (famous for his work with Rammstein) also designing the show’s impressive light design. The results, captured here in some style, should not disappoint.
I’ve always felt, and this might upset audio purists, that my HD-DVDs overpowered my Blu-rays in regards to sound – there always seems to be a bombastic quality to the former – but this reissue is LOUD! Yes, I know it’s Motörhead, but I was cat-like in agility as I grabbed for the remote control on my first viewing of this, post-midnight.
The concert footage itself positively sparkles, the only damp squibs the attempts by Offen to get “The Matrix Effect” by way of eight cameras stage front. It’s a distraction at times and, sticking out like a sore thumb, adds nothing to a concert film that looks and sounds excellent.
The tour was in support of Motörhead’s seventeenth album, ‘Inferno’, and saw the band mix up their oft-identikit setlist in pretty dramatic fashion, Messrs Kilmister, Campbell and Dee swapping seven songs in and out of the set. ‘Killers’ and ‘In the Name Of Tragedy’ appear from the then new album, with a couple of songs from 1983’s ‘Another Perfect Day’, which Lemmy describes as the band’s least popular record at every available opportunity, also making the cut, those being ‘I Got Mine’ and ‘Dancing On Your Grave’.
Opener ‘Dr. Rock’ paves the way for a set of songs that are vicious at times – ‘Over The Top’ especially – with the audience members’ only real chance to catch their collective breath offered during some pretty ridiculous between-song banter, Phil Campbell proving that you can still be a rock star even if you sound like you come from Pontypandy.
Lemmy states that ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S.’ was about to be dropped from the set until “another one died”, the song that follows his claim as frenetic as expected, yet nowhere near the pummelling offered by the one-two of ‘Going To Brazil’ and ‘Killed By Death’.
Following a set closing ‘Iron Fist’, the band returns for a “surprise” acoustic run-through of ‘Whorehouse Blues’, with Dee accompanying Campbell on guitar, Lemmy breaking out the harmonica to fist-pumping effect. ‘Overkill’ and ‘Ace of Spades’ see the show through to its conclusion, the twenty-track set a pretty breathless affair.
Is it worth double-dipping if you already have the DVD, I hear you ask? Well, I’m guessing that the Hi-Def transfer will disappoint only the least forgiving, the audio – an auditory canal-busting DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 mix the format of choice – louder than everything else.
You also get the complete extras package without the inconvenience of having to get up off your fat arse to switch discs.
Of those extras, the ‘We Are The Road Crew’ mini-doc is a must-see: 47 minutes of pretty much everything that goes on behind the scenes of a Motörhead tour – fucking about and all. There’s also a ‘Making Of’ featurette with dialogue in German, a dedicated fan section, an “L.A. Special” which features the band members schmoozing with the likes of Bob Kulick, Ronnie James Dio, Dave Grohl (I’m sure I’ve seen him on something before), Kerry King, Carmine Appice, Chris Jericho, Triple H and the legendary Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor, with additional testimonials from the likes of The Cult’s Billy Duffy, Faster Pussycat’s Taime Downe and Murderdolls’ Eric Griffin. The addition of the band’s rider put to music is also a fine curio, of special interest to those who have ever attempted to promote a gig.
With the additional Picture-In-Picture video commentary, the complete running time of everything included on this Blu-ray is a whopping 245 minutes. On a Region Free disc too. If you’re still not tempted then, yeah, you’ve got No Class…..
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To pick up your copy of ‘Motorhead -Stage Fright’ on Blu-ray – CLICK HERE
