Courtesy: Eagle Rock Entertainment
2014 has proven to be a good year for the rock and metal communities. New releases from the likes of Nonpoint, Linkin Park, Slipknot and others have highlighted the year’s mass of new studio releases. While the year has proven quite fruitful for new studio releases across the rock and metal communities, it has proven to be just as positive in the way of live recordings. And as in previous years, Eagle Rock Entertainment has led the pack right from the year’s start up to this point in the realm of live recordings. Live recordings from Elton John, Deep Purple, Queen, Sepultura, and so many others proved this year why Eagle Rock remains at this point the leader in live recordings. Even with only one month left in the year after this month, the people at Eagle Rock are not sitting easily on their laurels. The company released this week the first in a new series of archived concerts from The Rolling Stones. From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981 hit store shelves and online outlets this week. The newly released archived concert was released this Tuesday, November 4th alongside another new release from Eagle Rock Entertainment, Eric Clapton: Planes, Trains, and Eric. This latest recording is another good addition to the collection of any Rolling Stones fan. One reason that audiences will enjoy this recording is the show’s set list. The show itself was recorded in late 1981. But its set list reaches all the way back to the band’s earliest days. It’s definitely something that audiences will appreciate about this recording. Audiences will also appreciate the recording’s audio and video mix. This is the case whether they purchase the SD Blu-ray or the concert’s 2CD/DVD set. Last but hardly least of all is the companion booklet that is included with the 2CD/DVD combo pack. It offers extra insight into the audio and video mix, the set list and much more. A close look at the booklet proves it to be more an extension of the concert itself than another extra tossed in just to be there. All three factors taken into consideration together who why From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981 is another welcome addition to any Rolling Stones fan’s library. They also collectively prove once again just why Eagle Rock continues even in the closing months of yet another year, to hold the mantle of the leader in live recordings.
Eagle Rock’s brand new release of From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981 is not the first time that audiences have gotten to see this concert. They were offered a small glimpse into this concert in Eagle Rock’s 2012 release of the Stones’ archived 1981 concert with Muddy Waters in Chicago. Eagle Rock offered up three songs from this concert as a bonus to compliment the primary performance at the Checkberboard Lounge. Again, that was only a glimpse into the band’s set. This concert offers the complete two and a half hour performance by the band at the Hampton Arena in Hampton, Virginia. The set list pulls both from what was the band’s latest album at the time in Tattoo You and from the band’s earlier days. It includes hits such as: ‘Shattered,’ ‘Miss You,’ ‘Start Me Up,’ ‘Tumbling Dice’ and plenty of other fan favorites. The songs themselves present a nice, wide swath of the band’s catalogue at the time. Even more interesting to note is the manner in which the 150-minute concert’s set list was arranged. The first half of the concert presents the band’s softer, more reserved side. The second half–fittingly on the combo pack’s second disc–presents a much higher energy band. Whether or not this arrangement of songs was intentional is anyone’s guess. But it makes for an interesting concert nonetheless. Staying on the topic of the show’s set list, audiences that pick up the 2CD/DVD combo pack will also appreciate that the set list is arranged in exactly the same order both on the CDs and on the DVD. To some this might seem like a minor detail. But those that have any familiarity with live recordings will attest to the fact that many times, record labels will re-arrange the set list between the audio and video sides if said concert(s) is/are available on DVD or Blu-ray and CD. The logc behind this is anybody’s guess. But it’s good to see that Eagle Rock Entertainment didn’t take that route in this case. It’s just one more reason that Eagle Rock more than deservedly continues to maintain the matle of the leader in live recordings to this day. It is also one more reason that this recording in particular proves to be another welcome addition to any Rolling Stones fan’s library.
The set list that makes up From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981 offers plenty of reason for the band’s fans to smile while they take in this recording. Just as important to the presentation in whole is the show’s overall audio and video mix. Audiences that take the time to read through the concert’s companion booklet will note Richard Havers’ note regardign Bob Clearmounting heading up the concert’s recording. Havers’ also makes mention of Clearmountain recording the drums for the album version of ‘Start Me Up’ by placing a mic next to a speaker in one of the bathrooms at the Power Station studio in New York City. It’s a light hearted recollection about the recording and why such an original process would help Clearmountain to head up this recording. More on that and other topics in the booklet will be discussed later. For now, audiences will appreciate Clearmountain’s work in recording this concert. That’s especially the case considering the sheer size of the Hampton Coliseum. Thanks to the size of the coliseum, Clearmountain had his work cut out for him in terms of balancing all of the levels. Co-directors Hal Ashby and Tom Trbovich had their own challenges as the band’s stage set-up inside the coliseum gave the band plenty of room to move around. The end result is expert work on the part of both men. The shots that they get along with their camera operators make the concert all the more enjoyable. And that coupled with the show’s set list makes From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981 that much more of a must for any Rolling Stones fan.
The set list that makes up From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981’s two and a half hour concert is a central aspect to the enjoyment of the concert. Its collective audio and video mix is just as important to the whole. Rounding out thewhole package is the concert’s companion booklet. It has already been mentioned that Richard Havers, who wrote the liner notes for the concert’s companion booklet, included a light-hearted story about how Bob Clearmountain recorded the drums for one of the Stones’ greatest hits. There is also insight regarding the stage setup, the incorpoation of artwork by Japanese artist Kazuhide Yamazaki. Havers makes note of Yamazaki being so far ahead of his time in terms of his style of painting. He mentions how that talent led to the band using his artwork for their show. There is also a rather in-depth re-telling of the night’s events. From the band’s entrance to its wild finish in which a much too rabid fan managed to get on stage and was promptly taken down thanks to a swift swing of the guitar by Keith Richards. That moment alone makes for plenty of laughs. And seeing it on DVD (or SD Blu-ray) makes it even more of an unbelievable moment. These insights and so much more included in the concert’s companion booklet show just why it is just as important to the whole presentation as the concert itself and the concert’s production values. It’s another example of why people should give more credence to any album and recording’s companion booklet. Audiences that give a booklet such as this more time will be amazed at just how much extra enjoyment they can add to the listening experience. It’s one more addition in the argument against digital downloading. People that download music don’t get that extra “oomph.” Together with the set list and the production values, theconcert presentation in whole proves, too why audiences should consider buying CDs rather than downloading. They prove collectively, too why this brand new recording is one more welcome addition to any Rolling Stones fan’s library and why Eagle Rock Entertainment remains to this day the leader in live recordings.
From The Vault—The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum Live in 1981 is available now in multiple formats. More information on this and other recordings from Eagle Rock Entertainment is available online at:
Website: http://www.eagle-rock.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EagleRockEnt
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