Why So Blu?

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 (Blu-ray Review)

In the continuing pursuit of music excellence, Eagle Rock has gone ahead and released the now legendary performance of The Rolling Stones from their unique Some Girls tour of 1978. I say unique, because the tour was a roller coster ride of stadiums, arenas, and halls. This Texas show had an audience of only 2,500, so that’s a bit odd to see, considering they were playing crowds of up to 90,000 people. Some Girls has been given a full restoration, according to the enclosed booklet. The video and audio have been remastered in high definition, so let us see how the legendary band’s performance holds up today.  

 

 

 

The Film 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 was their stop in Texas to celebrate and perform tunes from the their newest album Some Girls. It was smack in the middle of a hot Texas summer, so what a way to cool down (or heat up, depending on who you ask) from the weather. The Some Girls show is a pretty stripped down show in terms of grand special effects and what not. It was the end of the 70’s and the musical climate was about the change all over again, but The Stones weren’t gonna go without a fight.

The Some Girls Blu-ray is a 17 song set that features 7 songs from the Some Girls album which was sort of unprecedented at the time. Most bands toured and still tour to this day playing 2-3 new songs from their latest albums. The Stones played 7 songs from Some Girls album. The songs that rounded out the set weren’t even some of their most popular hits; only a few were.

Taking those factors in consideration how would The Stones go about not losing the crowd? Adapt or die. That’s what they did and it’s all in the stage presence. When Mick Jagger hits the stage in his mash up outfit that consists of a white sports jacket, shredded t-shirt, leather pants, and canvas shoes, you can totally tell he’s prepared for the future. He took all of these influences that were popular at the time and used it to amplify the power of rock ‘n roll. The Some Girls show doesn’t have any punk rock songs, but does have  plenty of attitude.

Mick Jagger has the swagger and bravado to lead the band all while never missing a beat or lick. He’s like a possessed preacher laying down all the tunes with tons of energy and attitude. The rest of the band is right there with him to rock out. Eagle Rock has done a great service to the fans of rock by remastering this now legendary, but obscure show. I’m glad I was able to discover it for myself on the Blu-ray format.

 

 

Set List

Let It Rock

All Down The Line

Honky Tonk Woman

Star Star

When The Whip Comes Down

Beast of Burden

Miss You

Imagination

Shattared

Respectable

Far Away Eyes

Love In Vain

Tumbling Dice

Happy

Sweet Little 16

Brown Sugar

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Video 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 is presented in 1080i, 16×9, and in what appears to be an actual 1.66:1 widescreen format. Shot almost 34 years ago in 16mm, I will go on record and say that Some Girls ’78 looks as good as it has ever looked. Colors are bold and appear vibrant. Black levels look deep and inky, but contrast suffers just a bit. Softness also creeps in here and there, but it’s mostly due to the foggyness and hazyness of the show itself. Fog machines, smoke machines, props, etc… Close ups of the members do reveal detail and you can tell that they haven’t been DNR scrubbed to hell. That’s much appreciated. I’m happy to see concerts on Blu-ray that were originally shot on film. It gives the show a certain sense of gravitas, if you will.

Audio 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. For this review we went ahead and tested out the full lossless DTS track. One word: Holy crap! I can safely say that Some Girls ’78 is one of the best sounding Eagle Rock releases I have ever heard! Give the sound mixers a raise, because they went all out. Vocals are center channel driven, and guitars stay focused on the left and right channels, but the bass levels are what take the cake. Why have I not paid more attention to Bill Wyman? Dude is freakin’ amazing! Rear channels capture ambient noise in addition to some of the music that naturally travel from the front to the back. This is a great audio track.

Special Features 

The Rolling Stone: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 has a few extras that will delight more of the hardcore fan base. There’s a recent interview with Mick Jagger where he candidly talks about the Some Girls album and subsequent tour. It’s a very cool and honest interview. There’s an old Saturday Night Live clip where Mick is interviewed by Dan Aykroyd on his “Tomorrow” show – that clip also features the band playing a few tunes. The special features wrap up with Geraldo Rivera doing a piece on the band for ABC’s 20/20.

• Mick Jagger Interview 2011 (HD)
• Saturday Night Live: “Tomorrow” with Dan Aykroyd and Mick Jagger (SD)
• Beast of Burden / Respectable / Shattered (SD)
• ABC News 20/20 Interviews With The Stones (SD)

Final Thoughts 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 is a pretty cool concert and considering that up until the Blu-ray release there really wasn’t a decent way to experience the concert film properly. The boys had already been rocking audiences for about 16 years up until that point, so seeing this show on high definition before the turn of the decade was neat as hell. There was that transitional period in rock in the late 70’s, but as well all know, The Rolling Stones made it unscathed…for the most part. The Blu-ray of Some Girls is a winner.

 

 

 

 

 

Order The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 on Blu-ray!