The ARMS Concert - 1983-12-09 - New York, NY (2xDVDfull pro-shot)

(2xDVDfull pro-shot)

Madison Square Garden

Lineage:
Hercules DVD > DVD+R

Technical Details:
Navigation:
Type: DVD
Region: 1
TV System: NTSC

Video Stream:
Type: Interlaced MPEG2
Bitrate: 6.800 Mbps
Framerate: 29.970 Hz
Resolution: 720x480
Aspect ratio: 4x3

Audio Stream:
Type: Linear PCM
Bitrate: 1536 Kbps
Number of channels: 2
Sampling Frequency: 48khz
Sampling Bits: 16

Disc 1:
Eric Clapton's Set:
01 - Cocaine

Joe Cocker's Set:
02 - Don't Touch Me
03 - Watching River Flow
04 - Worried Life Blues
05 - You Are So Beautiful
06 - Seven Days
07 - Feelin' Allright

Jeff Beck's Set:
08 - Star Cycle
09 - The Pump
10 - Definitely, Maybe
11 - Blue Wind
12 - People Get Ready
13 - Going Down

Disc 2:
Jimmy Page's Set:
01 - Prelude
02 - Who's to Blame
03 - City Sirens
04 - Midnight Moonlight
05 - Stairway to Heaven

Entire Band Set:
06 - Layla
07 - With a Little Help From My Friends
08 - Good Night Irene (with Ronnie Lane)
09 - Bill Graham Closing Speech

(from wikipedia, the world's most accurate source of information [tm])

The ARMS Charity Concerts were a series of charitable rock concerts in support of Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis in 1983.[1] The first (and initially planned to be the only) event took place at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1983, with subsequent dates occurring in the United States, with slightly different lineups of musicians.

The idea for hosting the concert was envisaged by Ronnie Lane, ex-bassist for The Small Faces and The Faces, himself a casualty of multiple sclerosis. The concert featured a star-studded line-up of British musicians, including Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, John Paul Jones, Andy Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman, Kenney Jones and Charlie Watts. The concert was particularly notable in the fact that it was the first occasion on which Clapton, Beck and Page, each a former lead guitarist for The Yardbirds, had performed together on stage.

Clapton, Beck and Page each performed sets, with Andy Fairweather-Low and Steve Winwood also performing songs. Clapton, with Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman, Chris Stainton, percussionist Ray Cooper, Kenney Jones, James Hooker, Steve Winwood and Fernando Saunders performed a selection of blues and rock numbers, each one culled from one or more of his albums - Cocaine and Lay Down Sally from Slowhand, Rita Mae from Another Ticket and Everybody Oughta Make A Change from Money & Cigarettes. Jeff Beck's set consisted largely of instrumental rock jazz-fusion numbers, though he did (to both the surprise of his fellow musicians, the audience, and indeed, himself!) perform his 1960s hit Hi Ho Silver Lining. Jimmy Page's set was made up, first, of three numbers taken from the Death Wish II music he had put together for director Michael Winner earlier that year. The set ended with "Stairway to Heaven", which evoked a great cheer from the audience.

After Page's set, the entire cast of musicians gathered on stage to perform Tulsa Time, a blues rock/country number from Clapton's album Backless, and then, what is arguably Clapton's most famous song, Layla. In each number, Clapton, Beck and Page each shared lead guitar duties, and, notably in Layla, each performed a different, and unique guitar solo.

At the concert's end, Ronnie Lane appeared on stage. Expressing thanks not only to the audience, saying that what had been achieved was 'terrific', he also thanked 'all the boys on the stage too', and then led the musicians in a rendition of Goodnight Irene.

The ARMS charity concert proved so popular with both the audience and the musicians that the decision was taken to perform a further nine concerts in the USA. The US dates included Joe Cocker, who notably sang lead vocals on With a Little Help from My Friends, and, Clapton Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page each shared lead guitar duties on Stairway to Heaven. While Ronnie Wood appeared in New York, he did not appear at all of the US dates.They played in San Francisco at the Cow Palace, and this, the final performance, was held in New York.

Geetarz Comments:

Excellent quality pro shot footage from the final concert of the ARMS tour held at New York's Madison Square Garden on December 9, 1983. Pleasing, well done authoring job on the Hercules label. The footage is incomplete, but certainly as complete as we have seen from any source. Recommended.

The audio is linear PCM - might make a nice audio set!

www.geetarz.org visitor Comments:

"12/8/1983 marked, as Jeff Beck noted during his dedication of "People Get Ready" that it was "THREE YEARS AGO TODAY, TO THE DAY" that John Lennon was killed. And Joe Cocker dedicates the ensemble encore "A Little Help From My Friends" to Lennon as well.

I was at the 12/8/83 show; still have the stub. I never forgot the dedications to Lennon that night, but I had no recollection of Ronnie Lane's encore ending with a mini "end of the tour" party on stage with champagne.

The entire show on this DVD, with the exception of the Ronnie Lane encore/celebration, is taken from the night they remembered John Lennon; December 8. 1983.

But don't believe me, take a look for yourself. During the last show of the tour finale, while everyone's drinking champagne, take a close look at what everyone's wearing; most notably Jeff Beck in white pants and Bill Wyman in a light blue suit. (That's the end of the December 9, 1983 show).

Then watch the rest of the show. Beck's wearing black leather pants for his set as well as the Layla encore; and Wyman's wearing a striped shirt and black jacket during the Clapton/Cocker sets as well as the Layla encore. (THAT'S THE DECEMBER 8, 1983 SHOW).

You can even tell from the pictures that Jeff Beck did a lightning speed wardrobe change between Layla and Goodnight Irene here." - Anon