The Official Anathema Thread

[Steevo]

Tonight's show in NYC is sold out, and if I'm right, the first show on the tour to sell out. I'm standing in line as I type this and will post a write up afterwards.

 

:)

[PolarizeMe]

Just got back from the Anathema/Alcest show in NYC. I think this is the first concert that I can say has me struggling to find words to say about the show, or at least make a competent/valid remark about it. I might get a lot of s**t for saying this, but if anyone was lucky enough to see Pink Floyd live, that's how I felt when I saw Anathema and Alcest. I posted a more thorough review of the show on the Concerts Review thread if anyone wants to check it out.

 

Some things that I'm gonna say on this thread rather than the concert review thread:

 

They were selling copies of the Universal DVD/BluRay but in the end I decided to purchase the fan edition off of Burning Shed. The two versions they were selling at the merch booth were the BluRay and the CD/DVD version. For those who are considering buying just the CD/DVD version, please note that the CD contains the same content you'd find on the Untouchable vinyl and as a result, is not the full show.

 

Untouchable Part 1 and 2 for some reason were played in a lower key. I found this unusual because the rest of the Weather Systems songs were played in the same key as their studio counterparts.

 

Daniel Cavanagh pointed out that NYC is one of his favorite places in the world.

 

And finally, near the end of the show, Daniel mentioned that at the end of this tour, they're gonna go back in the studio in December to record a follow up album.

[Steevo]

http://youtu.be/HlFFa8NdE_I

 

[Steevo]

 

[Steevo]

I take it no one has Universal yet. My order left a couple of days ago! :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13: :D-13:

[ColdFireYYZ]

I got it at the concert and watched it last night. I'm usually not a big fan of concert DVDs, but this one was fantastic. The orchestra really adds a lot to the live performance and doesn't take away from the band at all. Thin Air and Everything are the two highlights for me...they both sound great and are better than the studio versions IMO. I'm definitely going to watch this one pretty regularly.

[Tony R]

The following items have been sent:

 

1 x Anathema - Universal - Fan's Edition (Blu-ray/DVD-V/2CD preorder)

 

burning shed limited | 8 white lodge, hall road, norwich, nr4 6dg, united kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 767726 | VAT No. 813 5829 24

 

www.burningshed.com

 

 

:D

[PolarizeMe]

The following items have been sent:

 

1 x Anathema - Universal - Fan's Edition (Blu-ray/DVD-V/2CD preorder)

 

burning shed limited | 8 white lodge, hall road, norwich, nr4 6dg, united kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 767726 | VAT No. 813 5829 24

 

www.burningshed.com

 

 

:D

My order was sent a couple of days ago as well. Always a thrill to get an order notification from the Shed in my inbox. Can't wait till it arrives in my post sometime next week!

[Tony R]

The following items have been sent:

 

1 x Anathema - Universal - Fan's Edition (Blu-ray/DVD-V/2CD preorder)

 

burning shed limited | 8 white lodge, hall road, norwich, nr4 6dg, united kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 767726 | VAT No. 813 5829 24

 

www.burningshed.com

 

 

:D

My order was sent a couple of days ago as well. Always a thrill to get an order notification from the Shed in my inbox. Can't wait till it arrives in my post sometime next week!

 

Yep. I'm off work a few days next week hope it arrives in time.

 

[Tony R]

Arrived just now but I'm off to a meeting. Be Monday or Tuesday before I can give it my full attention. :(

[Steevo]

Arrived just now but I'm off to a meeting. Be Monday or Tuesday before I can give it my full attention. :(

 

Still be sooner than me probably.

[PolarizeMe]

Pleasantly surprised to find my copy of Universal in the post today! Pretty fast for Burning Shed standards.

[Tony R]

I really enjoyed the intensity of the performance and there's a fantastic set of songs but my wife found it all too much in one sitting so casual fans might find it a chore. The vocal performances are off the scale and the orchestration is well judged and really compliments the symphonic nature of the newer songs.

Pretty disappointing that the audio on the BluRay is PCM stereo but the picture us fine.

 

Definitely not to everyone's taste though.

[Steevo]

YAY!! Arrived in all its shrinkwrapped glory! :drool: Want to see it all in one sitting so might not be for a few days yet though

[Steevo]

Pleasantly surprised to find my copy of Universal in the post today! Pretty fast for Burning Shed standards.

 

Any thoughts yet?

[Steevo]

Yet another sample...how many is that now, I've lost count

 

http://youtu.be/6oc4HgczbY0

[PolarizeMe]

Pleasantly surprised to find my copy of Universal in the post today! Pretty fast for Burning Shed standards.

 

Any thoughts yet?

