On the third anniversary of the concert, it seems an apt time to bring you news of a Blu-ray release which seems to have quietly been released in Germany, and available across Europe. 121212 is a documentary about the concert, but it is worth noting that the Blu-ray does not include the concert itself. There are excerpts from it, but the concert itself is available as a separate DVD (and has been for a couple of years).

The 121212 documentary looks at the background and mechanics of the worldwide televised benefit concert to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy, and does include some parts of the performances. The concert itself took place on December 12th, 2012, at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The Blu-ray brings rehearsal footage, as well as interviews with key musicians, all in HD, with a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. The dialogue is in English, with optional German subtitles. Running for around 105 minutes, it is the ideal companion disc to the concert DVD. With regard to Roger, we see him and Eddie Vedder rehearsing Comfortably Numb, and Roger explains why he choose Vedder. From the actual concert all songs are intercut with backstage footage. So you get a partial 'Another Brick' and a partial 'Comfortably Numb'.

The Blu-ray seems to be region coded, so those who have players compatible with Region B - principally those in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Southwest Asia - will be fine. People in other regions may have problems playing the disc.

You can order the disc through the following links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy. Our thanks to BD regular Kees Nijpels for letting us know about this release.