Courtesy: MVD Entertainment Group
Mig Music will release a new pair of archived concerts from the famed rockabilly band Stray Cats tomorrow in the form of Stray Cats: Live at Rockpalast. The concerts, taken from two of the band’s Rockpalast concerts (its 1981 show in Cologne, Germany and its 1983 show at Loreley Open Air), will be available both as a single-disc DVD and a triple-disc DVD/2CD combo pack presentation. Their release this week will mark the first time that they have ever been released to the public. It will also mark the first time ever that they have been released together. That being the case, these concerts are a good fit for anyone that grew up a fan of Bryan Setzer both today and in his youth. There is plenty for fans to enjoy about this ne wpairing of concerts beginning with its dual packaging. The shows will be presented both on a single-disc DVD and on a triple-disc DVD/2-CD combo pack. That dual packaging lies at the center of the recordings’ success. It is just one part of what makes the new release worth the watch and/or listen, too. The presentation of two separate shows with two separate yet similar set lists adds even more interest to the recording. Last but hardly least worth noting of Mig Music’s new Live at Rockpalast concerts are the collective production values incorporated into both concerts. The concerts are presented on each platform exactly as they were presented in their original recordings. That presentation goes to show how far recording technology has come over the course of the past four decades-plus. At the same time, the fact that both shows look and sound as good as they do even with lesser recording technology is a statement to the recording technology of the day. The footage has obviously stood the test of time quite well. Being that it has, it makes both concerts that much easier to see and hear, and in turn enjoy that much more. In being able to enjoy both concerts, audiences will agree that regardless of which platform one chooses (the DVD or DVD/2CD platform), both presentations are equally enjoyable for anyone that is a Stray Cats fan and show once again to be well worth the addition to their home collection.
Courtesy: MVD Entertainment Group/MIG Music
Mig Music’s new Stray Cats live recording Live at Rockpalast is a welcome addition to any Stray Cats fan’s home collection. It shows this primarily through its dual platform packaging. It would have been so easy for the people at Mig Music to take the route taken by so many other labels and present the one of the included concerts on one platform and the other on another (E.g. Cologne 1981 on DVD and 1983 Loreley Open Air on DVD/2-CD or vice versa). This is a route that is all too often taken by American record labels. And it is annoying to say the least as it robs audiences of a full concert experience. Luckily for Stray Cats fans, Mig Music didn’t take that route. Rather it provided fans with both shows not only on a single-disc DVD platform but also on a DVD/2-CD combo pack for true hardcore fans. While the triple-disc platform might cost a little more it still is worth the money shelled out for said fans. In the same vein, having both concerts on a standalone DVD is just as worth the money for those that are perhaps not as hardcore as others in their fandom. It still gives those fans the same two concerts as those presented to the band’s more hardcore fans. It’s just the beginning of what fans will appreciate about this new release. The fact that the set lists are presented in exactly the same order on both platforms makes them even more worth the purchase by fans of every level.
The presentation of Stray Cats’ 1981 and 1983 Rockpalast shows on two separate platforms lies at the center of the recordings’ enjoyment and success. Regardless of audiences’ fandom, it gives every fan the same two concerts only on different platforms. It is only one part of what audiences will appreciate about these soon to be released recordings. While it may seem minor on the surface, the fact that the set lists for each show are presented in the same order regardless of platform is important in its own right. Far too often, it is taken for granted that when record companies release live recordings across multiple platforms, said recordings will be presented in the exact same order. The reality is that there are those labels that for one reason or another change up the set lists of those recordings from one platform to another. This critic in particular has seen that happen more times than can be recalled. So for Stray Cats fans to get the same concerts in the same order on two separate platforms says a lot for the efforts of those at Mig Music. It shows that their aim really was to give fans the fullest experience possible at the best possible prices. Considering this, both the DVD and DVD/2-CD presentation of Live at Rockpalast become all the more of a welcome addition to any Stray Cats fan’s library. The positives still don’t end here. Having examined the extrensic values of Live at Rockpalast, all that is left to examine here are the concerts’ collective production values.
