Back in the 80s, an artist brought us simple 50s style music and was quickly loved by the MTV generation. That man was Huey Lewis. Lewis and his band the News delivered upbeat friendly songs with that classic big band rock n roll beat. In college, I had Sports the essential Huey Lewis album, and I got to see Huey Lewis and the News live at the Worcester Centrum.

I am pleased to say that this concert of Huey Lewis and the News Live at the Rockoplast, released in 2000 recaptures my concert experience and that great big band sound. The concert itself was recorded in 1984 at the height of Huey Lewis's popularity.

Set List

Heart of Rock And Roll, Change Of Heart, Don't Make Me Do It To You, If This Is It, Heart And Soul, Walkin' On A Thin Line, It's All Right, Do You Believe In Love, Workin' For A Livin', Buzz Buzz Buzz, I Want A New Drug, and Bad Is Bad.

Performance

The band puts on a 70 minute show and I was impressed with their performance. Huey Lewis and his band basically just come out and perform their hit songs, no fancy stage show, little between song banter, just rock 'n' roll. The audience clearly had a lot of fun here too, occasional shots show them clapping and singing along. I really loved the opening heart beat like sound that opened the show with the band's first song Heart of Rock N Roll. Fans of the harmonica will also be happy, Huey picks up and plays his harmonica with enthusiasm on several songs. The News on this concert was Sean Harper on keyboards, Bill Gibson on drums, Johnny Colla on saxophone, Mario Cipollina on bass, and Chris Hayes on guitar.

On It's All Right the whole band does a really nice sounding acapella reminicent of doo wop groups of the fifties. Soon the whole audience was clapping along. The crowd was really enthusiastic when Huey Lewis asked them one question Do You Believe in Love? then going right into the hit song of the same name. My personal favorite songs of the show were Heart and Soul and I want a new drug. An extended drum solo started the song Workin For a Living and Colla did a short saxophone solo before Buzz, Buzz, Buzz.

For the last show of the set, Bad is Bad Lewis did an extended harmonica solo before the band launched into the song. Overall, the performance was fun to watch, and this DVD did capture the heart and soul of Huey Lewis and the News.

Audio / Video Quality

It is obvious that this was originally recorded with VHS video in mind. Format is full screen, and the video is definitely VHS quality. The best I can say about the video is that it is fair. Sound quality was good though, and the show is offered in Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1. The Dolby Digital isn't a true 5.1 though, just some sound being put through the surround channels, with no bass or center channel. I am sure the original show was recorded in stereo. Nevertheless, the band sounds clear and the instruments and Lewis's voice all sound quite good.

Summary

I found the performance to be quite good, although the video was subpar. Since the audio was good, I give this show four stars overall.



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD