Well I finally caved in and bought it, largely because of the great reviews it received here.

To my surprise, I did not feel there was any lull in the concert. In fact, it moves along at a very nice pace.

I was particularly impressed with how Gloria turned up the tempo in the last half hour at the point most of us would have been exhausted.

My favorite part was her chit chat with the guy in row two who brought the binoculars.

As I was watching the concert I started thinking, "Great concert, too bad there is no 5.1". In a moment of wishful thinking I pressed the sound button on my DVD remote and toggled on 5.1 sound! I double checked the DVD case--no spec about there being any 5.1 but my disk (purchased March 2004) does have it. To activate the 5.1 you can press the menu button and then configure the audio options or can just toggle the sound button on the DVD remote.

How is the 5.1 sound? To be truthful, it is better than the 2.0 sound but not a whole lot better. It is certainly not as good as the 5.1 mix on her Atlantis or Que Siga La Tradicion DVDs. However I'm still very pleased to have it.


BLOWN AWAY !   April 11, 2000
Tan Boon (Singapore)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

What can I say, being a Gloria and Miami Sound Machine fan for the past 5 years, this DVD has definitely earned more than the word "respect" from me. Gloria is a outstanding performer, lovely to watch and writes a string fo hit songs that never seems to fade away. She knows her cues ("hits" with the band) very well as a leading singer and always has been. At the age of 42, she is simply amazing! Her integrity as a singer is also due to the fact that she writes her own songs. Her part in the movie "music of the heart" and "VH1 Divas live" also shows her support in the teaching of music to the new generation.

Miami Sound Machine is simply awesome! Check out the new arrangements on "Here we are", "Rhythm's gonna get you" and the medley-s. "Mi Tierra" 's hot. The drummer, Olbin , percussionists, Edwin and Daniel(who also plays for Ricky Martin) are smokin'! Having such a big band, they don't even soung messy! You have got to check out this band if you like latin music fused with pop!

That's all!


Glorious Gloria   April 18, 2000
Ramlee Ibrahim, Ph.D (Singapore)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

What can I say except that Gloria is just fabulous in this concert and a real DIVA! However the sound mix is bad and doesn't do justice at all. It's a waste as the band's great.


A great musical event, GE fan or not.   February 15, 2006
A. Tubesing
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

While I have always considered Gloria Estefan a closet weakness of mine (sort of how I actually like SPAM but still hide it in my shopping cart...) I must say that this is one fantastic DVD. Whether you think you like Gloria or not, you are likely to enjoy this show. Here's why:

1. High energy performance. It's clear that everyone involved in this show was enjoying themselves and works hard to put on an exciting performance. This concert features 17 musicians, including three percussionists, a 5-piece brass section in additional to the standard accouterments. It's an exciting show to watch.

2. Talent. Assembled on this stage is a top notch band, hands down. The percussion is excellent and the brass is spectacular. The song choices and their arrangements take full advantage of the talent on stage.

3. Arrangement. Yep, hands down the best arrangements of most of these songs I have ever heard. I love horns and percussion, which is one of the reasons I am drawn to jazz and latin music - especially styles with cuban roots - and the arrangements in this show are fantastic. The live aspect allows for so much more depth in the music and arrangements and for that this performance provides more than any other concert video I've seen. It's outright addictive.

4. Sound: Contrary to some of the other reviews, I found the sound quality on this DVD to be excellent. The mix is good, both on the 5.1 and stereo tracks. I burned the soundtrack to mp3s and it's great to just listen to, so I really think they nailed it on the sound for this one, especially compared to other live recordings which are usually disappointing for sound quality. Not so in this case, it sounds great.

5. Editing: While I would like to see longer and more plentiful shots of the musicians, this DVD does not have the ever-so-annoying MTV style of editing where they never let you see anything for more than a few milliseconds. This video's camera takes are long enough to enjoy without getting boring or feeling like you have attention defecit. Not a gold medal for editing, but again, compared to most of the concert videos out there that should have gotten thrown out of the competition, this one at least scores a bronze.

6. Emotion. Clearly this was the culmination of a tour and all seem to be happy to be performing in front of the home audience. This may seem a cheesy sentiment, but it makes for an intense, heartfelt performance.

All around this is simply a great show. Completely addictive. It's got fun, feeling, and flash, executed with exceptional talent and energy. Enjoy!