AM [Standard]
M**G
Ignore this beautiful, supreme talent and you will miss out BIG TIME!!!
I've always been in awe of this womans voice, but never really got past 'Bleeding Love'. Then I stumbled on bits of the Labyrinth tour that people had uploaded to the net. Even the poor quality cell-phone videos gave me a feel of what it was all about, and I had to tear myself away from you-tube, to get the DVD in case it sold out. Then the DVD arrived. WOW... OMG... WHAT THE......SERIOUSLY??.... . 4 hours of watching and rewinding later I realized that, for live tours with beautiful vocals sung with feeling, the bar had just been raised!!Before seeing the DVD, I was already hooked by the sweet tone, effortless control, and high range of her voice, those insanely pretty traffic stopping eyes, and her sweetheart personality. But the live performance took Leona to a whole new level, with bucket loads of emotion from the depths of her soul, powerful almost unbelievable vocals, and stage presence like I had never seen in her before. I've seen many concerts and tours in my time and there have been some absolute gems, but this is the first performance I've seen by a single artist that packs such a punch - an interesting set and clever choreographed visuals, musical performances and arrangements often better than the Album recordings, a stunning woman looking her absolute gorgeous best and using her inner beauty to genuinely connect with everyone, and an overall spectacle that literally sucks you in, from the edge of your seat, and spoon feeds you raw emotion so you get what she's feeling. But the icing on the cake is THE voice that just caresses your ears, and melts your heart! This is not a star doing more dancing than singing, or technology and gimmicks replacing stage performance. This little disc of magic is all about hearing the perfect voice and watching pure emotion, and the DVD transports your living room to the best seats in the house.The one tiny criticism I have is that she could have had better material in a few places (in particular, part of the first third). That said, there are absolute top drawer original songs that showcase her talents. My favourite is 'Homeless', and I was like a deer in headlights because of the way she delivered the story book lyirics, the beautiful arrangement and musical flow, the hook that grabs you and never lets you go, those velvet, powerhouse vocals, and an ending that is emotional performance art at it's best. 'Can't Breathe' is a beautifully haunting display of her fantastic range and how she uses her voice as an instrument (which she 'plays' to perfection at the end of 'Take a bow'). 'Don't let me down' demonstrates her ability to do slick choreographed moves while putting out flawless vocals (she's not a dancer here, but she is definitely a performer), and gives us some Leona silk on a more rock oriented track (which is the way the Album should have sounded). 'I got you' takes the multitasking maestro to even greater heights. The list goes on, and there are also brilliant covers. The excellent 'First time ever I saw your face' shows a level of voice control, through the ranges, that is unreal and unmatched, and rips the heart strings right out of you. 'Cry me a river' is a perfect demonstration of how to drop a beautifully soulful vocal on a purely acoustic track with a cool arrangement, sweet harmonies, and a brilliant lick. Again the list goes on, but then there are other songs where you wish they could have worked on the music a bit more, maybe changed the chord progressions, or chopped a few bits out that didn't quite work musically. Most of all, the White swan thing just doesn't fit here (might be alright at a wedding or something!) and is not a good platform for her vocals. Don't know why they didn't replace that with something like the brilliant Neyo produced 'I'm you', an awesome tune and, as always, beautiful Leona vocal, that would have added more RnB flava to the show.Still, this is a display of powerful, effortlessly smooth vocal control from of one of the most talented female singers of today (in my opinion THE most talented - but that's just me) with THE most unique, and sweetest tone and intonation of voice that I have EVER heard from an artist past or present. There IS plenty of great music here, so it would have got 4 stars for that, but I would give the sublime vocals and emotionally charged performances 50 out of 5 if I could, coz they were THAT good (so I figure 5 stars is a good compromise). The only thing that could better this, is actually being there, and I'm totally gutted that I missed out!!!! Especially if she never gets the chance to do a tour like this again.As I write this in 2015, I have to say that this gorgeous human being with the voice of an angel is (hopefully not was!) a special gift to all lovers of beautifully sung music, and this tour has to go down as one of the benchmarks for that. I've stumbled across her talent of actually performing her songs (not just singing them) after all the Hype has been and gone, and it's already obvious that, even with the success of her recorded material, she's one of the most underrated singers in history. The toughest pill to swallow, is that she never got to guest tour in the states because of Christina cancelling her gigs (and/or maybe some personal issues that Leona had, if the rumours are true, and/or the toll the tour would have had on her voice, as she was doing it the hard way, actually singing and not lip-syncing). With the Labyrinth Tour she would have killed it Stateside, and then worldwide, and writers and producers would have been beating a path to her door, giving her the quality of material that a voice like hers deserves. Also, her previous record company, Syco, would've been switching their focus away from One Direction to someone who could have been at the top of the pile, in a league of her own and getting even BETTER IN TIME!!
