Tommy Emmanuel: Live at Sheldon Concert Hall

This is an earlier video of Tommy E's fantastic guitar playing from his slightly younger days. The sound quality is pretty good but the video quality is closer to VHS quality. Editing is a little crude but you hardly notice it while focused on Tommy. There is plenty of interaction between Tommy and the audience during the first half of the video but during the second half, that looks edited out. There are no video extras but the main video is a hair under 2 hours long. Tommy doesn't have guests join him or do much singing. He sings once and does a great job. His guitar sound system is a little primitive compared to later DVDs and he does a lot of adjusting and guitar tuning. The sound level starts a little low but gets turned up after a few minutes so don't turn your volume up to quick. There are a lot of tunes on this video that are not on his later videos and very few that are. He plays them the same both times! He even gives a short guitar lesson that was interesting. With all the vintage weaknesses of this video, it still earns nothing less than 5 stars. This video is longer than later videos and contains more music. If you enjoy one of his later DVDs, this one is just as good and maybe a little better due to it's length. He was born a guitar master. Highly recommended

The five star rating is for the performance. I give no stars to the production of this disc. I find it hard to believe that this is the best Mel Bey could do for this concert. Obviously, this was dubbed in someone's garage studio using a VHS copy and put on DVD. They didn't even take the VHS disclaimer off the end of the tape. No liner notes, no extras and no special sound.Now, I play guitar.Well, I used to think I could play guitar, until I saw this man play.My friend and I, (also a player) just sat and watched Tommy play, both mezmerized by his skill. After the concert was over,we just sat there in amazement. I have always liked this finger picking style made popular by Chet Atkins. Tommy has taken it to another level. There are no words to explain his ability. Just buy this disc and perpare to be entertained. Not only by his playing ability but the joy he exudes when he is entertaining the audience. Every song is a gem, but my favorite on this DVD is Initiation, a combination of percussion, and sounds and guiter, --enthralling! I found out later that Tommy was completely exhausted when he did this concert. He had to reach down deep to do this concert. The result was magic.

Settle down in something comfortable with something cold and be prepared to be entertained by one of the truly great solo acoustic guitar players to walk the planet. Tommy plays tunes with melodies whilst adding touches of genius, impeccable phrasing and timing. He plays as clean as a whistle encompassing every trick with a great tone. Tommy is a great communicator and displays real joy in his playing which comes across and adds so much to his performance. It's a shame that his conversations have been edited but I'm guessing at just short of 2 hours they felt it necessary. In a world full of technology it's so great to see one man and his acoustic guitar produce so much. Oh and there's something for the drummers too when Tommy unleashes some crazy rhythms utilizing every bit of his guitar. So it's a thumbs up (no pun intended)!

If you're looking at this, you probably already know that Tommy Emmanuel is a consummate guitarist's guitarist. I had the pleasure of catching him in a fairly small venue, and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Besides being an incredible player, he's fun and he hooks right up with the audience. This DVD does a pretty good job of conveying the feeling of a concert like that one. Don't expect fancy lighting or staging, but be prepared to shake your head in amazement, especially if you're a player. This one also has, I think, a particularly good selection of pieces. There's a reason that you'll rarely, if ever, see a used copy of this disc for sale.

Speaking from the viewpoint of being a HUGE Tommy fan as well as a professional music producer, video producer and performing guitarist of almost 4 decades, I will share that this DVD was disappointing to me. Tommy is fabulous on it - of that make no mistake. However, the production quality, especially the audio is disappointing. If you own all the other Tommy DVDs then buy this one to complete your collection. If you are looking for good Tommy stuff, then I suggest one of the others. TE Live at Her Majesty's Theater in Ballarat is good although the up close camera work is too 'rock 'n' roll' for my taste. (I just directed and shot a four camera live rock n roll concert last night, so I am not against the style at all - it's just not well suited for Tommy in my professional opinion.) So what is my complaint against the audio for this DVD? A fair amount actually - there is no selection for Dolby etc compared to the other I just mentioned which gives you options including DTS - (Hooray) and the overall sound is not Tommy's signature 'bigger than life' sound. It is rather ambient in quality which takes a lot of the impact away from it. Tommy has done a marvelous job of getting an acoustic guitar with pickups installed to sound very close to a mic'ed sound but bigger than life - lots of EQ etc which is his signature sound. This DVD comes nowhere close to that which is a disappointment if you are expecting typical TE bigness.Just picked up "Tommy Emmanuel Center Stage" two nights ago at his concert and expect that to be fantastic - haven't yet had a chance to sit down and enjoy. It is his latest which probably means it will have all the bells and whistles. ...and yes, as always, the concert was off-the-hook-fantastic!