Not loving this like everyone else seems to be. The sitting crowd is such a huge turn off for me. I keep turning it off and coming back thinking I'll enjoy it more with a fresh mind and I end up just turning it off again. Not only that, the band looks uninterested. MM is the only one smiling throughout the video. JLB looks like he's staring into nothing, Rudess looks super tired, Myung is unnoticeable, and JP seems mostly fine (not anything to complain or to praise about). I've got to think the dead crowd and the bands uninterested looks are related. This is really hard to enjoy for me sadly.
The positive is the sound is actually much better than I expected from the official youtube videos, it sounds more live that I thought it would based on that and I do enjoy the 5.1 mix. Video quality is solid too. But I just can't get around the dead room. Would have enjoyed it more if this was performed in a garage honestly. Or if they never showed the venue.
If the band likes the look and feel of seated venues, and wants to record the dvd's/live albums in a seated venue, and unless they gain more younger fans, then the crowd will always be majority older people and a less energetic crowd...But that is just one aspect as to why there was a seated crowd, and a feel of less energy.
The geographical location plays a lot into it, as some people are just more into the music energetically then others are, examples are The Japanese crowd versus a South American crowd.
And truth of the matter is...JR probably was tired, all the guys were probably tired, as it's close to end of the tour and it's almost over. So you get that, end burnout where it's not done yet but you know you need to keep going on and not let that burnout get to you.
Also, what if the bands were to enforce a no cell phone policy so people in the audience will focus on the show, rather than being distracted by the time, a message, or wanting to take a picture and post on Social Media. And we wouldn't get that man in the front looking at his phone...
Oh wait, they did and people complained.
From that one interview where they talked about Distant Memories, it seemed that they felt upset at the audience, and likely noticed the lack of energy and their reactions in response to that energy and thought "This dvd just doesn't feel energetic", What else could they do, but relase it and hope for the best. It is what it is, and they can't change that.
But it is a great portrayal of how the show was presented and getting the songs that got an official live release are pretty good. And since some people don't like to count Chaos in Motion as a live release, or forget it exists, forget about ITPOE.pt.1 also having a live release. I did have to buy a used limited edition to get the cd songs.