Let me Start by saying - I love Prince and support him in ANYthing he does. THat being said ...

I ordered the DVD just after midnite and had it in my mailbox WEDNESDAY morning...Perfect!

I really went in2 this with an open mind. I 4gave him 4 chopping up the DVD, editing it down 2 - 80minutes. I even 4gave the fact that there was little 2 no bonus material (the Ride and NPGMC commercial) I was just ready 2 see ONA live on DVD.

4 those who don't know - my daytime job is designing HOME theatres. If a client wants 2 reproduce the Movie theatre xperience in their home - thats what i do. Sometimes these theatres R in xcess of $100,000. That being said - i take every opportunity 2 USE Prince on the SHOWROOM FLOOR (DVD, CD whatever). THe RAVE DVD has long since warn out its welcome and i was very Xcited 2 POP this in and watch the jaws drop. This is where the NEWS gets sour!

This is possibly THE SINGLE WORST DVD TRANSFER I HAVE EVER SEEN!
It is 2 the point of embarrassment. The picture is blurry, shakey and digitized and U can Literally see scan lines. It looks as if Prince was made up of a SERIES of LINES. When the DVD goes to a wide shot U can't even make out some images. Imagine this on a 106" screen through
a $11, 000 Sharpvision DLP projector! Customers were asking what was wrong with the projector!!! (I also tried it on a 57" rear pro, a 50" LCD and 42" plasma). In combination with the terrible picture, the sound is ONLY PCM DIGITAL (2 Channel). There is no surround mix, no 5.1 and no DTS. I have no idea how this will be shown in theatres, maybe, hopefully the original MASTER is better?

The sad thing is, the performances really R terriffic. Many of the songs that R not on One Nite Alone Live R perfect. Furthermore the versions of songs (1+1+1 is 3, Strange Relationship etc..) that R on One Nite Alone Live - R even better versions here on the DVD.

The DVD will still get many spins and I hope Prince continues 2 release live DVDs. In the future I just wish he would spend the money on a PROFESSIONAL CAMERA CREW and more importantly take the time to properly transfer and master the DVD. When it comes 2 live performances - Prince has no equal, lets just make it so the rest of the world can see that 2!

Awch! If this is true, and it seems like u know what you are talking about, it's a real shame. And an amazing feat by Prince actually. Can u say: 'he did it again!'?

Oh, say it isin't so.That's depressing to hear.I hope the one shown in the Theaters is better because people travel, pay for Hotels and some like me bring along someone with them to see this.
Aww Shucks !!!

Same old Prince! He does EVERYTHING so fucking cheap. Thanks, now I know NOT to spend my hard-earned cash!!!

thaCONcept said:

I totally agree it's embarrasing to watch, my sister was watching it with me and asked if it was an outdoor show and if it was raining It's THAT bad.

So basically what you're saying is that it looks like he made his own "bootleg" video!

thaCONcept said:

Well...dayum. I knew there was a reason I didn't order it when it was made available. I'll get it for the performances, but I don't think it will be a showpiece on my B&O system...that is, when I get one. But for now I'm sure it will be adequate for my Philips TV ann inadequate surround sound. Dayum, Prince! What happened to the quality? Where's the pride?

I'm so angry & sad ...

chookalana said:

wasn't aware that One Night Alone live box set was done on the cheap?

if you like Prince buy it if you don't then don't - what you do with your money is up to you - but perhaps you'd be better off keeping to your self and/or waiting to see for yourself whether it is good quality or not - regradless it will be better than any bootleg footage

Well, I haven't seen yet, but being somewhat of an audiophile myself, it definitely sounds disappointing from a sound and visual quality aspect. For someone who is such a perfectionist in the studio and on stage, one would think that things like poor sound and visual quality would be unacceptable to Prince. But I guess not.

When I think DVD, I think pristine quality visual and sound, but based on the reviews so far, the Vegas DVD misses the mark. I guess I'll have to reserve further judgement until I hear it myself.

Can someone please recommend the best (quickest) outlet to order the dvd from, or is it only available from NPGMC so far?

I'm going bootleg shopping.

and prince wonders y fans go out and buy bootlegged or unofficial stuff...

hello?

Hopefully the PAL version will be a bit better. It is much better quality than NTSC anyway.

so I have to hold on to the 2 tokyo footages i got on vcds...
anyone is going to send the vegad dvd to THAT mailbox?

