The show hits full stride with Mark Knopfler's exquisite "Brothers in Arms," which segues nicely into "Money for Nothing" with guest vocals by Sting, who then performs two hits from his Police years. And while Elton John and Eric Clapton form the centerpiece of the concert (especially Clapton and Knopfler's acoustic "Layla"), Paul McCartney anchors the show with a spectacular four-song conclusion. Phil Collins's expert drumming is matched throughout by legendary percussionist Ray Kooper, and McCartney's fully orchestrated "Golden Slumbers" is a genuine show-stopper, followed by a "Hey Jude" sing-along with everyone on stage. They all follow McCartney's lead for a rockin' rendition of "Kansas City" (which the Beatles had performed as early as 1960), by which time Music for Montserrat had given its royal audience a show they would never forget. --Jeff Shannon

I'd buy it again, if only for the McCartney/Elton exchange on "Hey Jude." I've watched this concert many times, and it still sends chills everytime Elton's voice appears in the second verse of this song.

As for the complaints about the "tambourine bloke" -- that's Ray Cooper, the legendary (with good reason) percussionist who has backed most of these performers in studio sessions, and who is a mainstay of almost every all star concert. If you want a video concert that will absolutely knock you over, try to find "An Evening with Elton John and Ray Cooper" -- it used to appear occasionally on the Disney Channel (oh, well, so did Annie Lennox's Central Park concert), and if I ever found it on a commercially released video, I'd pay almost anything for it. Listen to Cooper's incredible performance on this concert (or better yet, see one of the live Elton John/Ray Cooper, sans band, shows) and you'll never again complain about Cooper being a "distraction." Ray rocks!


One of the best DVD concerts available.   April 12, 1999
34 out of 35 found this review helpful

I love my DVD music performances. I have a large collection. This is one of the very best. In some ways, for me, a child of the 60's it is the best. When Paul McCartney sings "Yesterday" I got a tear in my eye. It means even more than ever from a 50+ year old. The video and music recording are excellent in every way. Seeing Clapton, McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Carl Perkins, Sting, Elton John, Phil Collins and Jimmy Buffet on stage together for the final songs was UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! They looked like they were having as much fun playing as I was watching. It is a mistake to not have this in your collection.


FANTASTIC - What a show!   January 2, 2000
Tony Chandler (Atlanta, GA USA)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

I was afraid to buy this after some of the reviews here, but I went ahead anyway. With such a LEGENDARY lineup, I couldn't resist. And I was VERY pleasantly surprised. Elton John's solo set was great, and so was the sound. Clapton's set also was FIVE stars, both performers received well deserved standing ovations. Yes, Phil Collin's song and on Sting's two the sound was uneven, but not enough to ruin their performances! Paul's voice, yes like Elton and Clapton, has matured, but was very good. I thought his voice was actually strong, nowhere did I hear him struggle. AND! to see Phil Collins on drums, Eric Clapton on guitar, and then Paul sing a verse of HEY JUDE, then Elton John sing a verse, and then Sting. AND all of them NaNaNANA. WOW WOW WOW. I think some of the reviewers must be perfectionists who reviewed this earlier. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I sat down today for my first go to just listen a tiny bit, and couldn't drag myself away! I played the entire concert. It is that good. Maybe the recording is not top notch, but the performances ARE. Yes, the tamborine bloke was a distraction, but only on a handful of songs, I'll grant that. But the sound is 4 stars. I gave this 5 to offset the perfectionists! It is at least 4.5 stars, overall. Honestly.


If you are on the fence, please read this review   December 9, 2001
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

The concert performances are par excellent... but when I bought this video, I truly thought it was defective. Phil Collins faded in and out on "take me home" and the sound was extremely uneven on many other tracks. I immediately logged in to check this and other reviewer websites and found that many complained about audio quality, but there were a FEW who DID NOT. After closer inspection, I found that there were two versions of this DVD-- one with Dolby 5.1 only (released 02/02/99) and one with Dolby and DTS (released 10/26/00). Well, I searched around until I found the DTS copy and low and behold-- audio is MUCH better on DTS format-- like night and day for me and my sound system is definitely NO great shakes.... I highly recommend this DVD, even though ths sound still won't quite rate a 5 star, but the performances and collection of musicians definitely come close. BUT buy the DTS version!!!!!!


Great hits from top rockers even today !!!!   November 13, 2001
Rudolf Spoerer (Weston, FL United States)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Cut at the Royal Albert Hall benefit concert September 15th, 1997, for the volcano ravaged island of Montserrat this concert brings out some of the hardest hitting rockers of the ages.

More than half of the concert lets Elton John, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney strut their highly polished artistry, we also get to enjoy, Phil Collins, Sting, Carl Perkins, Mark Knopfler (Money for Nothing), and Jimmy Buffet. The greatest thing about these concerts is that we get to see and hear some of the greatest masters performing rocks greatest hits .......

While some concert DVD's are lacking on the technical side this disc was perfectly mastered and the producers managed to let the enthusiastic audience add to the show ..... Both sound and video quality are top notch making this one of my favorite DVD's to enjoy both alone and with friends...