I haven't got around watching it yet as I also had the new Dream Theater album arriving in the post the same day as well as a Katatonia show the following day (just got out of that concert actually). I did had time to look at the packaging and it's great. It's almost the same kind of packaging as Steven Wilson's Get All You Deserve mail order edition set. Unfortunately there's no 5.1 which is disappointing for me at least.

[PolarizeMe]

Okay so far, I've only watched the Union Chapel portion which is what I'm going to review here, and while the press said it was a BluRay exclusive, I was surprised to see it's featured in my DVD copy.

 

The acoustic renditions of the songs were fantastic, the highlight for me personally was Angels Walk Among Us. The audio was top notch and the acoustic guitars sounded crystal clear. Of course, there wasn't that many cameras present in this performance so there was no "blink and miss" editing going on which is great cause I loathe that editing technique so much.

 

However, the Union Chapel concert footage is not without its imperfections if you will. Now this is a minor thing and your mileage may vary, but the fade-outs at the end of each songs kinda bothered me in an Exit...Stage Left sort of way...it made it feel fragmented. I kinda hoped they could've tried editing down the show without having to resort to fade outs between songs.

 

I might need to watch again because I may be wrong on this, but at the end of Angels Walk Among Us, there was an incredibly sketchy edit going on...the video when it cut to the long shot of the three (Vincent, Danny, and Lee Douglas) on stage, the video appeared to be from beginning of the song, thus making it look like the video and audio was out of sync when it cut to that shot. At this point I almost had a panic attack on the couch watching it as I thought my DVD copy was defected but when it cut to one of the close ups (I forgot whose it was) it seemed fine again. I want to believe that it wasn't Lasse Hoile who edited the Union Chapel concert, because if he did, he probably made the biggest boo-boo he could do considering his high standards of quality videos. Also, during A Natural Disaster, I can see Daniel sing some parts and a little bit of what seemed to be a keyboard part near the end, but I couldn't hear it. And considering the audio's in stereo, I'm a bit puzzled about why I can't hear it.

 

Tl;dr: In between songs, there fade outs which kinda took away from the flow of the concert. There was a sketchy edit near the end of Angels That Walk Among Us that almost made it look like it was out of sync for a short moment and there was a part near the end of A Natural Disaster where you can see but can't hear Daniel's vocals/keyboard parts for some strange reason.

 

Despite these criticisms I have of the footage, the Union Chapel performance was stellar and was definitely worthy of being included on the DVD. Hopefully soon, I'll get around watching the main Universal concert.

[Steevo]

^Excellent, thanks for that. Pretty sure Lasse had nothing to do with Union Chapel. Will try soon as well :)

[Tony R]

Okay so far, I've only watched the Union Chapel portion which is what I'm going to review here, and while the press said it was a BluRay exclusive, I was surprised to see it's featured in my DVD copy.

 

The acoustic renditions of the songs were fantastic, the highlight for me personally was Angels Walk Among Us. The audio was top notch and the acoustic guitars sounded crystal clear. Of course, there wasn't that many cameras present in this performance so there was no "blink and miss" editing going on which is great cause I loathe that editing technique so much.

 

However, the Union Chapel concert footage is not without its imperfections if you will. Now this is a minor thing and your mileage may vary, but the fade-outs at the end of each songs kinda bothered me in an Exit...Stage Left sort of way...it made it feel fragmented. I kinda hoped they could've tried editing down the show without having to resort to fade outs between songs.

 

I might need to watch again because I may be wrong on this, but at the end of Angels Walk Among Us, there was an incredibly sketchy edit going on...the video when it cut to the long shot of the three (Vincent, Danny, and Lee Douglas) on stage, the video appeared to be from beginning of the song, thus making it look like the video and audio was out of sync when it cut to that shot. At this point I almost had a panic attack on the couch watching it as I thought my DVD copy was defected but when it cut to one of the close ups (I forgot whose it was) it seemed fine again. I want to believe that it wasn't Lasse Hoile who edited the Union Chapel concert, because if he did, he probably made the biggest boo-boo he could do considering his high standards of quality videos. Also, during A Natural Disaster, I can see Daniel sing some parts and a little bit of what seemed to be a keyboard part near the end, but I couldn't hear it. And considering the audio's in stereo, I'm a bit puzzled about why I can't hear it.

 

Tl;dr: In between songs, there fade outs which kinda took away from the flow of the concert. There was a sketchy edit near the end of Angels That Walk Among Us that almost made it look like it was out of sync for a short moment and there was a part near the end of A Natural Disaster where you can see but can't hear Daniel's vocals/keyboard parts for some strange reason.

 

Despite these criticisms I have of the footage, the Union Chapel performance was stellar and was definitely worthy of being included on the DVD. Hopefully soon, I'll get around watching the main Universal concert.

 

There are editing boo-boos on the Universal concert footage too.

 

 

[PolarizeMe]

Okay so far, I've only watched the Union Chapel portion which is what I'm going to review here, and while the press said it was a BluRay exclusive, I was surprised to see it's featured in my DVD copy.

