Review of Widespread Panic: Live At Oak Mountain

Introduction

I`ve been sent umpteen music releases to review recently, and Widespread Panic is the first one by a band that I`d never heard of.

The band are described by AMG as being a rock group in the Jam Bands/American Trad Rock/Southern Rock style. What this translates to is quite mellow rock music with plenty of instrumental sections and good melody.

This two disc release features over two hours of concert footage, split about 40%/60% over the two discs.

Video

Surprise surprise, another Sanctuary disc that features NTSC video (and again is complete with Federal warning screen). Apparently the press releases confirm that the retail versions will also have NTSC video, so if your equipment is not multi-standard, stay well clear. This is a major black-mark and shows a total lack of effort by Sanctuary for the UK market.

As I`ve said before, it`s a while since I`ve seen a concert with an interesting stage show, and this is no exception with just lighting effects and the band strutting their stuff.

As with the other Sanctuary DVDs I`ve reviewed recently, the picture quality is average, nothing special, and nothing to cause concern (aside from the NTSC of course).

Audio

The soundtrack comes in a choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 or Dolby Digital 5.1.

I listened to some tracks with both soundtracks to make a comparison and the Dolby Digital 5.1 version is superior, adding extra depth to the music, although on this disc, the Dolby Digital 2.0 track is pretty good with plenty of range.

The overall sound quality was above average, with a little compression evident in the mix, but the vocals clear and well defined.

Features

Extras consist of interviews and a photo gallery. The interviews run for about sixteen minutes and are reasonably interesting. Irritatingly, there is a special features menu item on disc 2, pressing it tells you that the features are on disc 1. Why have the button at all?

Conclusion

Overall, Widespread Panic proved to be surprisingly entertaining, the blend of mellow rock and melody was quite pleasing to the ear, and nice to listen to after a long day at the office. The visuals are average, and yet again the lack of PAL video is a major annoyance. The soundtrack is pretty good, and tthe extras are pretty thin on the ground, but there is sufficient content to provide reasonable value for money.