My initial thoughts:
- The buffering and picture quality drop-offs were numerous and disappointing. I had lots of fans chatting with me during the presentation and it seems the freezes and such happened at different times for everyone.
- The violin was clearly very low or not in the mix. As usual. I assume for the "cello intro" to Sarajevo that focused on Asha playing a violin instead, they either played that on the keys like they do with the flute part, or they used a pedal to drop the violin feed down an octave. They used to let the cellist play it for real back in the day - shame that they got rid of this when the whole intro focuses on the "single cello".
- Apart from the lack of violin, I thought it sounded INCREDIBLE.
- It was great to hear so much from the drums - I thought they in particular sounded so much more up front in the mix and it was great to get better views of Jeff Plate doing what he does.
- I liked the sparse spacing that they used - thought it was tasteful. I really appreciated the lack of the carnival-like atmosphere that it has become. Really focused on the band and the music again.
- No dancing!
- The Old City Bar tempo seemed much closer to the album version - I was happy to hear that.
- Took a while to get used to no one tearing around the stage. I don't care either way about that, but it just took me a bit to get used to it.
- The amount of "Executive Producers" and "Producers" listed in the credits was more than the band on stage. lol
- I suppose the West audiences are used to it, but Al's way-over-the-top motions to the band for cues and such is just ridiculous and unnecessary. We get it, Al - YOU are in charge. lol
- The Wizards in Winter performance seemed kinda tacked on at the end, but good to hear it.
- There were full-stop go-to-black breaks between every song, which i am sure made it easier for them to edit and make sure they used the best take of each song
- Never once did Bryan or the band look at the camera - clearly they were instructed not to, but I thought that made it seem kinda off. I know it was supposed to simulate a concert and them playing to a non-existent audience, but I thought it would have made some sense for at least Bryan to look at the camera at times.