6 reasons to buy the CD/DVD pkg of Contact Live in Munich

[mouseinamaze]

I was seriously considering buying just the DVD until I came across some YouTube footage of the 6 songs Saga performed for Underground TV. There is NO WAY I would allow there to be a 6 song concert of Michael's last tour without purchasing it, plus you get a documentary with it as well. I don't really need the cd's because I don't usually listen to music outside my home so I can just turn the TV off and listen to the concert but.....the Underground TV and documentary are worth the extra $10US to me.
Btw, Amazon is still showing a 1/27/09 release for the CD/DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22nVIbQswI0

[Ole]

Watched Humble Stance and What's It Gonna Be, that was simply...awful... What a far cry from the golden days, even a few years back...

[Acai]

@Ole
I have to agree. They didn´t seem to have their best day and the mixing is not good either.

Check out this version of "what´s it gonna be" from 1981. Fantastic, especially the end. Awesome:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=0MgHFrvpjb8

[mouseinamaze]

Please keep in mind Youtube compresses their signal as well as only playing it in mono. Also, this wasn't one of their productions but taken from their performance on Underground TV so it won't quite be up to the standards of Live in Munich.
Take for example The Official Bootleg, it's not the best audio or video quality but it's still nice to have a concert of Saga. I usually find that a couple of adult beverages when viewing The Official Bootleg allows me to enjoy it for what it is, raw but still good Saga.

[Ole]

I watched the high quality versions of these a few more times, and you have a convincing point about this. Although the replacement drummer, however skilled he is, was far fromt able to capture the feeling of the songs and also missed some important key beats, but how many drummers not intimately familiar with this material would be able to do that in such a short time! They should have chosen Steve for the final tour, would have been the perrfect end for SAGA as we knew them!

[wegebakira]

I saw the clip of humble Stance on youtube and cannot agree. The quality is o.k.
I follow saga since 1983 - my first concert was during the Heads or Tales Tour with the incredible light wall - that time they had a brillant sound. But ... nowadays they played in much smaller locations where the sound was not always perfect, but they never were awful.

I will definitely buy the DVD and I am lucky, because I watched both concerts in Munich
and Mannheim. So this will be a perfect closing of Saga with Michael.

[Trudes Oude Voshaar]

From what I'v heard what the setlist is I buy this DVD just as a sounenir.
The setlist wasn't very much surprising that i think is a same.

Anyway I will have mine in march!

I'm looking forward to the new Cd from Saga!! I think this CD will be very surprising!

[Social Orphan]

Watched Humble Stance and What's It Gonna Be, that was simply...awful... What a far cry from the golden days, even a few years back...

STOP IT! Haved you seen Saga in concert recently? I saw them on the final tour although in Canada and they were better than good. They were FANTASTIC! I took my brother he said that hands down these guys are the best musicians in concert....better than his favorites. His wife also came....she never heard Saga before the show and agreed. These guys pride themselves in each performance. I would not let you tube (of all things) influence your perception of these guys live. Each time I have seen Saga they have gotten better....no way are they losing it.

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this show. I haven't taken the cd of the Worlds Apart show out of my players since I bought it.

[Norbert]

Social orphan, I must agree, you`re absolutely right !!
This band always gave 100 % on stage and they REALLY can play their instruments.
Listen to their last output CONTACT and you know what I mean, brilliant sound, great melodies.
So don`t let disturb what they have achieved with hard work by any modern medias, this is one of the last REALLY good bands, they don`t glitter with clothes or show but shine bright by their ability playing their Instruments really well.

[Ole]

STOP IT! Haved you seen Saga in concert recently? I saw them on the final tour although in Canada and they were better than good. They were FANTASTIC! I took my brother he said that hands down these guys are the best musicians in concert....better than his favorites. His wife also came....she never heard Saga before the show and agreed. These guys pride themselves in each performance. I would not let you tube (of all things) influence your perception of these guys live. Each time I have seen Saga they have gotten better....no way are they losing it.

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this show. I haven't taken the cd of the Worlds Apart show out of my players since I bought it.

