ZZ Top: Live At Montreux 2013 (Blu-ray Review)
With an unchanged line-up stretching back to 1969 and global album sales in excess of 50 million, ZZ Top continue to delight fans around the world with brilliant live concerts and great music. The band has made a number of visits to Montreux over the years, and this concert from the 2013 Festival is undoubtedly one of their finest live performances. The set list blends tracks from early seventies albums such as ‘Tres Hombre’ and ‘Fandango’ through their eighties blockbuster period with Eliminator and Afterburner and up to their most recent release and return to their blues roots with ‘La Futura’. The middle section of the concert features a jazz-blues tribute to the late Montreux Festival founder Claude Nobs with guest appearances by Mike Flanigin on Hammond Organ and Van Wilks on guitar. ZZ Top, the ‘lil’ ol’ band from Texas , are rocking the blues as strongly as ever!
The Show 
ZZ Top have been rocking’ and rollin’ for 40+ years now and have absolutely no desire to stop now. In this latest long form Blu-ray presentation that little ‘ol band from Texas is back in the saddle again as they fly to the other side of the world to play at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Yes, the Jazz part is a bit misleading, because you get artists from every genre playing at that event. It’s almost like a formality nowadays. Alice Cooper even played Montreux.
ZZ Top: Live At Montreux 2013 is the band’s second Blu-ray release under the Eagle Rock banner and I am happy to say that the show is electric. The boys bring out the classic tracks like Gimmie All Your Lovin’, Legs, Sharp Dressed Man and inject the old with a bit of new before spinning it back around with a Hendrix tune. The set list also features a couple of track from their most recent album La Futura in addition to some guest appearances by Mike Flannigan and Van Wilks as they pay tribute to Montreux founder Claude Nobs.
Please keep in mind that if you’ve never seen a ZZ Top don’t expect the boys to run around on stage like crazed maniacs. It’s not that kind of show. ZZ Top are the epitome of cool and swagger, They strut around jamming away at their guitars while Mr. Beard, the man with NO beard, keeps precision time behind the drum kit. They do this while remaining cool. Gibbons is a phenomenal guitar player and there’s a reason why Jimi Hendrix declared him his favorite guitar player back all those years ago. ZZ Top’s cover of Foxey Lady is stellar.
If you already have the Live in Texas Blu-ray from a few years ago then ZZ Top: Live At Montreux 2013 will make the perfect companion piece and awesome double header. Crack open a cold one (must be 21 and over) and let the jams take you away!
Setlist
Got Me Under Pressure
Waitin’ For The Bus
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Gimmie All Your Lovin’
Pincushion
I Gotsta Get Paid
Flyin’ High
Kiko
I Loved The Woman
Foxey Lady
My Head’s In Mississippi
Chartreuse
Sharp Dressed Man
Legs
Tube Snake Boogie
La Grange
Tush
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080i
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Clarity/Detail: As is customary with Eagle Rock music programming ZZ Top: Live At Montreux 2013 is presented in 1080i, because it’s shot with high speed cameras just like they do with sporting events, which is why you get a native 1080i. Depending on your home theater settings your system may or may not automatically up convert that 1080i to a 108op image. The difference there is negligible.
Depth: The stage design is nice and dark and you’ll feel like you’re the fourth member of the band…or even a roadie.
Black Levels: Black levels are fine, with only a dab of crush that almost goes unnoticeable.
Color Reproduction: The stage is dark but hints of bright colors peck the stage every once in a while. Banding was absent drink these miscellaneous shots.
Flesh Tones: The boys look great, sharp, and healthy!
Noise/Artifacts: I didn’t notice any debris or dirt while watching the show.
Audio 
Audio Format(s): DTS-HD MA 5.1, LPCM Stereo
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, (interviews only)
Dynamics: Two lossless audio tracks are presented for your listening pleasure, as most Eagle Rock titles are, and I went ahead and switched on the 5.1 track, because I want to feel like I’m in down in the front. The surround sound track is very dynamic and powerful and will wake you up if you need that extra push. The instruments come alive and everything feels nicely balanced. It was a real treat to listen to the track and not have it get bogged down by any artificial tweaking in postproduction. It’s downright lovely.
Low Frequency Extension: If the LFE had been pushed to its limits in terms of quality then this would have been a clear reference track but unfortunately it’s the LFE that’s just a slight bit off that reins the scale back a bit.
Surround Sound Presentation: The crowd is into the show and they can be heard in through the rear channels. Ambience is handled well and there is no reverberation or echo between the sound fields in the front mixing up with the sound bouncing around in the back.
Dialogue Reproduction: The vocal are powerfully centered and you’ll be singing along in no time!
Extras
There are only two bonus features and they are extremely short in their running time.
- Interview with Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill (HD) – Here’s a very short interview with two of the three members of the band as they talk about the history of band in addition to playing Montreux.
- Billy Gibbons on the Montreux Jazz Festival (HD) – Here’s amore in-depth conversation with Billy Gibbons as he gives a bit more detail about the festival and what brought them out to play.
Summary 
ZZ Top: Live At Montreux 2013 is an excellent Blu-ray, with amazing video and sound but I do wish the extras had been beefed up a bit like they were on the previous Eagle Rock release a few years ago. Either way you slice it this Blu-ray makes a great companion piece to that previous release I just mentioned. If you’re a fan of the Top then you know exactly what you have to do, so get on that.
Order ZZ Top: Live At Montreux 2013 on Blu-ray!
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