This week's music DVD releases reviewed
DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES
Live at the Troubadour Shout Factory ***
They were the blue-eyed soul/ pop boys from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Oates was the small, dark-haired guitarist the lads wanted to emulate, Hall the taller, blonde-coiffeured singer the ladies wanted to date. Despite being hit-free from 1990 onwards, the duo have continued releasing records and touring them, and this DVD, directed with style by Conor McAnally, captures them ploughing through their sizeable back catalogue of songs ( Rich Girl, Maneater, I Can't Go for That, etc) in the stuffed confines of LA's The Troubadour. Given the act's 40-plus years of experience, you'd expect the performance to be precision-tooled. It is this and more, but the surprise is that there's still a discernible level of chemistry between the two as they play the likes of 1981's Kiss on My Listfor what must be the 10,000th time. No extras, but lots of silky smooth energy. www.hallandoates.com TONY CLAYTON-LEA
STEVIE WONDER
Live at Last Universal ***
The legendary musician has been quiet of late, but a big deal was made of his appearance at London's 02 last year. The resultant DVD shows Wonder to be on terrific form, with a glittering back catalogue. Whether it's Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Higher Groundor any number of other well- known hits, Wonder plays with a rare exuberance, and the backing band is note perfect. I wasn't too sure about the medley of Beatles/Rolling Stones tunes at the end – it's totally unnecessary, especially given how many of his own songs Wonder could have played instead. A very good production, though. BRIAN BOYD