I dont need to see them in concert to be able to compare these things. The mentioned clips from 2007 is not tight or has the right mood, mainly because of the drummer, but the vibe has also changed a lot over the years, the bandmembers have changed and that is reflected in the music, they dont play the old numbers as magically as before, but of course that has to be accepted, playing the same stuff over and over for 30 years is definitely an artistic challenge, I just prefer the old magic stuff in their prime recordings. Having said that I want to add that I have really enjoyed the Worlds Apart Revisited, but if I want SAGA magic, I put on In Transit.
Also I dont like the sound of the newer synths, it is really different, the old analog sounds were much better. One of my favorite bootlegs are the 83´ ones from the UK found on Silhouette, now that was MAGIC!

[Social Orphan]

STOP IT! Haved you seen Saga in concert recently? I saw them on the final tour although in Canada and they were better than good. They were FANTASTIC! I took my brother he said that hands down these guys are the best musicians in concert....better than his favorites. His wife also came....she never heard Saga before the show and agreed. These guys pride themselves in each performance. I would not let you tube (of all things) influence your perception of these guys live. Each time I have seen Saga they have gotten better....no way are they losing it.

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this show. I haven't taken the cd of the Worlds Apart show out of my players since I bought it.

I dont need to see them in concert to be able to compare these things. The mentioned clips from 2007 is not tight or has the right mood, mainly because of the drummer, but the vibe has also changed a lot over the years, the bandmembers have changed and that is reflected in the music, they dont play the old numbers as magically as before, but of course that has to be accepted, playing the same stuff over and over for 30 years is definitely an artistic challenge, I just prefer the old magic stuff in their prime recordings. Having said that I want to add that I have really enjoyed the Worlds Apart Revisited, but if I want SAGA magic, I put on In Transit.
Also I dont like the sound of the newer synths, it is really different, the old analog sounds were much better. One of my favorite bootlegs are the 83´ ones from the UK found on Silhouette, now that was MAGIC!

I rest my case.

[Acai]

I´ve seen Saga live quite a lot of times and I am always impressed about their outstanding skills. Acutally I have never been disappointed of any concert. That´s why I will visit every tour in the future and buy all their CD, DVDs and whatever they are up to. They deserve this support because they gave and will give me unforgettable concert moments and tons of very good music.

BUT: My expectation for Saga concerts are extremely high and - playing in a band as well -I look at every detail. I´m missing a bit the precision/perfection of former days sometimes. In the mentioned youtube videos, for instance, there are a couple of obvious errors that are somehow bothering me. That might sound a bit "square" to ask for perfection but I see it that way.

In interviews Ian said that he gets sometimes bored playing the old stuff again and again what I can fully understand. I think that´s why sometimes the ultimate perfection and concentration is missing in the older songs (they are professional enough to give very good concerts but the ultimate kick/magic is sometimes missing). It´s a different thing playing a song for the first time at the top of your career or 20 years later for the 1000. time. Well, this my theory......

I would like to see Saga perform only new/unplayed songs that gives them the ultimate kick on the stage again. As Daryl said in an interview, as musicians they are probably better than ever.

[IanCrichtonFan]

the "magic" of a concert can only be created by the viewer in my opinion... it has so much to do with memories and circumstances that have nothing to do with the music at all...

i need to mention that i am 22 years old, so i can not tell anything about "memories" because right now it is the time that i will remember in 20 years time - but: i remember in summer 08 i listened to a best of compilation of depeche mode very often... i normaly like the more proggy/harder stuff like dream theater/rush/saga obviously... but in summer it was perfect... some great memories were captured in a frame that will reapear if i listen to one depeche mode song...

its a very subjective thing this "magic", it is not the musicians target to reach the same magic every night so that every person in the audience, every night, may have the same pictures in it's head...

i think that - allthough they are the same songs like humble stance, don't be late, on the loose etc. - the musicians are not responsible for the not-re-apearing feelings of the listener, because they are "only" musicians and some of them were not even part of the band in the time the songs were created (chris sutherland for instance)...

i think it's the best just to relax and listen to the original recordings and let the new live-versions just be part of the entertainment... they are just songs... we are not talking about religion or anything similar...

(by the way, i am german, and i'm not used to it writing down my thoughts about such a topic.... so if there are any mistakes or sentences that may be misunderstood, please keep in mind that i tried my very best )