Review of Engelbert Humperdinck: Live In Concert

Introduction

He`s been around a while. In fact as long as Tom Jones. In the sixties they shared a manager and argued about who should get what songs. Of course Tom has moved on since then and succeeded in reinventing himself for the younger generation.

Humph it seems has stuck with his original fan base and by the looks of it his original songs.

This DVD is of his 1990 sell out tour which is quite a long time ago folks, so I`d say this was one for the fans.

Video

Move along nothing to see here.

Being a DVD of a videoed performance from a while ago the quality is fairly variable. I can state that the colours are well defined. Particularly noticeable is Humperdink`s incredibly white teeth and his tan now made more famous by David Dickinson. Also noticeable are the hideous 80`s fashions of the backing singers who look like refugees from the Human League.

Audio

Yes he does a little chatting to his lady fans and it`s so corny I expected Morecambe and Wise to come on behind him any minute. Sadly they didn`t
The disc boasts a 5.1 soundtrack and there is an option for those with only the two speakers. I tried this out full blast and the sound doesn`t really trouble the rear speakers much. As the band is a little thin anyway it is only really Hump`s voice that is worth listening too. That taste for synthesisers really was naff. On occasions it does hit the heights of his former glory but generally the material doesn`t do him justice. The timewarp of the 60`s to 70`s now includes some of the ballads from the 80`s.

Did you know he also does impressions -no I don`t know why either.

Song quality-The kindest thing I can bring myself to say is that the song choice is is in keeping with expectations. It includes Lionel Ritchie`s `Still` the classic slow dance of the `80`s. Other more famous tunes are of course his own `Please Release Me` and `The Last Waltz`.

Features

You want more? Well frankly no at this stage I was also singing `please release me let me go`… and watch something else.

Conclusion

This concert was filmed at the Birmingham Hippodrome in 1990 and I don`t think he`s been back. It`s a pretty poor showcase for the `as-advertised` King of Romance. I was prepared to be seduced by his dulcet tones but instead became morbidly fascinated by the colour of his teeth. Having recently seen Humph in an advert with Peter Kay I think he is looking a whole lot better now. Might be me age I suppose I think the Peter Kay ad will do more for Humph`s career than this DVD!

I don`t think this will do much for the sales of DVD either as it a pretty static and boring production. Strictly for the fans this won`t make him any new ones.