Chris de Burgh - The Munich Concerts
Format PAL, Hi-Fi Stereo
Catalogue Number AM831
Producer A&M Records
Release Date 1985
Playing Time 90 minutes
Ship To Shore
Sight and
Touch
The Traveller
Much More than This
Man on the Line
Borderline
Spanish Train
A Spaceman Came Travelling
Patricia The Stripper
Moonlight and Vodka
Sailor
Transmission
Ends
The Head and the Heart
The Revolution
Waiting for the Hurricane
Don't Pay The Ferryman
The Ecstasy of Flight(I Love The Night)
High on Emotion
The Getaway
Where Peaceful Waters Flow
The Munich Concerts were recorded over three nights in the 10,000 seat Olympiahalle at the climax of a sixty date sold-out European Tour. This video represents a milestone in Chris de Burgh's career. The years of honing and tuning his concert craft find Chris and his band at their musical peak. This energetic and vibrant concert should move and excite Chris de Burgh fans old and new and those yet to discover the magic of…Chris de Burgh in concert.
REVIEW by Dave Doohan
The Munich Concerts Video opens with Chris backstage where he introduces the band. There are also views of Munich and of the crowd entering the arena. There is already a sense of the energy that this video reproduces so well. One thing to remember about this video is that, because it was recorded over 3 nights, the songs are fitted on the tape not in concert order, but in convenient for the video order.
The opening song is Ship To Shore. In contrast to the Canadian Concert this crowd is straight up and into a (seemingly well praticed) routine of waving lights and candles around. After a quick hello in German we are listening to Sight And Touch. The Traveller is performed here with much more energy than is apparent from the Canadian video. The whole stadium is clapping rhythmically. Much More Than This is next, and offer a great contrast to the Traveller, and this is then followed by an absolutely exceptional performacne of Man On The Line. It's obvious to see that Chris is really enjoying himself. The playing of Borderline initially receives a lukewarm welcome (I Wonder why..hmm!), but then the lights the audience are holding are raised once more and this time the video features the full concert version of the song complete with "spontaneous" applause in the right place.
Spanish Train, Spaceman and then Patricia follow. What can be said about Patricia - she makes another appearance but this time she is wearing more than in the Canadian video! The highlight of the video for me however is the performance next of Moonlight & Vodka with Chris dressed in Trench Coat, Cap and Ray Bans and he is really acting up the part. Even if you aren't a fan of this song, the performance of it here can't fail to impress you.
Other highlights include a sparklingly clear rendition of Transmission Ends and a superb performance of The Revolution. It is interesting to compare this version with that on the Canadian video - it is soon obvious that Chris has a rapidly developing concert art. By the time we get to Ecstasy of Flight the audience are in a screaming frenzy (they haven't actually sat down during the concert yet!), and even Chris needs to take in some pure oxygen after his performance of High On Emotion. Peaceful waters closes this magnificent video.
If you only ever intend buying one CdeB video, make sure this is it!