New "SAGA Live in Puerto Rico" DVD is released

New "SAGA Live in Puerto Rico" DVD is released

Beitragvon kp4un » Do Nov 22, 2007 6:51 am

Hi, all !

Just got back from the local music store and was met with a couple of great news.

The first was the release of a new DVD by SAGA, titled "SAGA Live in Puerto Rico", filmed during their October 4, 2002 concert at the Tito Puente Amphitheater, in San Juan. Don't know why the producer chose to release it now, but it is a rare and welcome tribute to the band and it documents their relationship with Puerto Rico. The DVD has a duration of 112 minutes and it is in NTSC format (sorry, no PAL version for our European friends yet)

The setlist goes as follows:

1. Night To Remember
2. On The Loose
3. Careful Where You Step
4. Perfectionist
5. Remember When
6. The Flyer
7. Compromise
8. Wind Him Up
9. See Them Smile
10. Humble Stance
11. You're Not Alone
12. Don't Be Late
13. Conversations
14. Credits

The DVD packaging is very humble - no liner notes are included, but the cover art is very appealing, and it highlights the fact that this was their 25th anniversary tour.

Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to enjoy it because I took the sample DVD and did not check that the disk was inside the case, and went back home to find out that the case was empty. I will go back on Friday ((after the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow) to get a replacement, and then I will be able to review it here.

The second surprise that I got today was that I learned that SAGA will be doing an in-store at that same music store the night before the concert. I plan on being there, take pictures and have my DVD and CD's autographed by the band. That will be the utmost dream come true for ANY SAGA fan. I hope to post pictures of that, provided that everything goes as planned.

Wish me luck, people!!

Orlando
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Beitragvon sagalady » Do Nov 22, 2007 12:36 pm

No liner notes, humble packaging, released now. Sounds like a bootleg to me.

What is the label and who produced it?
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Beitragvon kp4un » Do Nov 22, 2007 5:22 pm

sagalady hat geschrieben:No liner notes, humble packaging, released now. Sounds like a bootleg to me.

What is the label and who produced it?


Hi, SagaLady,

Thanks for your reply.

The DVD is locally produced by Junior Ortiz - Power Rock Entertainment. It is an independent release. The producer of the DVD is also the producer of their Dec. 9 concert here, and SAGA will do an in-store for their PR fans at the very same music store where I purchased the DVD, which in my opinion, rules out the possibility of it being a bootleg. The record shop is a locally owned chain called The Music Zone. The pictures on the back cover suggest that maybe at least 4 cameras were used to film the concert and the pictures are of high quality, but at this point I am just speculating.

Although the packaging has all the elements of a bootleg, I am sure the band has knowledge of this and most probably its distribution is limited to Puerto Rico. I can't still testify to the quality of the video and audio on the DVD, because in my excitement, I took the countertop display sample and when I brought it home, the disk was missing. I called the store and was told to return on Friday for a replacement, as today is a holiday here.

As soon as I am able to watch it, I'll post a review and pictures of the artwork. It seems like we've got a collector's item here...
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SAGA LIVE IN PUERTO RICO DVD REVIEW

Beitragvon kp4un » Sa Nov 24, 2007 12:50 am

Hello again, SAGA fans:

Just got back from the music store where I finally got my new DVD. One of the employees there told me that they had to send for more because they are flying off the shelves - SAGA deserves that and more!

As I suspected, this concert DVD is limited to distribution within Puerto Rico. This is an independent release and not really up to par with a production from a major label and although it has several flaws, it is a "must-have" for any serious SAGA collector.

My review centers on several key aspects: packaging, audio and video quality, bonus material, overall production, price and performance. I will use the 5 star system, with 1 being very poor and 5 being excellent.


PACKAGING: 3 stars

The packaging is evidently of the generic variety - a translucent, flexible plastic DVD case - but does a good job of protecting the investment. It has internal "clip holders" that are used to hold in place suplemental literature which in this case is non-existent, as there are no accompanying liner notes or pictures booklet. In my case, I use the clips to hold in place flyers of SAGA's last concert with Michael, here in PR.

The CD itself has a white label of professional quality - not paper - possibly made and applied at the factory, and printed at a later date.

The artwork is pretty cool, nevertheless - the front cover has an oversized SAGA logo, with the 25th Anniversary Tour emblem. The background shows a beautiful Caribbean sunset with palm trees, and the surrealistic grasshopper-like creature that adorns several of SAGA's earliest album covers, attacking a turret at one of the Spanish forts of Old San Juan. The back cover displays five pictures of the band at work, the playlist and credits.


AUDIO QUALITY - 3 stars

The audio signal on this recording is a little too hot, and tends to be on the verge of distortion at times. The mix has some issues - Michael Sadler's voice is somewhat buried in the mix and cannot be fully appreciated. On a couple of instances, the keyboards are blasting over the rest of the music, but fortunately, it is just on brief passages on a couple of songs. Not brilliant audio quality, but tolerable.