The collective production values of both Rockpalast shows presented here are noteable in their own right in the concerts’ enjoyment. What audiences get in both concerts in terms of their production values are two shows that look like they were lifted directly from the concerts’ masters and sound like it, too. The immediate thought here that most might have is that that is not a good thing. After all the recording of the Cologne, Germany show is thirty-four years old. The second of the shows is thirty-two years old. Despite this both shows sound surprisingly impressive in themselves. The video mix is just as surprisingly impressive. Neither concert looks like it has been touched since having been originally recorded more than three decades ago. Yet neither concert looks that bad, either. It just goes to show on one hand how far recording tech has come since the days of these concerts. At the same time, it goes to show the surprisingly impressive quality of recording tech alll those years ago. The audio and video set alongside each other, they prove in the long run to be quite impressive even despite the tech available to record the concerts presented here. They round out the ways in which Live at Rockpalast proves itself a welcome addition to any Stray Cats fan’s home music library. Together with the presentation of the concerts’ set lists and their availability in multiple platforms, the concerts that make up Live at Rockpalast prove to make it one more candidate for a spot on any critic’s list of the year’s best new live recordings.
Whether it be for the availability of its concerts on multiple platforms, the equal presentation of the concerts’ set lists, or for the surprisingly impressive production values of both shows, Stray Cats fans have plenty to like about the band’s new concert recordings. All things considered, Live at Rockpalast proves itself in whole to be one more candidate for a spot on any critic’s list of the year’s best new live recordings. The complete listing for both the DVD and DVD/2CD presentation of Stray Cats Live at Rockpalast is included below.
TRACKLISTINGS
DVD
Loreley, August 20th 1983:
1. Baby Blue Eyes 03:41
2. Double Talkin’ Baby 03:37
3. Rumble In Brighton 04:11
4. Drink That Bottle Down 05:26
5. Something Is Wrong With My Radio 02:39
6. Built For Speed 06:30
7. Look At That Cadillac 04:25
8. Runaway Boy 03:46
9. Lonely Summer Nights 04:22
10. Too Hip, Gotta Go 02:39
11. Stray Cats Strut 05:42
12. She’s Sexy And 17 04:40
13. Banjo Time (Foggy Mountain Breakdown) 02:16
14. The Race Is On 02:14
15. Tear It Up 04:03
16. Oh Boy 03:03
17. Rock This Town 06:50
Cologne, July.16th 1981
1. Sweet Love On My Mind 03:58
2. Double Talkin’ Baby 03:37
3. Rumble In Brighton 03:34
4. My One Desire 04:38
5. Ubangi Stomp 04:16
6. Drink That Bottle Down 05:34
7. Storm The Embassy 05:05
8. Stray Cats Strut 04:09
9. Fishnet Stockings 02:48
10. Important Words 04:32
11. Rock This Town 08:28
12. Runaway Boy 04:40
13. Sometin’ Else 04:45
14. Gonna Ball 04:14
CD 1, Loreley, August 20th 1983:
1. Baby Blue Eyes 03:41
2. Double Talkin’ Baby 03:37
3. Rumble In Brighton 04:11
4. Drink That Bottle Down 05:26
5. Something Is Wrong With My Radio 02:39
6. Built For Speed 06:30
7. Look At That Cadillac 04:25
8. Runaway Boy 03:46
9. Lonely Summer Nights 04:22
10. Too Hip, Gotta Go 02:39
11. Stray Cats Strut 05:42
12. She’s Sexy And 17 04:40
13. Banjo Time (Foggy Mountain Breakdown) 02:16
14. The Race Is On 02:14
15. Tear It Up 04:03
16. Oh Boy 03:03
17. Rock This Town 06:50
CD 1 total run time: 70:33
CD 2, Cologne, July.16th 1981
1. Sweet Love On My Mind 03:58
2. Double Talkin’ Baby 03:37
3. Rumble In Brighton 03:34
4. My One Desire 04:38
5. Ubangi Stomp 04:16
6. Drink That Bottle Down 05:34
7. Storm The Embassy 05:05
8. Stray Cats Strut 04:09
9. Fishnet Stockings 02:48
10. Important Words 04:32
11. Rock This Town 08:28
12. Runaway Boy 04:40
13. Sometin’ Else 04:45
14. Gonna Ball 04:14
CD 2 total run time: 64:27
More information on this and other titles from Mig Music is available online now at:
Website: http://www.mig-music.de
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/migmusic.de
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