Up All Night - Live Tour

VIDEO:

One Direction: Up All Night (The Live Tour) arrives at blu ray with MPEG-4 AVC 1080i 1.78:1 encode. This concert was filmed at the Bournemouth International Centre on January 3, 2012. 1D was here in Toronto, performing for 2 nights at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on May 29 and 31…both sold out (98%)! The video is generally soft, but with occasional sharp images. Colours are also generally subdued, but they do pop occasionally, like the red shirt and later jacket worn by Niall Horan, and the very colourful sofa prop during the song Gotta Be You. Skin tones are very natural. Images can be sharp sometimes, like the fake snow flakes in the song One Thing. In the Extra segment, to watch the three videos What Makes You Beautiful, Gotta Be You and One Thing on blu ray is priceless. (3.5/5)

AUDIO:

This concert comes with DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and PCM stereo. I personally prefer the DTS track with surround sound. Despite the constant screaming, the vocals came across crisp and clear. You can clearly hear their beautiful harmony. Another outstanding feature of 1D is the fact that each guy can hold any song on his own, as demonstrated in the Medley section, where I Gotta Feeling (Black-eyed Peas), Stereo Hearts (Gymn Class Heroes), Valerie (Amy Winehouse) and Torn (Natalie Imbruglia) were performed by individual cast. The band was very tight, with great drum beat. (4/5)

CONTENT:

The song listing (with chart position and year) is as follows:
01 Na Na Na (Ireland 27/2011)
02 Stand Up (Australia 80/2011)
03 I Wish
04 I Gotta Feeling/Stereo Hearts
05 Valerie/Torn
06 Moments (UK 118/2011; Australia 60/2011)
07 Gotta Be You (UK 3/2011; US 124/2011)
08 More Than This (UK 86/2012)
09 Up All Night (US 113/2011)
10 Tell Me A Lie
11 Everything About You
12 Use Somebody
13 One Thing (UK 1/2012; US 39/2012)
14 Save You Tonight
15 What Makes You Beautiful (UK 1/2011; US 4/2011)
16 I Want

ONE DIRECTION:

One Direction is an English-Irish group, consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson, all cute, fresh and innocent-looking, plus very talented with great voice. I was surprised to find that with such current popularity, One Direction actually was only third on the X-Factor in 2010 in UK, behind the winner Matt Cardle and runner-up Rebecca Ferguson. Matt Cardle is doing well in UK with a recent No. 1 CD, but 1D is definitely much more popular all over the world!

During the segment between More Than This and Up All Night, the boys were posting the tweets from fans within the concert with their exact seat number. One little trivia that I picked up is that one fan asked what toothpaste the boys are using since their teeth are so white…and the answer (pre-arranged?) was Colgate!! So, eat your hearts out, Crests!

ACHIEVEMENTS:

1D entered the Guiness Book of World Record because it was the first time a group from UK would enter the Billboard 200 at Number 1 with their debut release. That's an honour that even the Beatles never accomplished upon their arrival.

Another record was made when Up All Night DVD, released in May 2012, would also debut at Number 1, outselling the number 1 record on Billboard 200. Being a blu ray fan, I resisted buying the DVD. Finally, the blu ray was released.

Both of their two albums debut at Number 1 on Billboard 200: Up All Night and Take Me Home. I bought both in the deluxe yearbook edition and am very happy with the purchase. Besides bonus tracks, there are tons of gorgeous pictures.

In the Year-End issue of Billboard magazine, where all the 2012 charts are listed, 1D's picture is prominently displayed on the front cover. They are also listed as the Top New Artist for 2012, beating out Carly Rae Jepsen, Gotye and The Wanted. The future is very bright indeed.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Although the video is not top-notched (not as sharp and detailed when compared to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga), the audio is excellent with lots of fidelity. In the end, who cares….just enjoy the experience. Just like I am aching for the latest blu ray concert by Rihanna (not the soon-to-be-released Loud Tour, but the current tour including the hit Diamonds), I can hardly wait for the next 1D’s concert release with so many new songs to be added, like Live While You’re Young, Kiss You, Little Things, etc., etc. This 71 minute concert is a totally enjoyable experience for both young (of course) and old (like myself). This set is highly recommended.

If you are a young 1D fan, you don’t need to read my review. This review is more for your parents. If you have young children, your purchase will bring lots of joy and peace to your household. Guaranteed!!

My daughter loves this DVD. Every day, she watches it. She received it a month ago and I think she watched it at least 60 times. She's a huge fan of 1D and she bring the portable DVD player outside to watch it with her friends.Up All Night - Live Tour

Great gig from the boys! Gives you the vibe of the show as if you were there yourself! If you are a 1D fan, you won't regret this purchase :)