The Rolling Stones: Welcome To Shepherd's Bush 4K Ultra HD

"The Rolling Stones: Welcome To Shepherd's Bush" Celebrates 25 years of this 1999 hometown club show featuring rare deep cuts. “Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush,” proclaimed Mick Jagger. “I’ve been waiting to say that for a little bit.” With that opening introduction, shortly before launching into Shattered, The Rolling Stones gave an inspired performance during this June 8, 1999, club show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London befor ,1,800 fans. Marking a return to what the liner notes term “the nostalgic intensity of a compact Stones show with the exciting echoes of Eel Pie Island and the Crawdaddy Club,” two iconic London venues where the band made its mark in the halcyon ’60’s of the British Invasion, this “secret gig” took place just several days before two sold-out shows at the 70,000-seat Wembley Stadium. The shows followed the release of the band’s 1998 live album, No Security, a series of North American gigs between January and April that year before returning to the U.K. The star-studded audience at the gig marking The Rolling Stones’ homecoming included everyone from Anita Pallenberg to Aerosmith, Jerry Hall to Jon Bon Jovi, along with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Bob Geldof, Pete Townshend and Lenny Kravitz.

The 90-minute set featured several rarely played deep cuts, including the only known performance to date of Moon Is Up, from Voodoo Lounge, along with Melody, the Black and Blue selection performed only once before, more than two decades previously, at the famous 1977 El Mocambo show in Toronto which was officially released in 2022. The live performance of Voodoo Lounge’s Brand New Car was one of only seven times the band included it in their set, the last back in 2002. Another highlight featured opening act Sheryl Crow joining the group on-stage for a raucous Honky Tonk Women.

For those who just saw the Rolling Stones live on their recently completed, critically acclaimed Hackney Diamonds stadium tour, Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush offers an intimate glimpse of the group a quarter century ago, returning to their native turf with a vengeance.

“It’s good to be home, I’m telling you now,” said Keith before leaning into his solo numbers You Got the Silver and Before They Make Me Run. “It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, y’know what I mean?” A statement equally true then and now.

Track Listing:

Shattered
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
Respectable
All Down The Line
Some Girls
Melody
I Got The Blues
Brand New Car
Moon Is Up
Saint Of Me
Honky Tonk Women (with Sheryl Crow)
Band Introductions
You Got The Silver
Before They Make Me Run
Route 66
You Got Me Rocking
Tumbling Dice
Brown Sugar

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

The 1.78:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD Dolby Vision/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on 16 mm film stock and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate. The production is an intimate stage setting with flash lighting overhead and spots directed onto each performer. Between tunes the stage lighting goes virtually to black and during some tunes the backdrop is black with frontal performer lighting. Film grain is virtually absent for a very clean appearance. Picture quality is satisfying though the imagery is generally softly focused. Color fidelity is pleasing with natural flesh tones impacted by lighting changes. HDR contrast is decent. Black levels and shadows are natural and white levels appear bright, such as the white highlights on Keith Richards' and Ronnie Wood's guitars as well as Charlie Watts's snare drum head and Mick Jagger' white shirt. Resolution is on the soft side though generally the imagery is acceptably clear and filmic. This is a wonderful upfront Stones concert that will thrill fans. (Gary Reber)

The repurposed Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is preferred to the repurposed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. Stereo sound stage imaging is quite good with a wide frontal spread with the sound extending to the directionalized surrounds. The audience especially energizes the surrounds for exciting aggressive soundfield envelopment. Bass drum and bass guitar low frequencies are tight. Transient response is excellent. Both surround options offer nicely spacious imaging and dynamics of the music, and all three options offer excellent fidelity. Mick Jagger's vocals cut through with excellent intelligibility. Backup signers, piano/organ and the four-member horn section blend well with the guitars.

The Immersive Sound element is an low-level extension of the stage performances and roaring audience applause, which effectively enhances the overall dimensionality of the soundfield.

This is a terrific sounding holosonic® spherical surround concert by The Rolling Stones. (Gary Reber)