AC/DC - Live at River Plate (2009) Blu-Ray Remux

It doesn't matter if you love AC/DC or hate them. It doesn't matter if you think Angus Young's bizarre schoolboy costume makes him a fashion victim or a major style icon. It doesn't matter if you think Brian Johnson is one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time or simply Rod Stewart-lite. Whatever your personal opinion about all of these pressing international issues may be, you might want to check out AC/DC Live at River Plate if only for one completely irrelevant, tangential item. Buenos Aires' gargantuan Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, otherwise known as the River Plate Stadium, hosted a three night event over the first two weeks of December, 2009, that saw AC/DC perform nine sold out concerts to a thronging mass of humanity. And here's where your opinion for good or ill toward AC/DC probably won't matter, at least if you're interested in seeing one of the most incredibly odd and somehow wonderful sights in recent rock concert history. As documented on this new Live at River Plate Blu-ray, thousands—probably tens of thousands—fans begin jumping and swaying in unison as AC/DC takes the stage, and this small city of humanity continues to do so over the next two-plus hours, giving modern viewers about the closest imaginable approximation to a 21st century version of St. Vitus' Dance. Sydenham's chorea, the movement disorder's more medically accurate name, actually consists of less ordered motion than what is on display throughout this concert, but the incredible mass jumping, jerking, head thrashing and other gesturing really must be seen to be believed (especially when you add in the fact that the vast majority of these folks are wearing bright red illuminated devil's horns). But of course that teeming assemblage of humanity is dancing (let's be charitable) to something, and that's where the real interest in this new release will lie. And the good news is that for the most part AC/DC is at the top of their game, despite the onslaught of the ravages of time which is assaulting Rock Gods of all stripes as they begin their inevitable march well into the ranks of Senior Citizendom. AC/DC has been one of the longer-lived hard rock bands of the past few decades, and its longevity is even more remarkable when one considers the personal struggles several members have had, at least one member's death, "internecine warfare" that broke out from time to time, and probably most importantly, at least in this consumer driven era in which we all live, the band's long period out in the desert of increasingly small album sales. The last few years have seen a renaissance in the band's popularity. After a long hiatus, the band returned with their first studio album in years, Black Ice, an album which debuted at the top of the charts and evidently is Columbia's biggest seller since the advent of the Soundscan era. The Buenos Aires concert was in fact part of the band's multi-year, continent and country spanning Black Ice Tour, which only came to a close as relatively recently as June 2010. The band comes out swinging, and rarely lets up for the next two hours, delivering a blistering evening's set that includes tunes off of Black Ice as well as several hits which have become rock anthems through the years. The Young Brothers, now well into their 50s, show little signs of slowing down. If Angus is perhaps a little frightening to see in his schoolboy getup now that he's eligible for AARP (or whatever the Australian version is), his guitar playing is still incredibly precise and full of fire and brimstone. I've frankly never been a huge fan of Brian Johnson, but when one takes into account that the band's lead vocalist is now well into his 60s, it's easier to cut him some slack, though listening to two hours of his raspy quasi-singing can grate after a while, at least to all but his most ardent fans. The best aspect to this concert is the fact that although the set list isn't all that long, the concert itself lasts for well over two hours, which means we get some nicely expanded versions of several songs. While these proto-jam sessions may not be of Phish caliber (or length), they show the band eschewing simple recreations of their studio versions and attempting at least to stretch out with some more exploratory renditions. Some viewers may tire of the directorial bells and whistles slathered on this release, which include the typical refusal to show any shot for longer than a few seconds, as well as a lot of split screen segments that offer differing perspectives on the players and the manically twitching and jumping audience. AC/DC's set list is comprised of: Rock n Roll Train Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be Back in Black Big Jack Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Shot Down in Flames Thunderstruck Black Ice The Jack Hells Bells Shoot to Thrill War Machine Dog Eat Dog You Shook Me All Night Long T.N.T. Whole Lotta Rosie Let There Be Rock Highway to Hell For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) Despite being filmed in HD with a battery of Red cameras, a lot of AC/DC Live at River Plate's AVC encoded 1080p image (in 1.78:1) tends to be on the soft side, courtesy of an equal battery of very aggressive lighting schemes that bathe the Youngs and the rest of the band in garish blues and reds. This glaring ambience suffuses a lot of the stage shenanigans with light halos and a soft focus ambience, at least at times. Compounding this issue is the directorial decision to use a lot (as in a lot) of quick cut editing techniques, as well as manifold split screens, so that when we do get at least a moment or two of sharp, well lit imagery, it's typically only on screen for a second or two at most. While there's nothing here that's going to outright anger videophiles, there's also an overall sharpness lacking that separates this release from some of the other excellent live concert Blu-rays which Sony/Columbia has released. Much of this discrepancy might be attributed to the filming conditions. After all, it's harder to control quality in an outdoor venue like River Plate than it is in the confines of a Las Vegas showroom (as in one of Beyonce's releases). The good news here is colors are quite robust, if you can get past the blooming and even posterizing effects that some of the lighting schemes create. And close-ups do reveal adequate, if not overwhelming, fine detail. Contrast is strong, if not brilliantly differentiated, though black levels are a bit inconsistent at times. While this release sports two lossless tracks and one Dolby, there are some niggling issues to discuss that keep this from reaching reference quality audio scores. Two LPCM tracks are provided, a 2.0 and a 5.1, both 48kHz/24-bit, and while fidelity is strong in both of these, the 5.1 track is simply too diffuse and widely channeled. This sounds to me like a mixdown issue, where the disc's audio producers probably wanted as wide a soundstage as possible in order to recreate the mammoth atmosphere of River Plate. What this actually ends up doing, though, is burying Johnson's rasp in a sea of audience roars. To be fair, there are obvious mix choices made here, including the audience being amped up deliberately in the opening moments of the concert. Once the band actually starts playing, things are decidedly better, though I kept wishing everything were simply mixed better. All of this said, there's a thumpingly robust low end throughout all of these songs, and a crystal clear quality to the band's contributions, if not to Johnson's scratchy vocals. I ended up opting for the LPCM 2.0 mix, which is decidedly more focused and which, to my ears anyway, properly mixes Johnson's lead vocals so that they're more easily heard. And despite the narrower soundfield, the 2.0 mix seems to get the listener closer to the band, which is really what these lossless audio options should be all about. It's fairly pointless to talk about dynamic range with regard to an AC/DC live performance. The boys come out (head)banging, and they simply don't relent for the next two hours. Both of the uncompressed tracks support this blistering approach with ease.