Shine a Light (2008)

More stars needed

This is a really amazing & breathtaking video footage DVD. Must see, must have! Let it rock! November 16, 2008

It's Always Asked: 'How Long Will You Guys Keep Going?'

"Can you picture yourself doing this at the age of 60?"

"Yeah, sure."

I thought that was the neatest line in this concert-documentary when Mick Jagger gave an honest and prophetic answer to that question, some 30 or more years ago (maybe closer to 40!). We see that short interview here on this concert DVD.

Not only Mick but Keith Richard, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood just keep going and going and going. Anyway, this film is 95 percent concert and five percent talk, so those who think this is a documentary are going to be disappointed. The talk includes old interviews and an opening segment with the director trying to work with the group which, as we see, isn't easy. For those who want more documentary material, check out the 16-minute featurette which comes with the DVD. There is some great material on that, reflections by a few of the guys, some nice acoustic guitar work and a better chance to see what they guys are like in rehearsal.

As far as this concert - held at the Beacon Theater in New York City - goes, it's about average for the Stones. The 2003 concerts at NYC's Madison Square Garden and the earlier ones in London, Berlin, Turin, and other places around the world seem more dynamic than this one, because of the bigger stage and audience. At the smaller venue of the Beacon, we couldn't enjoy the big props, neon scoreboards, the boys walking down the long aisle for a small set in the middle of the crowd, Mick prancing down long sides of the stage, etc. The prancing and all that is still here but it's in a confined area, almost claustrophobic at times.

It was fun here and there to see old clips of the band being interviewed when they were only in their second and third years of touring. You get an idea of the inane questions reporters have probably asked the rock group a thousand times over. The Stones, especially drummer Charlie Watts, don't exactly sound like Rhodes scholars, either! Watts seems out of place, too, but - being the family man he is - that's always been the case. Everyone loves Charlie, though, and respects him - maybe because he is different from the rest.

I thought I would prefer to hear new material instead of the same old/same old, but as it turned out, this two-hour concert was best in the last 40 minutes when the band did the familiar upbeat songs. The concert seemed to come to life with "Sympathy For The Devil" and four or five other old-time favorites. Earlier, the electricity was missing on a bunch of the numbers that you don't usually hear. Maybe this would have had a much higher impact on me had I seen it in an IMAX theater, instead of a TV on a small screen.

There were sparks flying, however, when the three guests sang and played with the group. Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguliera all brought life to the concert. Being a blues fan, I liked Guy's number best.One of the strangest moments - and maybe the most revealing - was the closeup shot of drummer Charlie Watts yawning after one number and looking very tired and bored. Hey, after all these years....he's entitled but it gave us a quick reminder just how old these guys are (mid '60s). I don't think director Martin Scorcese, whose slick cinematography in his films is fun to watch, did these guys a favor, in that regard. He makes them all look and sound as old as they really are and, hey, that's not the Stones. They jump around like 20-year-olds. They'll go on forever, right?
November 12, 2008

The Stones Don't Seem to Respect Their Own Music..too bad

My problem with this is in both the performance and the filming. I can understand that The Stones have played some of these songs to death, But when they just slop through the parts, ignoring the original precision of how they put they notes together to create such great songs, its just disappointing. If you hear a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony where the musicians just having fun "estimating" the original written parts, it would suck. As much as I hate to say it, I'd rather listen a sound-alike Stones copy band who still respects the original music play these songs than the Stones themselves.
And the audience? Where the long hair freaks? Is this really the Stones audience? A bunch of hot young girls and stock broker types in the front rows? I guess they either got invited by Scorsese because they'd look good on film or were rich enough to get tickets from the scalpers
Watch the Altamont perfommance or RnR Circus, C***Sucker Blues to see these tired old impostors when they were THE STONES!!!...and an audience that was into the music, not into looking cool,
But that said they'es still pretty good. Unfortunately they have their own legend to live up to and that's probably impossible to achieve.
Keith did seem like he was trying on "You Got The Silver" and "Connection" November 2, 2008

Scorsese does it again

As a long time Rolling Stones fan, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit (watched it three times in a week). It's not as personal or insightful as Scorsese's "Last Waltz" was for The Band back in the 70's, but it is a good glimpse at the Rolling Stones today, in the twilight of their very long and impressive career. The music is interspersed with some old television footage, mildly personal glimpses behind the scenes, and a few interviews with the performers. It's all beautifully shot and edited by Scorsese and his team. There are also a few great musical numbers here, like Buddy Guy playing "Champagne and Reefer" with the band, a killer version of "Tumbling Dice", and Keith Richard's charming "You Got the Silver" (even if he does look like an old bag lady). I highly recommend this for Rolling Stones fans everywhere. November 1, 2008

very disappointing

My favorite parts of this film were Scorsese's work, the early archival footage and interviews (and Buddy Guy's appearance). The performance itself was somewhat lacking compared to their earlier work. Now I have to say I'm a tad jaded, having seen them perform half a dozen times from their Sticky Fingers tour, to as recently as 15 years ago. and, much as I hate to say it, their age is showing; the energy just wasn't there and I felt on several occasions that they'd done a certain song too many times and couldn't find the impetus to innovate or throw too much feeling into it.

While tempted to comment on varying performance by individual members, I'll just keep that to myself.
In brief it's a well produced documentary of a great band which has seen better days (which is not to say they can't evolve- they've done so many times before)...it's just that this wasn't one of those times.

I'd guess this would be enjoyed most by people who had not seen them perform before- but then, there's better footage out there.

As Faulkner would say "they endure". October 23, 2008

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