Shine a Light (2008)

Live On Stage With The Stones

This film is a brilliant documentary/concert depicting the Rolling Stones as still one of the most enduring popular music acts. The great thing about this film, besides being another fantastic effort from Martin Scorsese, probably the best music-documentary filmmaker of all time (he should have done the Chuck Berry 60th birthday gig), is that the viewer actually feels that they are part of the film and on stage with the Stones! This well constructed film follows the Stones, who are on tour, to a charity concert in New York. It's in an intimate theater setting which was specially designed for this movie. Not at all like some of the previous Stones concerts at Stadium venues!

The photography and sound are first rate. Guitarists will love the close-ups of Keith and Ronnie, as well as the selection of guitars (Telecasters, Gibsons, a Guild and others) that Richards uses. The song selection is superb and well recorded and while the film is a documentary it is full of personal touches regarding the making of the film, old interview footage, conversations and even a few problems.

My only criticism of this film is that they didn't get Bill Wyman to return for it as a retrospective and that they didn't include at least some historical footage of Brian Jones - who really founded this band and got the Blues going in England. Ok, you can't have everything.

The band is truly amazing. The Stones modernized their sound by augmenting their live shows with horns, background vocals and even strings. However, a highlight are the vocals of the lovely Lisa Fischer, whose brilliant LP "So Intense" (check it out) won a well-deserved Grammy in about 1991 and then mysteriously disappeared from the scene, because of many problems - some business- only to reappear with the Stones. She also sang with Tina Turner.

There of course have been a lot of reviews of this film as you would expect, so I won't go through the entire set list. I feel the three best tunes in this film are (1) "Just My Imagination" - I have always respected Mick Jagger as vocalist who would do covers of the great soul artists. He did early versions of Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and Otis Redding tunes (that takes GUTS). In the late 1960s the Stones did a cover of the Temptations "My Girl", after it had already been a number one tune. Wow! It was not that good. This tune, a later hit by the Temps, is just brilliant. A great arrangement, tasteful solo by Keith, and a great overall rock-soul feel. This is the best tune in the set.

(2) "Champagne and Reefer," with Buddy Guy is also fantastic. Buddy plays in tune (great) and the song is really dedicated to Muddy Waters who originally recorded it. Buddy was a longtime session man at Chess Records in Chicago and played for years with Muddy. I also liked Mick's blues harp in this tune, it recalls the first two Stones' LPs when he did some of the first Blues harmonica heard by white kids in America on tunes like "Little By Little" and "I'm A King Bee".

(3) The third best tune, I feel, is the Brian Jones influence in this concert. It is "Paint It Black". This is the best of the bonus tunes and shows the Stones great writing ability. They pegged this tune in the late 1960s with the "Flower Power" days and of course, Brian, the multi-instrumentalist, learned to play sitar better than George Harrison did. Anyway this tune still sounds fantastic today!

This is a must have DVD for all Scorsese, Stones, Rock or Blues or Film fans. Great price, great production, good history and a personal feel that we always get from Martin's films. This will be a classic in years to come. November 30, 2008

Shine A Light - Rolling Stones

The DVD was shipped promly and arrived seven days before it was supposed too. It was packaged properly and it was in excellent codition. I would definitely buy another product from Amazon. November 26, 2008

exciting

Never a dull moment with this video, which is not surprising considering who made it. Loved seeing the filmaker throughout, and enjoyed the backstage moments. It's a keeper all right. November 26, 2008

Satisfaction Indeed

This film begins with a farcical look at preparations for the upcoming Beacon Theatre show in New York but once the Stones storm the stage it's all about the music. From the opening notes of Jumping Jack Flash it's clear this music is in their blood. Whether it's Ronny's machine gunning the audience with the neck of his guitar. Or, the anger in Mick's face when he burst on stage ripping into Jumping Jack Flash, everything about this band says "let's go!"
While it's mostly lesser known '70's era songs, there are the '60's classics as well. Sadly, the most recent release is '83's "She was Hot", with Ms. Lisa Fischer and Mick gyrating wildly to this song. It's much better live.
The three cameos are good. Jack White is adequate. But it's Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera stealing the show. During Guy's cameo, "Champagne and Reefer", we see Keith and Buddy's duelling guitar act. Then, Ronnie on third guitar and Mick on harmonica, all four legends standing in a circle, toe to toe tearing the house down. Ms. Aguilera surprisingly belts out the duet on "Live with Me" that should make any queen of soul proud.
The Beacon Theatres' intimacy is magnified during "Far Away Eyes", when Keith botches the lyrics and a fan ribs him. He laughs back "Shut up". Fans should watch for several instances of clever reworking of some lyrics. The preacher in Far Away Eyes now asks for twenty dollars, up from ten. Inflation I guess.
Martin Scorese's best known rock documentary is "The Last Waltz". It was the final performance of Dylan's former touring band, "The Band" in 1976. His latest foray into rock documentaries is a resounding success. He does a wonderful job interweaving obscure ancient clips of interviews and performances of the Stones, bringing perspective to their amazing longevity.
The last song of the encore is "Satisfaction". Near the end it sounds as if Charlie is about to lift the song onto a new level and continue to rock on, but it turns out to be a classy way to end a classic. Satisfaction indeed. November 23, 2008

Ya gotta admire these guys' energy ...

... but geez, they're looking OLD. Mick Jagger was born the same year I was, and he has ten times the energy I do, but I have to say their act is getting a bit tired. As others have noted, this is an "oldies" concert, with nary a new song in the mix. Mick's duets with Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera add a bit of freshness, and Keith Richards' uncanny resemblance to Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp reportedly based his character on Richards) is entertaining as well. A fun time overall.

November 20, 2008

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