"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. None of that is any surprise to me as I own about a half dozen Stones concerts on DVD or VHS tape and this was entertaining, as are all of their concerts. 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.
The beginning, with film director Martin Scorcese, was kind of strange. All it basically showed was his frustration in trying to get cooperation from the band regarding cameras and a set list, and them basically doing what they want to do anyway. We also get a disgusting short scene with the band - I am not making this up - hugging and kissing the Mr. and Mrs. Clinton and the latter's mom. It just doesn't seem like part of the Stones' persona, but I suppose they had little choice.
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. Buddy who really looked like he was having fun. Jagger and Guy traded lyrics about how much they enjoy smoking "reefer" and Guy put a plug in to get it legalized. Just out of curiosity, I wonder how the Clintons reacted to that and some of the other lyrics in the song and the post-song introduction by Jagger of "Buddy motherf--king Guy!" Odd that the f-word was muted - in a Scorcese film!! Later on, it wasn't. By the way, on the featurette, we get an explanation of why Jagger called him that.
One of the strangest moments - and maybe the most real - 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?
"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. None of that is any surprise to me as I own about a half dozen Stones concerts on DVD or VHS tape and this was entertaining, as are all of their concerts. 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.
The beginning, with film director Martin Scorcese, was kind of strange. All it basically showed was his frustration in trying to get cooperation from the band regarding cameras and a set list, and them basically doing what they want to do anyway. We also get a disgusting short scene with the band - I am not making this up - hugging and kissing the Mr. and Mrs. Clinton and the latter's mom. It just doesn't seem like part of the Stones' persona, but I suppose they had little choice.
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. Buddy who really looked like he was having fun. Jagger and Guy traded lyrics about how much they enjoy smoking "reefer" and Guy put a plug in to get it legalized. Just out of curiosity, I wonder how the Clintons reacted to that and some of the other lyrics in the song and the post-song introduction by Jagger of "Buddy motherf--king Guy!" Odd that the f-word was muted - in a Scorcese film!! Later on, it wasn't. By the way, on the featurette, we get an explanation of why Jagger called him that.
One of the strangest moments - and maybe the most real - 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?