Music DVD Poll Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere.....but not here

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Please rate the DVD-V disc "Arriving Somewhere.....but not here

  • 7

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2 - Poor Picture, mix and content

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1 - Complete waste of plastic, don't bother!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    62
What can I say that hasn't already been said. Not only the best DVD concert for last year, it is without a doubt the best DVD concert ever. A 10 because I can not chose any higher. If anyone knows a DVD-concert that beats this soundwise, please let me know...

I love their DVD-A:s as well, but I think this release beats all of them, even Stupid Dream, which I consider is the best of them. I agree that it is mostly the fabulous bass output that do it, but all together I prefer this sound over the DVD-A's. Just compare the track Blackest Eye - which has a fantastic midrange and treble on the DVD-A, but it is when you get to hear the bass on the concert DVD you feel that you hear it as it was meant to be heard.

And I totally agree that the "Cymbal Song" on disc two is a religious experience. A perfect demo example whith totally perfect sonics and 5.1-mix.

//Uffe
 
I just picked this up through Amazon and I agree with most of the assessments above. The sound on the DTS track is fantastic with aggressive use of the surrounds (yummy with my 7.1 running Neo6). I am going to invite a couple of PT friends over soon and we'll enjoy this one together with perhaps the "Cymbal Song" as the opening act. This one is a clear "10" on the audio side.

As to the rest.....not so much. I think my reaction to the visuals is entirely a subjective thing and to me at times the graininess/black and white read as someone trying far too hard to be artsy. On my Denon-1920 the aforementioned layer change is painful and things lock up for almost a second. Blech.

Still, the quality of the music itself, the wonderful sonics/surround mix, and the extra content completely overwhelm my noted objections and I'll give this a 9.
 
I have finally gotten this great DVD. It is just amazing from an audio stanpoint. Although I consider the video average for a DVD-V concert, I am a little disappointed in the choices made there, I am sure it was artistic intent but I prefer a straight forward filming of a concert with proper lighting, less grain and not so much use of artificial colors and grain. Still, the performance and the audio is most important and what a job was done there. Overall, it is difficult to find a better DVD-V concert. I have had the "Deadwing" DVD-A for a couple of years or so which means the music, beat and melodies were already ingrained in my mind. Steve Wilson rates up there with my all-time favorite rockers, what a talent. I immediately went to Amazon.com and ordered the "Lightbulb Sun" DVD-A at around $18 shipped. I still lack "Fear of a Blank Planet", but I am going to ask for that one for Christmas if I can't find a deal on it sooner. There is something too inefficient about ordering a DVD-A from the UK at that kind of shipping for me to do that except as a last resort. Fortunately this great DVD-V is available through the usual sources and I found this at a great price.

I was tempted to give it a 10, but I settled on 9.

Chris
 
What can I say that hasn't already been said. Not only the best DVD concert for last year, it is without a doubt the best DVD concert ever. A 10 because I can not chose any higher. If anyone knows a DVD-concert that beats this soundwise, please let me know...

I love their DVD-A:s as well, but I think this release beats all of them, even Stupid Dream, which I consider is the best of them. I agree that it is mostly the fabulous bass output that do it, but all together I prefer this sound over the DVD-A's. Just compare the track Blackest Eye - which has a fantastic midrange and treble on the DVD-A, but it is when you get to hear the bass on the concert DVD you feel that you hear it as it was meant to be heard.

And I totally agree that the "Cymbal Song" on disc two is a religious experience. A perfect demo example whith totally perfect sonics and 5.1-mix.

//Uffe

Fantastic disc, not sure that anything beats it but The Cure's Trilogy is the equal. It can't beat the Lightbulb Sun DVD-A though which is heaven on a stick:)

Cheers

Martin
 
I didn't know this poll existed until just now. I bought my 2 disc set from Amazon about 18 months ago.

Brilliant concert, awesome sound (and DTS surround mix) but it's not perfect picture-wise (although good for DVD).

