Nirvana: Live at Paramount [Blu-ray] [2011][Region Free]

Excellent! The truth is, ANY good footage of Nirvana is a worthwile addition to your DVD collection and this one is a good one.
The sound is as good as you can expect from a Nirvana gig, seeing as they were never a highly polished band by choice. And the picture quality is good too. Kurt plays well, another bonus, and plays a great setlist of songs. If you are a fan and don't already own this - BUY IT! 9/10 five stars etc :)

After allowing my right index finger to hover over the "buy" button for the £75 Nevermind 20th Anniversary box set that includes this film but in DVD format, I decided to indulge in just a little taste. After pre-ordering, the excitement I experienced reminded me of the release of the live Reading festival DVD & CD. Those who purchased either may have like myself been slightly disappointed. Although those I know who attended Reading on that August Sunday back in 92 either became true believers or simply had their faith cemented for the Church of Nirvana, the reproduction quality for Album & DVD was not "quite" there. This was down to Kurt who had started his descent into his suicidal drug abyss. Dave & Krist's performance were as tight as ever but as I was to learn from certain biographies both official and unofficial, they had not rehearsed as a group for at least a month before the reading set. Indeed the show nearly did not go ahead. Throughout the Reading DVD there were moments when you could see the odd flash in Kurt's playing, singing & general body language which seemed (to me) to remind him of what made him fall in love with live music and this is what probably ignited the crowd to create the atmosphere which helped produce a concert which was widely regarded as a high contributing factor to the band's "Seminal" acclaim. And I love every moment of both DVD & CD! I guess after so many years I wanted just a bit too much pleasure from a source that only had so much to give and at the end of the day is simply no longer with us.

Or so I thought?

Nirvana Live At The Paramount whether it be on disc, DVD or Blu-Ray must, I repeat MUST be amongst the collection of any true Nirvana fan. It is brilliant! Furthermore it is the band at their peak! Yes there were plenty more great shows. Yes In Utero was technically better than Nevermind but the demons that would eventually consume Kurt just didn't seem apparent during the paramount gig and Kurt produced a performance more solid than any I had seen from any other live show footage except maybe MTV Unplugged but unlike Unplugged in New York, he was having fun at the same time. Even Teen Spirit was performed at a level that was practically faultless, Kurt's Guitar Solo and all! The faithful will know where I'm coming from with that point, as over the next few years the band HATED playing that track, even to point of becoming slightly arrogant. Like for one show where they had not included it on their set list but could sense that a large section of the audience had come for that track and pretty much nothing else, so they played the famous opening riff and predictably drew the roar from the crowd then cut it off after 5 seconds and moved on to the scheduled next track, and on a few shows where they were told that they had to play it or their fee would get docked, Kurt simply butchered it.

Not here though! The owners of this Disc will get to see & hear Smells Like Teen Spirit an 18 other classics played with pride, shot on 16mm film, played back in Dolby 5:1 , Hi-Def 1080p BLU-RAY!

Enjoy!

And for those who do purchase, please leave a review as I feel slightly embarrassed being the first, in that I feel it deserves more than what my humble literary skills can provide.

And last of all, dont forget, White boy funk sucks!!!

I have waited YEARS to see this concert after the clips included in the "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!" VHS (yes, VHS) from years ago gave me hope the whole concert will one day be released.

I was bought this for my birthday at the start of this month and after reading the review on blu-ray.com, I was majorly disappointed to find the audio sync was out, just as had been stated in their review.

The video quality is stunning. The audio is stunning. They're just wildly out of sync, VERY much so. Such a shame.

I must state that whilst a lot of people have complained about the issue, some people haven't noticed it. Also, these issues are NOT present on the DVD from what I have heard nor the many TV broadcasts (including one I watched last night on BBC Four during their 'Nirvana night').

Universal released a statement, which seems to have helped no one with this issue.

"If you are experiencing issues with playback of your Nirvana "Live At The Paramount" Blu-Ray, it is likely due to a Settings issue. The master and test discs have been QC'd numerous times on multiple players to confirm that they are correct. Here are some trouble-shooting solutions to consider:
1. Please make sure your player is running the latest firmware available from the manufacturer of your device. If not up to date, please update according to the manufacturer's guidelines.
2. Please try to power down your player (reboot) as this sometimes clears the cache of the player and remedies a playback issue.
3. If you are using a separate audio system for sound, please check to see if your system supports the audio configuration listed on the disc's packaging.
4. Verify the issue exists without any enhanced playback processing such as 120hz, 240hz or 600hz refresh rates or motion vector processing. Please consult your player's manual and/or manufacturer's technical support if you are not familiar with making these setting changes.
5. Check the setting on your audio receiver (if applicable) to verify the correct sound field is displayed for the audio configuration selected on the disc. If not, try different selections to see if this affects the playback.
6. Please consult your player's trouble-shooting guide or manufacture's technical support for any further steps.

Please note that great care was given to ensure a quality Blu-Ray disc was created. Audio/video synchronization playback issues have not been replicated at the manufacturer or releasing company testing facilities on multiple players."

I truly hope Universal issue a recall/fix for this ASAP, it's a stunning concert, but the disc seems to have a serious authoring problem.