From the Vault: Hampton Coliseum [Blu-ray]

I love love love this concert! This was the first Stones concert tour I had even a tiny shot at attending and unfortunately I couldn't afford it at the time, and was before I had music biz contacts.They were at the Rose Bowl in '81 and I remember the HOT local rock FM station of the time in LA, KMET 94.7, broadcast it LIVE! I still have the cassette tape I recorded on my old gear!I remember all the controversy at the time because the Jovan company paid $1million to sponsor the tour and that was the first time a "big business" paid to sponsor a big tour. There were so many outraged critics that accused The Stones of selling out!! Sadly now corporate sponsorship is the norm. That's not a judgment per se; times are what they are.The high energy level the guys show for this concert is very contagious. I defy any Stones fan to not rock out to this!I especially love the bit at the end when Keith....well I don't want to spoil anything but let's say he stepped up and did his bit for stage security...LOL!I'm so glad some of these older concerts are being released "from the vault". It gives all Stones fans a chance to relive old memories or see them "live" in those days for the first time.Umm as for the technical aspects I have no complaints. I play it through my home theater audio system via my Blu-Ray player and it sounds great to me. Looks damn good, too for a show from 1981!

This makes the 10th version/copy whatever of this show I have collected since it was first played 12/18/81. I have tapes, tapes made into CD's, VHS copies, VHS copies made into DVD's of it. It should be pretty clear that I LOVE THIS ROLLING STONES SHOW!! I have loved it since the night I listened to it on WLS radio. I have suffered thru some the technical problems the broadcast had with Shattered and Black Limos. Now, FINALLY after waiting patiently for 33 year yeas...I said 33 YEARS!! The Stones finally got around to releasing this in a pristine format. When I saw it was being released I pre-ordered it and the day it got here it went into the Blu-Ray player. We had a wonderful time celebrating Keith's birthday 12/18/14 watching this in all it's glory. The picture is great...not perfect because the original format was not digital...but that's okay. One thing I really like is this video is not plagued by those seizure inducing 1.5 scene switches we see so much of in today's concert videos. There's plenty of shots and varying angles but at a more relaxed pacing. The sound is spectacular and can be listened to in 5.1 or stereo. I have fun switching back and forth comparing the SQ's. IMO this is one of the best later day Rolling Stone's shows. This is before they had their fight and took 1983-1989 off before returning to the road with the new orchestrated sound and clearly choreographed moves. This will get loads of play time at my house.

I guess it was to long ago, and a stage as big as basketball court and a wired up singer skipping around shaking his head and hands ain’t my cup of tea no matter who he is!

Really good show, with a great set list - blue ray looks good too, as this show was originally shot for TV. Some of this footage i think may have been used in "Let's Spend The Night Together" and some of it was definitely used in MTV videos (eg. "Going to a Go Go). It's funny that at the time, this was thought to be late-period Stones (with everyone not being sure when they'd tour again, since they were pushing 40 at the time), and now is considered middle-period Stones, now that so much time has passed. This show is the one where the fan rushes on stage during the encore and Keith nearly kills the guy with a swing of his guitar. If other Stones archive stuff is this good (i have to check out the 75 Forum disc too), this should be a really worthwhile series.

I slightly prefer Hal Ashby's "Let's Spend The Night Together" which is a more professional presentation of the band from the same 1981 tour but this one is pretty good. The interesting aspect of this one is you get the arena version of their show versus the stadium version in Ashby's film. The performances are great here. Also, this one includes footage of Keith clunking an overzealous fan over the head with his guitar during the encore. I am not sure you need the Blue Ray version as the sound is excellent in the standard DVD format and there are quality limitations of the source video tape.

Unlike this DVD's ugly sister, the one with the L.A. show, this DVD rocks hard. The band is tight. It's easily the superior live DVD video of the band available. You can see it for free on Youtube, along with a lot of other shows, including the great pay per view show with Lady Ga Ga, John Mayer, Bruce, and that Texas blues master. Jagger's stage performance were at a peak during this period. I'll never forget him jumping around Anaheim in 81. Unlike the L.A. shows, Charlie's beat isn't buried by conga drums. Jagger's latest announcement teased a return in 2015. I'm hoping they return to San Bernardino for one of their shows. They played their first American gig there in 1964.

The picture (Blu-Ray) edition hasn't been mastered to the digital specs we have in our Televisions today so this is definitely lacking. The only available surround option is a DTS version which doesn't sound like album quality, but does really give you the feeling you're attending the concert. A real "live" feeling. The performance itself is outstanding, nothing more to say there. If you're a real fan, this is for you. If you're an audiophile or casual collector, maybe not so much.

Having been about 50 feet from the stage for this show probably taints my review, but here's goes: This is the Stones at a wonderful time in their existence and it's a great video. I have long owned a bootleg video tape and it was grainy and the sound was poor. It's great to have the actual show as a keepsake! The only thing that would have made it better was if they included the one song from George Thorogood that was on the original pay-per-view video, but that's no biggie. Plus, the price was great on this item!

Great product and great seller.

A solid 140 minutes of The Rolling Stones plus some backstage stuff. DTS mix included. Too bad it is a standard definition [so you will see the black borders on the left and right] and certain footage could not be cleaned up. Only other negative issue is the lack of any extras. On the positive side, these guys were 30+ years younger - so very few wrinkles.

les Stones à leur meilleur

Great sound and video

This is a very good Rolling Stones concert video from 1981.The sound is very good, the camera work and editing are well done and the video looks good.The main problem with the video is that it has black vertical bands down each side. But that's a relatively minor issue.Overall, a very good Stones concert video. Good sound, good camera work and editing and a great Rolling Stones performance.