VIDEO QUALITY - 3 stars

As I suspected, as many as four cameras were used to film the concert to video -one frontal view, two lateral and one stage camera - which capture a lot of up-close detail of the band at work, as well as the audience. As expected, the video is in full color, although the dim lighting at the begginning creates the illusion of it being a B & W recording (ugghh!!). The cameramen do a good job of capturing key moments during the concert, and follow the musicians around in time for their solos, etc. Overall the video is crisp and detailed.

Unfortunately, there are many instances where the camera work becomes shoddy - and nothing was done to edit the video by using a segment from a different camera. There are moments where the camera loses its focus, or aims too high in order to prevent Jim Crichton from blocking the view (in this case, Ian playing a fiery guitar solo) .

The video format used on this DVD is NSTC, which is prevalent in North America - a PAL version of this DVD ia not available. Although there is no reference to the region code on the package, it is safe to presume that the DVD is encoded for Region 1 (United States and territories, Canada, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands). Therefore, anyone outside of this region must be equipped with a DVD player that can decode all formats and regions in order to view this DVD.


BONUS MATERIAL - 1 star

There are no interviews with the band, just a segment with the producer of SAGA's latest concerts and DVD in PR, speaking about his experience of working with SAGA. It is mostly a self-serving appearance that does not add much to the DVD, except for historical purposes - documenting who the producer is. Since the DVD is geared towards the Puerto Rican market, the segment is done completely in Spanish, with no subtitles.


OVERALL PRODUCTION - 3 stars

Although the DVD is not the best in terms of quality, it does a good job of capturing a live concert and the special chemistry of the band with their Puerto Rican audiences. There are production blunders, such as not using a high-energy song from SAGA for the background music at the Menu stage (the producer chose a soft keyboard piece instead), and there's a brief segment where the music and video are not in sync.

At the Menu, three options are available - (1) playing the full concert, (2) playing individual songs and (3) playing the producer's comments

In the final credits, (written in English) it is made clear that the purpose of the DVD is to capture raw footage of the concert to document this appearance of SAGA in Puerto Rico, given their long-term relation with the island. If we take this into consideration, and are not expecting a high-caliber production, then anyone wanting a rare and important part of the band's history should be happy with this purchase.

PRICE - 4 stars

At $19.99 USD plus tax, this seems to be reasonably priced, considering that this will become a collector's item. It will be considered rare given its limited distribution.


PERFORMANCE - 5 STARS

I really don't need to explain how great SAGA is - everyone here knows that they are a formidable band. But I do have to tell you how SAGA pour out their hearts for their Puerto Rican fans, with Michael saying - "It's good to be back home", accepting a Puerto Rican flag and a kiss from a female fan, and talking and singing to a long-distance fan through a cell phone that was handed to him by one of the concert-goers - hilarious!! At the very end, Michael wears a Puerto Rican flag tank-top and the crowd just goes wild!!

Ruben Ruiz, guitar player for N Sync, makes a special appearance on "The Flyer", along with his brother Carlos on background vocals. They really do not add anything special to the performance and did not have any point in being there other than being SAGA fans themselves.


CONCLUSION:

This DVD should be treated as a historical document, rather than a concert DVD. Although the music and most production elements are there, fans looking for a polished product will be dissapointed. This DVD is only for those hardcore fans wanting a rare performance and definitely for us Puerto Ricans who love SAGA no matter what and NEED to have a DVD of our favorite band playing for US !!!!!!!!

Hope this information is useful to any of you out there! I will try to post some pictures later.

Orlando
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Pictures

Beitragvon kp4un » So Nov 25, 2007 5:11 am

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Beitragvon FlyerPR » Do Dez 06, 2007 6:24 am

i was in that concert..the energy that night was incredible. it was Saga's return after a long break. Susi has some pics i sent her of the day before the concert, Saga had a very crowded sign in at a record shop in san juan. many old fans stopped by to say hi, the concert was packed
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Beitragvon FlyerPR » Do Dez 06, 2007 6:29 am

power rock entretainment was Saga's sponsor . they are also part of a radio station there, Alfa rock 106
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Re: SAGA LIVE IN PUERTO RICO DVD REVIEW

Beitragvon sagalady » Do Dez 06, 2007 2:21 pm

kp4un hat geschrieben:Unfortunately, there are many instances where the camera work becomes shoddy - and nothing was done to edit the video by using a segment from a different camera. There are moments where the camera loses its focus, or aims too high in order to prevent Jim Crichton from blocking the view (in this case, Ian playing a fiery guitar solo) .


