The live concert Apple streamed with release of Kisses on the Bottom is available and the video streaming again for a short time

By Stephen Pate – When Sir Paul McCartney released Kisses on the Bottom last month, it was accompanied by a live event of Sir Paul, Joe Walsh, and Diana Krall.

The Live studio concert is more entertaining that the CD, in my opinion. Sir Paul is interactive and engaging with the small audience.

The live performance is now a separate iTunes download, as of March 6th. For a short time you can stream it again on iTunes. iTunes says the video is available “today.” The download is unique to iTunes. It has 9 songs. If you land in iTunes and the video isn’t there, back up one page to Paul McCartney’s page.

While similar to the album released, the live concert from Capital studios has its own special character.

When you watch Sir Paul live, it reminds you again what a consummate professional he is. We saw him in Halifax, NS and were amazed that he could put on a great show, engaging the audience with his friendly, folksy manner.
Update – the live concert has been released – an excellent experience Perfect Valentine From Sir Paul McCartney

In Live from Capital Studios, without the benefit of over-dubs, audio editing and all the tricks of modern recordings, he turns in a moving performance that is almost flawless. He has to make a few mistake to convince us it wasn’t pre-recorded. There is a couple of false starts on the Fats Waller song “My Very Good Friend the Milkman” on which Sir Paul is so natural we enjoy the camaraderie with the band.

The video is also on YouTube in 5 segments. There are no guarantees how long the YouTube video will be live.

Listening in higher fidelity

If you have an audio card and headphones or good speakers, try changing your playback to 24-bit, 48 kHz sound quality (Playback Devices, Advanced). The difference between CD sound (16-bit, 44.1 kHz) should be perceptible.

I found you could hear the bass better, the piano and strings clearer and suddenly the drummers brush work and cymbals appeared.

You can also hear it in higher definition through the Digital Out on your device (S/PDIF) with an optical or coax cable depending on the jack. S/PDIF is 24-bit, 47 kHz on most consumer devices. You should be able to watch the video on your TV and home theatre system since most of them have digital audio.

On Paul McCartney’s website, you can order the Kisses on the Bottom in a variety of CD, vinyl and high-definition audio download formats. The best digital format is Hi-Res Deluxe Digital 24-bit, 96 kHz which matches new Mastered for iTunes format. Apple developing new audio file format to offer adaptive streaming

Review: Kisses on the Bottom Paul McCartney

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