THE MOVIE

The Main Event was a concert spectacular that toured the main cities of Australia in the late 90s and is currently touring regional areas of Australia. The performance features three of Australia’s most well known singers, John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow, performing songs that made them famous as well as other well known favorites.

The songs list is as follows:

OPENING
Overture
Age of Reason
Phantom of the Opera
A Little More Love
Age of Reason

ANTHONY
Prologue
Music Of The Night
What Kind of Fool Am I / World on a String/ I've Got You Under My Skin
This is the Moment

OLIVIA
Magic
If You Love Me
Precious Love
Hopelessly Devoted To You

JOHN
That's Freedom
And I Love Her
Burn For You
Everytime You Cry
Have A Little Faith

OLIVIA
Don't Cry For Me Argentina

OLIVIA AND JOHN
Please Don't Ask Me
You're The One That I Want
Two Strong Hearts

OLIVIA AND ANTHONY
Not Gonna Give In To It
The Long and Winding Road
Country Roads
I Honestly Love You
Love is a Gift

JOHN AND ANTHONY
Help
That's Life / Bad Habits
Granada

FINALE
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
Summer Nights
If Not For You
Let Me Be There
Touch of Paradise
Raindrops
Ohio
Joelene
Hearts On Fire
Don't You Know It's Magic

ENCORE
You’re the Voice

This is a wonderful concert, full of great music and wonderful singing, each song is a delight to listen to. Whilst I am not the biggest fan of John Farnham or Olivia Newton-John I enjoyed hearing them sing. I am a huge Anthony Warlow fan and hence enjoyed his portion of the concert the most, he was in great voice. There is definitely something here for everyone and this disc will make a great addition to anyone’s DVD collection.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

A great concert on DVD needs a great visual presentation and this one has it all. Presented full frame this is a wonderful visual presentation that really allows you to see everything, from the smallest facial expression to the people in the crowd.
Beautifully clear and well defined there are no blemishes to speak of and all of the colors are strong and rich. Just look at Olivia Newton-John’s red dress to see what I mean.

The thing that stands out most about this DVD is how it deals with black. As in many other concerts there is a lot of black present. Sometimes this can be a bit of a problem, but not in this case. Blacks are strong and deep and there is a great level of shadow detail. Every detail of the performer’s clothes as well as the orchestra can be seen. It’s probably better than being there.
This is a great visual presentation that is a real treat to watch. Someone obviously went to a lot of trouble to ensure everything was right on the night so that the best pictures could be taken.

Audio:

The single most important thing about musical DVDs is the sound tracks. This DVD features two options, a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and a DTS 5.1 one. Regardless of the sound track you choose you are in for some exquisite sound quality and a great listening experience.

Both sound tracks allow you to here every little sound in great detail. From the crowds clapping (which surrounds you) to the softest singing through to every note played by the orchestra. Everything comes across crystal clear and it makes the songs that much more enjoyable. A perfect example is Music of the Night. During this song the soft music is ever present whilst not being overpowering and all of Mr Warlow’s wonderful enunciation is there to be heard and appreciated.

This sound track isn’t very bass heavy, which is good, as many of the concerts I have watched recently on DVD have tended to over rely on this and it can sometimes overpower the singers. I could go on for ages about these sound tracks but I’ll save you the time, all you need to know is that they are fantastic and this DVD has, easily, one of the best audio presentations of a concert I have heard for a while.

THE EXTRAS

There aren’t any ‘extras’ in the usual sense on this DVD. However, this disc does feature songs not originally telecast when this was shown on TV. It also features some ‘behind the scenes’ footage of the three stars. This plays after the encore and isn’t a separate feature. The behind the scenes feature is good to watch and shows the three stars joking around and having fun. It also looks at the background of the show.

SUMMARY

This is a must have for lovers of music. There is something here for everyone and the DVD is a gem. If you weren’t able to get there (or indeed if you did and would like to relive it) this is as close as you can get, and it’s fabulous.