So what about the actual content?
Apart from the technical aspects - what do you think about the show? I heard it's not the complete show, but are the songs themselves edited as well? Any overdubs?

mattosgood said:

well all i can say is i would rather the bootleg of ONA NewYork which is audience than an edited dvd i have 2 pay AU$40 for which by this review,& seems 2 come from soemone who knows what they're talking about... is a waste of money.
being a perfectionist u would think he would actually see that things r done properly.
he wouldnt even need 2 dvd's 2 release the whole show.
u could fit the full show & 30mins of bonus footage (aftershow,interview,rehearsal,etc...) all on one disc.

in the words of billy:...

"awww buddy,what a fuckin waste!"

Nikkie said:

overdubs

What I can't understand (stand under) is why Prince, over the span of his career, has in his vault various shows that are professionally filmed sitting in there gathering dust and yet it is this performance that is decided it needs an official release?


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[This message was edited Thu Aug 14 4:55:49 PDT 2003 by dnaplaya]

VINCENT said:

It is? I thought NTSC video was 29 frames per second, and PAL was like 24 frames per second???

Sounds like he hired Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick to direct it...

This is got to be a budget or money issue. Prince does not have a major label to back him anymore, it's very unfortunate.

Such is the joy of being in CONtroll. No one to help you make decision. No one to help manage you. No one to give you an opposite opinion.

Prince does what Prince wants, even if it sucks and seems cheap. Mo money in his pocket!!!

There are professional people out there that do this stuff but Prince wants to do it all by himself. CONtroll is what it's all about people.


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oops, spell check.



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gman1966 said:

Ummm...He is charging $125-$150 for tickets and buying mansions in Toronto I think he could have done a better quality DVD then a garage band if he had wanted to.

This is really sad to hear, and knowing one of the posters who commented very well in real life... oh my. Isn't the reason we all look forward to official releases for the quality?

Nowdays, you can shoot a video on MiniDV, import it directly into your home computer with no loss of quality, edit it, and output it to DVD with no loss of quality.

Just an Update -

the NPGMC
(does that stand 4 NPG MUSIC CULT or Club?)

has deleted this review
that i originally posted

i really tried 2 sugar coat it as best as i could
but the fact is the picture is horrible

i will still play it
(i already watched it like 4 times)
but the audio cd i burned will get many more spins.

also it seems they have been deleting ANY - negative comments on the NPGMC
will Prince ever learn?

alexxa15 said:

let me try and give a little more info.

The performances R great - they really R.

the audio alone makes it worth it ("Gotta Broken Heart Again", "Pass the Peas")

No matter how bad u master the dvd, under all
the mudd - its still Prince being funky and live there is no equal.

As far as i can tell there r very few overdubs
just like ONE NITE ALONE ...LIVE
there is some little overdubs 2 create
little segues but if he added anything 2 actual
songs its minimal.

the problem with the footage is not even the fact it was
shot on hand held mini dv cams. That in itself is kinda cool
in a bootleg kinda way. The problem lies in the actual TRANSFER! Im not sure what went wrong but its all blurry
and like i said b4 U CAN ACTUALLY SEE the LINES that make up the picture. Furthermore u can see the edges of all the images r jagged and stair stepped. When U pull out 2 a wide shot -images r barely distinguishable (is that a word?).

on the sound - how do u make a dvd with no 5.1 or DTS?
that being said - in realilty LIVE music is only a 2 channel mix - so in 5 channel stereo or dolby pro logic II
it actually sounds really good. 2 be honest this is how i view concert dvds anyway as they usually always mix LOUD LOUD OBNOXIOUS OVERDUBBED CROWD NOISE in the SURROUNDS.

Im not telling U not 2 buy this - its just very disappointing - shit if it was gonna be this bad at least
the Entire show would have kept me quiet but the combination
is 2 much.

The actual show is only 67 minutes (and that includes a 2 minute intro). NExt u have a 3 minute SISIA played over credits and then a 7:30 minute RIDE that really is part of the show and was really dumb 2 make it a bonus cut.

The beauty of DVD is u can skip trax like a cd
so even if it was 23 hours long people could skip the stuff they didn't like - there is no reason 2 make it so short.

oh well...

when is the next cd ?

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