D**S
An amazing concert by Leona - far exceeding my expectations
Prior to seeing this Blu-Ray, I was fairly confident that Leona's vocals would be outstanding but I did have my doubts as to whether she would be visually entertaining in a live concert - whenever I have seen her sing on TV she has always seemed so much more comfortable standing still and concentrating on her voice. But, I couldn't have been more wrong in my prediction - this concert was amazing, both vocally and visually.The show opens to a scene reminiscent of an underground cave with pillars, upturned stones and plants winding their way around the stones. The lighting and smoke provides additional atmosphere. The stage darkens and a hooded figure slowly emerges from the back of the stage - Leona has arrived to huge screams and applause from the crowd.Throughout the concert the theatrics are imaginative, the scenery and props add ambience without being too obtrusive and the dancers are second to none. I played `Take a Bow' over and over again just to watch their energy and co-ordination. After that you think it can't get any better - but just wait until you see Leona singing whilst being pushed around the stage on a rope swing - it must have taken her a lot of nerve to do that as she is pushed fairly up fairly high above the stage - and not once does her voice falter.Leona has a number of costume changes throughout the performance. During two of them we are treated to videos of Leona which easily make you forget that you are waiting for her to reappear. `Ride a White Swan' is a delight to watch with Leona resplendent in a straight white wig and white costume, of course riding a large white (fake) swan. In the second video, `They Don't Care About Us', you will see Leona in a very different guise - I didn't recognise her for a second in her very tight figure hugging gear and perfectly straight hair. If you have ever had slightly naughty dreams about Leona then this is how I imagine she would appear in them.Leona does join in with the dancing during many of the songs - perhaps not as energetically as other pop stars, but she doesn't need to, the key to this concert is her amazing voice - beautiful and full of such emotion. During the concert she performs 18 live songs and two video clips. I didn't hear a single note out of place, not once.Throughout the concert there were many cut shots into the audience who were obviously enjoying the show. It was nice to see such a large age range represented, from young children to pensioners. It just goes to show the broad appeal of this young lady.If you like Leona and her music then this disk is absolutely worth getting.
D**S
Love itx
In my car I listen to this cd alot. It's great x
M**Y
Amazing Show, Incredible Singer
I really wanted to see this live but missed out on tickets - thank god for this fantastic blu ray release!Love her or not, technically Leona's voice is absolutely spectacluar and no one can deny that. I have to admit, I was uncertain how she would carry her own live show, but she is a fantastic show woman, and it's admirable just how much she puts into both her performances and entertaining the crowd. She really works her socks off!The production quality on stage is phenomonal - it's probably the most stunning live music performance I've seen. Breathtaking sets, fun dance routines, gorgeous dancers and a fab live band all add to the greatness of the show.The Blu ray quality is excellent, although there are a few issues; not full HD at 1080i for some reason, but the image is mostly crisp and always beautifully shot. Sound wise, it could be better. Sometimes it can be hard to hear Leona above the crowd or music. But the overall quality is second to none.A fantastic addition to my music collection - love it!
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