Introduction:
When I first began amassing my DVD collection, The Bee Gees- One Night Only was one of the first ones I noticed. Having a few fond Bee Gees memories from my younger days was not enough to overcome my indifference to give this release a chance. I was one of many who gravitated to hard rock and heavy metal music and left the widespread disco scene behind. It was the urge to hear something different after a two week drought from DVD purchasing that ultimately influenced my decision to pick up a copy. Since that time, this DVD has been played more often than any other in my collection due to repeat requests from family and friends. The overall quality is hard to beat.
Track Listing:
You Should Be Dancing, Alone, Massachusetts, To Love Somebody, I've Gotta Get A Message To You, Words, Closer Than Close, Islands In The Stream, One, Our Love (Don't Throw It All Away) (featuring Andy Gibb), Night Fever, More Than A Woman, Still Waters, Lonely Days, Morning Of My Life, New York Mining Disaster 1941, Too Much Heaven, I Can't See Nobody, Run To Me, And The Sun Will Shine, Nights On Broadway, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Heartbreaker, Guilty, Immortality (featuring Celine Dion), Tragedy, I Started A Joke, Grease, Jive Talking', How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin' Alive, You Should Be Dancing
Performance: 10/ 10
The Gibb brothers (Barry, Maurice and Robin) put on an excellent show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, their first U.S. concert in almost ten years. The Bee Gees perform most of their biggest hits as well as a good selection of gold and platinum music they (or Barry) wrote for other popular musicians. Some of their excellent renditions include 'Islands In the Stream' (Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton), Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick) and Guilty (Barbra Streisand). The show opens with a shortened version of 'You Should Be Dancing' and ends with the full song version. In all, the Bee Gees perform 30 different hits, with some shortened versions during their acoustic medley and a combined version of 'Night Fever/ More Than A Woman'. The acoustic medley features the 3 brothers sharing a single microphone with Barry accompanying on acoustic guitar. This is one of the highlights of the concert, showcasing much of their highly acclaimed harmonizing as well as friendly banter and audience interaction. I found nothing to criticize with the brothers' voices, although Barry's falsetto isn't quite what it once was, but this is nitpicking. His baritone has the same power as in his younger days and Robin's voice is as distinctive and emotional as ever. Maurice's friendly and playful personality shines through and his harmonizing abilities are second to none. He sings lead on one song, 'Closer Than Close'. I appreciate Maurice's talent more than ever since his untimely death in 2003. Another highlight is the brothers' tribute to Andy Gibb, with sequential film clips of Andy's life appearing on a huge screen and the Bee Gees' back-up to Andy's recorded voice. Following their acoustic medley, the Bee Gees are joined instate by Celine Dion. This normally serves as my bathroom break, as I've never been a big fan of hers. Still, this is a definite highlight for my female viewers and I???m not saying I don???t think she has a good voice. I simply consider her to be over-rated and would much rather hear Karen Carpenter, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall or even Whitney Houston. To each his own I guess, I find many soprano voices a little annoying. The 'fake orgasm' (as I jokingly refer to it- my girlfriend hates me for it!) she displays at the end of the song cracks me up every time! They follow up this collaboration with some of their biggest hits including an outstanding vocal performance by Robin on 'I Started A Joke' and the Bee Gees accompanying Frankie Valli's recorded voice on 'Grease'. They close the set with the mega-hit 'Stayin Alive' and exit the stage, to return and introduce the band and production members. A high energy performance of 'You Should Be Dancing' follows to close the show. While other bands may have a more elaborate stage show, I found nothing to criticize and had no reservations to giving a perfect score. The Gibb brothers went all out to impress and it worked.
Audio Quality: 9/ 10
I honestly found nothing to complain about on this DVD. The instruments and vocals are clear and very well mixed. For my tastes, I would have preferred a little more bottom end but the sound engineer did a fantastic job. The DTS sound mix is far better than the Dolby 5.1 version, with a more realistic conveyance of concert hall acoustics and deeper bass.
Video Quality: 9/ 10
The video quality for this entire DVD is quite remarkable. The lighting is superb and the stage area remains well focused and crisp throughout the concert. Panning and camera cuts are done tastefully and are well timed. Many modern video mixers could learn a lot from studying this DVD. I find it most annoying to view a new camera angle every few seconds or being forced to see close-ups of things that aren't even relevant to the show. A first- rate video presentation was achieved for this DVD.
Extras/ Final Thoughts:
No extras appear on the disc, but that's okay. You get one hour and fifty minutes of a classic performance by three Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and it's well worth the money. Another version of this DVD has 'This Is Where I Came In: The Official Story of the Bee Gees' included and I highly recommend this release if you care to watch some entertaining footage and interviews covering the Bee Gees' lives and careers.
Enjoy! Curtis
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