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The Rolling Stones: Shine A Light
4:27 PM GMT 15/02/2008
The Rolling Stones on film; from the botched release of Charlie Is My Darling to last year’s DVD set, The Biggest Bang, The Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band In World have been caught on camera at regular intervals throughout their 45-year lifespan to varying degrees of success. Peter Whitehead’s 1965 road movie, the Maysles Brothers’ peerless Gimme Shelter, and Cocksucker Blues, Robert Frank’s infamously debauched, still officially unavailable, account of purple-patch Stones excess, stand tall and grainy as fascinating artefacts of a band in their prime and hard at work. Since the record-breaking grandeur of 1989’s Steel Wheels global jaunt, the Stones have been defined on screen by their stadium-rocking prowess and unstoppable ticket-selling power (see the Bridges To Babylon, Four Flicks and Biggest Bang discs). So what will Martin Scorsese’s heavily delayed Shine A Light contribute to the story so far?
Unfortunately, on first viewing, not a great deal. Shot across two nights at New York’s 2,800-capacity Beacon Theater in the autumn of 2006, this is, in essence, a straightforward concert film. After an introduction from Bill Clinton and a few opening moments of pre-gig panic from the director (“When are we going to get the set list?!”) and Jagger (“I’ve never seen that stage design before”), the band rip into Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Mick begins conducting the audience with his spasmodic body pops and tiny, vibrating arse; Keith gently lunges forward, Telecaster in hand; Ronnie, who’ll later play some superb bottleneck guitar, is very much Ronnie; and Charlie Watts starts to pound the crap out of that minimal kit of his. Two things immediately become clear. Firstly, watching a fully-charged Mick Jagger up-close-and-personal is utterly exhausting. Secondly, for all his deadpan reticence, Charlie Watts hits his drums harder than hell – he sounds outstanding throughout. Guided by the onslaught of Albert Maysles' camera zooms and overhead crowd swoops, we are then taken through a 21st Century Stones set that features an underwhelming contribution from a visibly overwhelmed Jack White, and a perfunctory, joyless performance from Christina Aguilera. Thank their satanic majesties then for Buddy Guy, who not only helps to deliver the best song of the movie, but draws the band into the centre of the stage where eye contact sharpens and four decades of musical telepathy reveals itself for all to see.
Throughout the 122 minutes, Scorsese drops in a few snippets of archive footage – Mick’s chat with Dick Cavett backstage in ’72, a soundbite from Keith following his bust in’77, Charlie quizzed in the ‘60s. We want more of this. The best features of their last two DVD sets have been the documentary discs, which give a light, brief insight into The Rolling Stones on the road. How mighty could it have been if Martin Scorsese – the man who brought us the epoch-defining Last Waltz and the towering No Direction Home – had combined extended interviews and scenes of the band’s working life today with shots from their illustrious past, rather than rolling out yet more reels of “yes – we can still do it” live gumpf? There are a few fun moments: Keith fluffs a harmony after a crowd-member makes him chuckle; Scorsese’s “we can’t burn Mick Jagger” followed later by the frontman’s highly camp exclamation of “these lights are burning my ass!” But with Shine A Light, it feels like an opportunity has been missed. In an era when the rock movie is hitting new peaks of brilliance (The Filth And The Fury, The Future Is Unwritten, End Of The Century, Dig!), it remains continually frustrating that the definitive Stones film is still yet to be made.
The set-list:
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Shattered
She Was Hot
All Down The Line
Loving Cup (with Jack White)
As Tears Go By
Some Girls
Just My Imagination
Far Away Eyes
Champagne And Reefer (with Buddy Guy)
Tumbling Dice
You Got The Silver
Connection
Sympathy For The Devil
Live With Me (with Christina Aguilera)
Start Me Up
___________________
Brown Sugar
Satisfaction
Shine A Light is released in the UK on April 11.