 

The acoustic renditions of the songs were fantastic, the highlight for me personally was Angels Walk Among Us. The audio was top notch and the acoustic guitars sounded crystal clear. Of course, there wasn't that many cameras present in this performance so there was no "blink and miss" editing going on which is great cause I loathe that editing technique so much.

 

However, the Union Chapel concert footage is not without its imperfections if you will. Now this is a minor thing and your mileage may vary, but the fade-outs at the end of each songs kinda bothered me in an Exit...Stage Left sort of way...it made it feel fragmented. I kinda hoped they could've tried editing down the show without having to resort to fade outs between songs.

 

I might need to watch again because I may be wrong on this, but at the end of Angels Walk Among Us, there was an incredibly sketchy edit going on...the video when it cut to the long shot of the three (Vincent, Danny, and Lee Douglas) on stage, the video appeared to be from beginning of the song, thus making it look like the video and audio was out of sync when it cut to that shot. At this point I almost had a panic attack on the couch watching it as I thought my DVD copy was defected but when it cut to one of the close ups (I forgot whose it was) it seemed fine again. I want to believe that it wasn't Lasse Hoile who edited the Union Chapel concert, because if he did, he probably made the biggest boo-boo he could do considering his high standards of quality videos. Also, during A Natural Disaster, I can see Daniel sing some parts and a little bit of what seemed to be a keyboard part near the end, but I couldn't hear it. And considering the audio's in stereo, I'm a bit puzzled about why I can't hear it.

 

Tl;dr: In between songs, there fade outs which kinda took away from the flow of the concert. There was a sketchy edit near the end of Angels That Walk Among Us that almost made it look like it was out of sync for a short moment and there was a part near the end of A Natural Disaster where you can see but can't hear Daniel's vocals/keyboard parts for some strange reason.

 

Despite these criticisms I have of the footage, the Union Chapel performance was stellar and was definitely worthy of being included on the DVD. Hopefully soon, I'll get around watching the main Universal concert.

 

There are editing boo-boos on the Universal concert footage too.

Really?! I can't imagine that they're as bad than the one on Angels Walk Among Us...now that one was so glaringly bad that someone who doesn't particularly look out that kinda stuff would've noticed something was wrong. According to the Thin Air clip on YouTube, Ross Bolidai was the one who shot/edited the Union Chapel show.

Edited September 27, 2013 by PolarizeMe

[shail]

Went over my buddies house to watch the universal concert. Good thing I didn't buy it cause it really sucks. Don't like the tunes is the main reason. My buddy didn't care for it either. Sounds and looks ok. Nothing blew the hair back. Oh well. If there were better tunes it would have been so much better. Bad song choices.

[Steevo]

Went over my buddies house to watch the universal concert. Good thing I didn't buy it cause it really sucks. Don't like the tunes is the main reason. My buddy didn't care for it either. Sounds and looks ok. Nothing blew the hair back. Oh well. If there were better tunes it would have been so much better. Bad song choices.

 

The choices were fine.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Went over my buddies house to watch the universal concert. Good thing I didn't buy it cause it really sucks. Don't like the tunes is the main reason. My buddy didn't care for it either. Sounds and looks ok. Nothing blew the hair back. Oh well. If there were better tunes it would have been so much better. Bad song choices.

The song choice was pretty much perfect for me.

 

Which songs do you think would have been better? I can't really picture the orchestra working too well with a lot of their older stuff (Judgement, Alternative 4 etc).

[PolarizeMe]

I finally got around watching the main Universal concert. I thought it was phenomenal. The performance was top notch, and I thought that the drums and bass had a little bit more punch to them compared to the studio recordings. Some people pointed out about Lee's vibrato, but I didn't mind it at all, in fact I kinda liked it. I think that the architecture of the outdoor venue brought a distinct look and vibe for the performance and I think that added to the uniqueness of the look of the DVD. I didn't really see any glaringly bad edits during this performance and even if there were potential sketchy edits, they looked inconspicuous to everything else that was going on during the show. The edits were quicker than in the Union Chapel show, but they're nowhere near the abomination of the epileptic editing of Iron Maiden's Death on the Road. This is all technical film making stuff, but I'm quite a fan of the tracking long shots (for any film people out there, they might know what I mean by tracking shot) of the band. I think my favorite moments from the concert were Dreaming Light, Everything, Internal Landscapes, and both versions of Fragile Dreams.

 

I don't see what's terrible about the song choices. The songs were perfect for the occasion. I thought the orchestra added a bit more character to the songs. I don't think songs from The Silent Enigma, Serenades or Eternity would've worked well with the orchestra IMO (not like they even bother playing songs from those albums anyway).

Edited September 27, 2013 by PolarizeMe