I voted 9 but this DVD is still a must have for anyone that enjoys Porcupine Tree or Steven Wilson music.
 
I also am late to the party here, but no less impressed. I bougtht this because of other references in other posts here. I am very glad I did. This is easily a 10 from me. I love the bass and percussion on this disc. The mix here enligtened me as to how good SW really is and what can be done, even with a live show. My only small gripe is that it is sometimes difficult to hear sounds in the rear or sides when the visual is directly in front of me on the tv. Still, I can overlook this and just enjoy the surround mix. It does seem at times to be more of the SW show than PT, and he appears to b arguing with the keyboard player at one point (interesting this was left in the video).
 
After spending an hour or so with the bonus dvd in this set, I am beginning to think that this is my desert island porcupine tree disc. It is so good, the whole package, that anyone who does not have it should go out and get it right now.
 
I watched and listened to the cymbals song several times. Brilliant both musically and visually.
 
Back to this disc this morning. Just fantastic. The surround on the DVD video and the general sound quality is better than most of my dvd audio/SACD. Or at least it sounds like it to my ears..
 
Back to this disc this morning. Just fantastic. The surround on the DVD video and the general sound quality is better than most of my dvd audio/SACD. Or at least it sounds like it to my ears..

Yep, it's one of my absolute favourite 5.1 mixes and very impressive for a live show as it's fully discreet. A bonus that it's in DTS 1.5mbps too.
 
This is probably the best DVD-V surround disc of all time IMO. The audio/surround mix and video quality (for DVD) is reference quality.
 
I just got the Blu-Ray edition in the mail today. It's a bargain at $15 from Amazon.

What an incredible performance! John Wesley's harmony vocals are a particular standout. I always wondered how they'd pull off some of these songs in concert considering all the effects/overdubs/layering in the studio versions, and somehow they do it with ease. In fact, I think several cuts sound even better performed live.

The surround mix is great for a live concert, but it's not quite as extreme as my favorite live surround mixes (Eagles' Farewell Tour, Loggins & Messina's Live At The Santa Barbara Bowl). As others mentioned, it's basically a quad mix: the center channel is used for audience noise at the beginning and end of a track, and sometimes as a reinforcement of drums or guitars in the fronts.

The fronts generally have a nice stereo spread with the acoustic guitar mostly to one side and electric to the other, but I was a bit disappointed to find that nothing is specifically panned to the rears, other than the occasional synth effect or maybe an extra keyboard part. I suppose this is more in line with acoustic reality, but I was hoping it would be a bit more aggressive with more keyboards or backing vocals in the rears.

What's interesting is that the drums are very prominent in the rear channels, making them sound very expansive as they sort of wrap around the listener. There are moments where it almost sounds like the kit is spread over the entire room. The stereo mix through headphones sounds incredibly flat in comparison.

Some other notes:
  • Unfortunately, it's mastered a bit loud. Not quite as crushed as the In Absentia or Deadwing DVD-As (which I immensely enjoy nonetheless), but still pretty loud.
  • I'm pretty happy with the setlist, but I was rather disappointed to find it was missing my favorite track from the In Absentia/Deadwing period: "Mellotron Scratch". I imagine it'd have to be heavily rearranged due to all the different vocal parts and effects in the studio version.
  • SW's short speech before "Trains" cracked me up. Imagine Porcupine Tree performing "Free Bird"?
  • The "Lazarus" video features Elliot Scheiner's surround mix of that track from the Deadwing DVD-A. Exact same mix/mastering.
  • The extra "Cymbal Song" is discrete fun!
I'm giving it an 8. Unless you despise Porcupine Tree or Steven Wilson, this is definitely worth owning.

"Blackest Eyes":
Screen Shot 2019-04-09 at 5.44.41 PM.png

"Even Less":
Screen Shot 2019-04-09 at 5.49.21 PM.png
 
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