For more info, head over to www.shinealightmovie.com
Ross Bennett
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 4:27 PM GMT 15/02/2008
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Oh do shut up!!!!! Never mind about archive documentary footage, missing debauchery scenes and interviews from the past. I want to see the Stones doing what their reputation demands....burning up a live stage!! End of story!!!!!
Posted by Anonymous at 7:31 PM GMT 15/02/2008 Report Abuse
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Whoopee!! Just what the world needs, another Rolling Stones "live" dvd. Talk about flogging a dead horse. A band and a director that are well past their respective bests. Hopefully they will do a better job at mastering this one and there won't be the disgraceful synch problems that are evident on the Biggest Bang set (Disc 1).
Posted by Ripped off & Cheesed off at 10:23 AM GMT 16/02/2008 Report Abuse
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In an era where lip syncing on-stage can tire a "performer" after 45 minutes I wanna see a band that can deliver some rock and roll and the Stones have been doing just that for nigh on 45 years. The DEFINITIVE Stones movie already exists - in the minds and memories of their fans.
Just two of these memories:
July 5 1969 Hyde Park.
August 18 2007 Slane Castle.
And I have plenty of memories in between - and every concert delivered.
Posted by Andrew at 11:34 AM GMT 17/02/2008 Report Abuse
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I must admit, I'm far more interested in the double disc audio set than this film. The Rolling Stones don't need another new concert DVD; it's such a waste of their time and ours. What all the fans want---and I read it in this magazine, blogs, and websites throughout the world---is archival footage. Where is Charlie is My Darling DVD, with bonus BBC footage? Where is Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones DVD, an edition where this film is mixed in with footage from Cocksucker Blues? Where is 25x5 DVD, with loads of extras including the wonderful Pipes of Pan doc plus the Marquee gig in 1971? The list goes on. There's so much out there that fans are craving to see. To wit, the Stones are still great, and they do, indeed, burn up the stage. But of all the groups in rock music, the Stones are truly not well-served when it comes to archival releases. Nuff said.
Posted by William--New York City at 11:32 AM GMT 21/02/2008 Report Abuse
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So its called shine a light and shine a light isnt on the set list?
Posted by mark at 5:34 PM GMT 15/03/2008 Report Abuse
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Totally agree, COMPLETELY....went to see the film last night, and couldnt believe how bland it was...expected MUCH MUCH more, quite sad really.
Where was the fumbling real Keith that we wanted to see? The backstage shots????
Infact l wouldnt recommend it to anyone, it could have been so much better. Think l could have done a better job with my home video.
Surprised at the Stones allowing such rubblish to go out world wide with such hype.
Posted by Colin Ward at 9:46 AM GMT 13/04/2008 Report Abuse
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I dunno...I think part of the Stones is everyone has a differnet perception on the band members...they feel like they know them in their own. Archive footage is the past, its stuff that, although brilliant, I'm not willing to sit on my backside in the most uncomfortable seats for two hours and watch...when it could just be a DVD.
I loved the movie. The Stones are music and a gig was captured, and captured well...some of the shots were superb, a visual extravaganza.
I don't think you could find it bland and be an actual fan because what do you love about the Stones...their music...and the concert was just fantastic.
The whole cinema was singing, clapping...it felt like a tamed concert and it was brilliant. It was their music, raw and delivered. Little glimpses of band relations were caught...I enjoyed that factor.
Alright...we weren't given a blow to blow account of the huge amount of years the Stones have been going but did we need it?I don't think we did because it was slotted together with relavence...such as the 'will you still be doing this in 40 years time' question that kept popping up. It only stated the fact that once again the Stones have bucked tradition, opening the doors for other bands to re enter music despite age.
To be honest I loved it, I love the Stones and I love Scorcecse. I love listening to the Stones and I was given that chance(amazing viauals included) and all the archive footage in the world couldn't beat a Stones concert on their worst night. It wasn't a documentary it was a concert and a bloody brilliant one at that.
Posted by CB at 11:11 PM GMT 26/04/2008 Report Abuse
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