I have no knowledge as to how this production was done but I do know that quite often you don't actually FILM with each camera. SOmeone is sitting with one monitor per camera and one ,omitor for the final edit and is basically editing on the fly by telling which camera to go *live* and which to be on stand-by to go live and take over.

The word "live" does not equal "live broadcast".

I've been camera crew on both recorded concerts and live broadcasts and I've crewed for the touring production at recorded and live broadcasts. There is zero difference on the crewing aspect if it's live or recorded. There is a difference if all cameras are live at the same time for a future edit as each camera man has to be very sharp and very focused more than usual.

Now - companies do as I say du to time and budget. Time is money. It is cheaper to edit on the fly than to pay someone to do it after the gig.

Very few companies keep all cameras live and edit after the show. I wish more did because that is the best way to make certain that you capture the magic. Either that or they need to send out the producer to the tour and stick him at the FOH mixing desk for a few days, then stage right for a few days and then stage left for a few days. Not everything seen on stage is "spur of the moment" but very well mapped out or there would not be a point in having a designed lighting rig.

Please note that I am generalizing and not talking about Saga in particular. Just trying to explain how things are done.

I was on the Pink Floyd tour when they played Venice on a barge. It was a live pan-european broadcast. When I got back home from the tour I saw the show on a re-run on TV and I was cussing and swearing all the way through because they had missed so much of the magic on stage. All the cameras could not have been live at the same time so the viewer had to make do with what camera the producer had chosen to use at that exact moment.

The tour in 94 ended with a 2 week run in London, UK. This time they broadcasted one of the last days. The one now released on a DVD. I believe that this time the camera crew was on site for the duration just to learn the show as this was a much better capture of the show.

Anyway - apologies to those of you who already knows how this works. My intentions are not to offend anyone. Just trying to help build a better understanding.

Sagalady
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Beitragvon kp4un » Sa Dez 08, 2007 5:48 am

FlyerPR - I wish I'd been there, but I am not missing this one on Sunday. First time I saw them live was back in 81 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, with FM as the opening act.

SagaLady - thanks for giving us some insight into how productions are done in the real world. It must have been a real treat to work on the Pink Floyd production. I love David Gilmour's style of playing.

Regards,

Orlando
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Beitragvon sagalady » Sa Dez 08, 2007 6:39 am

kp4un hat geschrieben:Fl I love David Gilmour's style of playing.

Regards,

Orlando


You and me both. Still, I think Ian Crichton is probably the best and most versatile guitar player in the world.

And I wish I'd be in Puerto Rico sunday. You lucky bstrds!!

;)
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Beitragvon kp4un » Sa Dez 08, 2007 4:55 pm

sagalady hat geschrieben:
kp4un hat geschrieben:Fl I love David Gilmour's style of playing.

Regards,

Orlando


You and me both. Still, I think Ian Crichton is probably the best and most versatile guitar player in the world.

And I wish I'd be in Puerto Rico sunday. You lucky bstrds!!

;)



:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Don´t worry - I'll tell you all about it afterwards!! :eg: :eg:
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Beitragvon TwilightStance » Fr Dez 14, 2007 6:38 am

I have this dvd.
I concur with most points of the posted review, but this looks like a bootleg. Nowhere on the package says that it is licensed by saga.
The concert is not 112 min as advertised on the package, its only 1 hr 14 min. It is not the complete concert, I was there.
The audio sounds like the foh console mix, very unbalanced in places.
There is a big audio-video sync messed-up-editing during the last part of 'Wind Him Up'.
The disc has playback problems from the second half of the concert onwards. Four people, including me, have this problem. I was able to watch it in a 2002 Apex player.
According to a dvd media identifier software the disc is a third rate tdk.

Do not pay for this.
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Beitragvon I'm Late » Fr Dez 14, 2007 8:30 pm

I, too, agree with all comments from the previous posts. I have a copy & I did not expect this to be perfect. Overall, this was well documented as another great show of our beloved band! :D
Yes, there are flaws, but as a collector of SAGA's work, I accept it as a lost child who found his way home! :D
Mucho gracias, Orlando, for sharing the info of this great show with us!
The Truth has no words!
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Beitragvon kp4un » Fr Dez 21, 2007 10:29 pm

I'm Late hat geschrieben:I, too, agree with all comments from the previous posts. I have a copy & I did not expect this to be perfect. Overall, this was well documented as another great show of our beloved band! :D
Yes, there are flaws, but as a collector of SAGA's work, I accept it as a lost child who found his way home! :D
Mucho gracias, Orlando, for sharing the info of this great show with us!


H. - I am glad you found the information useful... Happy Holidays to all!

Orlando
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Beitragvon TwilightStance » Mi Dez 26, 2007 7:12 am

Yes, its a good document, but still is a bootleg.
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