Until you brought the thread back up, I'd forgotten all about this one...and I have a copy, don't know how I missed the original thread from '04, beyond being (as usual) asleep at the controls...
The question I have is this: why did Sony bother to issue this on SACD when they'd already put out the mix on the DVD? Since the mix is, as noted, front-heavy (in general, typical and understandable for a concert recording), the concert disc should have been pretty much the last words, given the limitations of the remote recording.
And while I agree with the logical behind front-heavy L/C/R concert mixes, the music would often have been better served by isolating certain elements--keyboards, sax, backing vocals--more than they are. Putting the audience (and not much else) in the rears might seem logical but is in no way how one hears a show at the venue--not least if you're in the rear of the hall! But even if you're up front, while the band of course is very loud and in-your-face-and-ears, there's more than ambience going on behind. If you're lucky (or intelligent) enough to get an aisle seat in the middle (but a bit further front than back) my experience is you get the best the venue (and act) can sound, and the most sensible, but most concert DVD's don't seem to take such a 'sweet spot' into account; that is, the mix becomes clinical and conservative, which might work with different music and less musicians (or an orchestra), but here, having the band all around you--at least some of the times--would have made for a more satisfying listen.
My rating is a '4,' a step below mediocrity. The performances are as usual exemplary--and a fan always wants more than they got on such releases--but the mix and sonics leave something to be desired, and as said, why this was an SACD, and not a hybrid one at that, remains a mystery beyond Bruce's popularity.
ED