I’m a big fan of Blu-ray live concerts because they bring me closer to the artists I love at their craft and sound better than any other source available today. These are some examples of rock tracks from my favorite shows on YouTube at 24/48K res, the music jumps out of your speakers in high res. The sound of a Blu-ray is the native LPCM 24/96K Hi Res Audio, a one to one copy of the original master recording, protected by HDMI with HDCP. It requires a decryption key to hear it, that’s why I sell HDMI DACs, to unlock the best soundtracks in audio history without the need for a Dolby or DTS decoder. PCM is the standard language of digital devices and nobody earns any royalties off of it.
The phrase “high fidelity” means true to the original recording with the same bandwidth and dynamic range. Blu-ray soundtracks are one to one identical copies of the original master recording, uncompressed. A CD can only store 700 Mb of data so there’s no room for the full dynamic range of the original. The Blu-ray disc can store 50 Gb of data, more than enough for the original master recording but with room left over for the high definition video in native 1080p which can upscaled to 4K by your 4K TVs upscaling. Its a sublime sonic and visual experience, the cameras putting us on stage with the artists, with more emotional intimacy than ever before. In many ways it exceeds the live performance, an art-form in and of itself.
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Pink Floyd Delicate Sound of Thunder Live from the Nassau Coliseum in 1987, restored from the original 35mm film up to 1080p Blu-ray video with an astonishing soundtrack via DTS Master HD. “Learning to Fly ” at the zenith of their career as a band 34 years ago.
Bryan Ferry Band “Slave To Love” from Live in Lyon on Blu-ray, filmed in a 2000 year old Roman Amphitheater, with a blistering performance by Oliver Thompson on lead guitar. The whole show is superb. I cant imagine living without it.
Led Zeppelin Celebration Day Live at 02 Arena in 2007 playing “No Quarter” from the album of the same name released in 1973.
Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, from the Concert For George released in 2001, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.
Adele’s Someone Like You recorded for Live at Royal Albert Hall released in 2012 is why this is the best selling Blu-ray concert in history. Rarely does an artist connect so emotionally with her audience.
SADE’s Bing Me Home Concert in 2011 features “No Ordinary Love”. This show is a tour de force of staging, lighting, choreography and her fabuloushttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi2cURoOAYY voice.
Hall & Oates Live at The Troubadour in LA, “Getaway Car” showcases this band in a small nightclub with mostly acoustic instruments and Darryl Hall’s perfect pitch.
INXS Live at Wembley Stadium 1991 in 4K playing “New Sensation” in front of 75K adoring fans. The original film version was upscaled to 4K and the soundtrack is now DTS Master HD. They were the #1 band in the world at the time of this show 29 years ago.
Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Tour in 1994 was in the round and featured Paula Cole and a cast of many great musicians from around the world. “In Your Eye’s” is feast for the senses with great percussion and vocals in hi res on this Blu-ray.
Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Show at Madison Square Garden, “The Ghost of Tom Joad”. Morello founded Rage Against the Machine and makes sounds with his guitar you’ve never heard before. This is damn authentic rock.
The Rolling Stones Havana Moon show was free and attended by 500K Cubans . The scale of the sound and video is immense and stunningly clean and professional, they knew they were going to make a Blu-ray from this show and played like they meant it. I don’t remember seeing Jagger being this good in recent years, his harmonica work on this track will take you back to when they were young. He is in the moment with Keith near the end of the song.