SweetVirginia wrote on Apr 19
th, 2008 at 6:15pm:
Where is Gazza with his impressions of SAL?
:question
I is here! Sorry - busy couple of days.
I thought it was pretty good. Not as sensational as some made it out to be. I'd heard the CD and thought it was mostly so-so, so my expectations weren't THAT high for the film, but it was better than I thought.
Very nicely filmed, amusing in parts with the Stones' magnetism and charisma shining through in bucketloads. The models, while their sheer presence was annoying, didnt detract from the enjoyment of the film as much as I thought they would because the Stones were generally in shot at the same time, but they still shouldnt have been there. It goes against the point of a documentary to begin with, and obviously watching the film I hate them for FIVE reasons - 1) they're young and attractive 2) they got into the Beacon and I didnt 3) they got into the front row of a Stones theatre show, 4) they got paid for doing so and 5) they acted like they'd rather be somewhere else. What the fuck is it with all those cellphones? Jesus. You can expect that in a stadium when youre 60 yards away and interest in whats going on on the stage flags occasionally, but when you're in a theatre and Mick Jagger emerges from a side door at the start of 'Sympathy for the Devil' ?
As straycatuk says, they werent sending in the setlists. More like they were texting their dads asking "whats the name of that song that starts with something about 'a crossfire hurricane' or "Theyre playing "Hope you guess my name!". Arseclags.
Musically it was a bit patchy. However, in many ways its to Scorsese and the Stones' credit that the music seems to be overdub-free.Unheard of for a Stones CD or film and also for pretty much all concert movies in this day and age. When this collaboration was announced I feared it would be exactly the opposite so kudos for keeping it "live" as much as possible on this occasion, warts and all. Remember that the 2nd Beacon show eventually took place on a day which had been originally set aside for post-production/overdubs/reshoots etc. Most special moments for me included 'As Tears go By' which provided a bit of a lump in the throat (although I stopped short of the flood that greeted it when I saw them play it at Madison Square Garden) and 'Connection', which I really liked, even though it was intercut with the interview footage. 'Just My Imagination' was pretty good too. I actualy liked "Sympathy" although many seem to have given it a pasting, "Tumbling Dice" was good also and although I'm absolutely sick to death of hearing it in the vast enormodomes the Stones persist in playing in, I thought "Satisfaction" was quite enjoyable.
Nothing however came close to the genius-like rendition of 'Champagne and Reefer' which blows everything else in the film out of the water. Absolutely incredible and its worth noting that for the second live album in a row, its a good argument that the best song on it is a cover of a blues song that theyve never put out before (take the hint, boys). Of the other two guest appearances, I dont think "Loving Cup" was a good choice for Jack White's voice - either that or his voice and Mick's just dont mesh together. Christina was quite good, surprisingly. I dont care for her music, but she has a good voice and although (again) I'm not sure it was a great choice of song, she has good stage presence and worked well with Mick. Either way it was a great improvement on the abortion Sheryl Crow made of the same song at that Miami PPV show in 1994 (although Sheryl' s normally quite good with the Stones). The only song I thought that was absolute pants was Far Away Eyes. Yeah, the shot of Mick and Keith briefly sharing the same mic for the first time since 1776 or whatever it was was sweet, but Mick's recitation (which OK, I know is tongue in cheek on the original and therefore a bit hard to deliver in concert) was so passionless it sounded like he was reading the back of a cornflakes packet and reciting the ingredients.
There was a bit to much of that MTV- like 100 mph cutaway camera shots for my liking. I much preferred the all too rare lingering shots. There was a great one of Buddy Guy after he'd sung his first verse and he's just staring/glaring across the stage and the camera just lingers on him for about ten seconds. It seemed like an hour because its so rare to get a good tracking shot like that in a concert film these days. I also found it a bit strange that with 18 or 19 cameras in a 2,800 seater theatre that so MUCH of the camerawork was focussed on Mick.Some of the close ups were incredible. Theres a great one of Keith near the end where it zooms in from just behind his face and you can see the veins pumping in his head and arms as he's belting out the final part of (I think) Brown Sugar. Incredible.
Most poignant image of the night though - the very end of 'Satisfaction' when Keith crouches down, looking like he's about to take his last breath and holding his guitar as if its the only thing thats stopping him from collapsing. Seconds later, his smile is back and all's well with the world again. Two little moments that in many ways sum up that entire tour and the state of the Stones these days - ie they're getting older and tottering on the precipice of disaster at times but they're still loving it and they'll probably do this until they really DO keel over.
They're here until the ride stops and, for all their faults, so are we.
Pages: 
Thoughts About Shine A Light (Read 9,923 times)
