Basically a gathering of classic rock all-stars in a gorgeous setting is what you get with A Concert By the Lake, a charity event put on by Procol Harum keyboard player/vocalist Gary Brooker and his celebrity band, called the 'Band du Lac'. The concert is set in Wintershall Estate in Surrey, England, back in 2006, to help raise money for HASTE, the Heart And Stroke Trust Endeavor. Brooker's been doing this on a regular basis for well over a decade now, and he had a pretty well stocked list of stars for this go around, including Eric Clapton, Genesis' Mike Rutherford, Andy Fairweather Low, Ringo Starr, Roger Taylor of Queen. Chris Barber, Paul Carrack, Katie Melua, the Drifters, and others.
What you get are the highlights here, which is a fairly run of the mill set of covers by many of the artists involved. Clapton fans might be a bit miffed that he only appears on a few tracks, and other than some tasty lead guitar work on "Reconsider Baby" and "Cocaine", there's not a lot of fire to be had from old Slowhand, as he takes a more laid back attitude on the few songs he does appear on. Carrack shows he still has some great pipes on the classic hit "How Long", and the man delivers some splendid Hammond organ work throughout the evening. Perhaps the most emotional segments are the ones with Taylor singing lead vocals on "Say It's Not True", "These Are the Days of Our Lives", and "I Want to Break Free". It's apparent by watching the crowd sing along and swaying to each piece that Queen are still near and dear to many people's hearts. He's no Freddie Mercury, but Roger always was and still is a solid vocalist in his own right. Ringo is his always charming self, though he's lost a bit vocally, but it's always great to hear him singing hits like "Photograph" and "With a Little Help From My Friends".
Modern jazz-pop singer Kate Melua kind of seems a little out of place here amongst all these grizzled rock veterans, and I'm not sure whose idea it was to include the new incarnation of the Drifters here, but other than that this is an entertaining, if not safe 'by the numbers' collection of rock favorites played with love from a great cast of characters. Though Rutherford is one of the 'featured' musicians listed, he does little but add some rhythm guitar to these songs, though his beefy chords on the Genesis hit "I Can't Dance" (sung capably by Brooker here) are quite welcome.
For a Blu-Ray release, the audio & video quality is decent, though I've seen better on other Blu-Ray concerts that have come out in recent times. Still, if you are a fan of any of the artists on this set, this is an enjoyable set and one that had great a great cause behind it.
Track Listing
1. Tequila
2. Over My Shoulder (feat. Paul Carrack)
3. Reconsider Baby (feat. Eric Clapton)
4. Lay Down Sally (feat. Eric Clapton)
5. How Long (feat. Paul Carrack)
6. Willie & The Hand Jive (feat. Eric Clapton)
7. Crawling Up A Hill (feat. Kate Melua)
8. My Aphrodisiac Is You (feat. Kate Melua)
9. The Closest Thing To Crazy (feat. Kate Melua)
10. Lay My Burden Down (feat. Andy Fairweather Low)
11. Say It's Not True (feat. Roger Taylor)
12. These Are The Days Of Our Lives (feat. Roger Taylor)
13. I Want To Break Free (feat. Roger Taylor)
14. This World Is Rich (feat. Gary Brooker)
15. Act Naturally (feat. Ringo Starr)
16. Photograph (feat. Ringo Starr)
17. With A Little Help From My Friends (feat. Ringo Starr)
18. A Whiter Shade Of Pale (feat. Gary Brooker)
19. Stormy Monday (feat. Eric Clapton & Chris Barber)
20. Under The Boardwalk (feat. The Drifters)
21. Stand By Me (feat. The Drifters)
22. Cocaine (feat. Eric Clapton)
23. I Can't Dance (Everyone!)
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