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Reviews of: Shine A Light [2006]Starring: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Jack White,
Reviews Could do so much better... There's a handful of good bits in this (if you will) rockumentary, over which 'All Down The Line' from 1971's 'Exile on Main Street' stands head and shoulders; it's taut, driven and completely fabulous, and reminds you why the Stones were was once considered the planet's greatest rock and roll band - and, unfortunately, when they were last considered genuinely vital, in both senses of the word. In addition, there's a great cameo from Buddy Guy, who stalks on stage and immediately looks like the real deal, shouting, singing and playing up a storm, reminding people what the blues sound like and making Sir Mick seem suddenly lightweight (though in fairness he does play some pretty decent harmonica on the song in question). There's Keith singing 'You've Got The Silver' with some feeling, backed up by Ronnie's better-than-efficient slide. Interesting that it's one of the few times in the film when the Stones look and sound like a band (rather than journeyman backup to a barely-tolerated frontman). Unfortunately there's an awful lot of bad stuff. To name but some: Jagger's endless prancing and queening and shaking his scrawny tush about (OK, you're 65, Mick, we get it) Keith still pretending to be able to smoke a fag while playing (because it's, like, cool) and looking (I can't take the credit for this, unfortunately) like something that's been pulled out of Brian May and Anita Dobson's plughole. Ronnie still looking like the hired hand after 30 years or whatever it is, Charlie looking like he's all ready to smack Mick one (again) at any time. Most of the playing is average-to-deplorable. 'Faraway Eyes' in particular is an almost unlistenable combination of Jagger's 'singing' (for which, on this song at least, 'mannered' is too small a word) and Ronnie's pedal steel (which he plays, or rather tortures, like a man who'd only been introduced to the instrument in the dressing room). Lots of really duff songs ('She Was Hot', I ask you....). Pointless cameos by Jack White and Christina Aguilera. Gushing encounters with Bill Clinton. And Hillary. And Hillary's Mum. Very rock and roll, I'm sure. Pointless and randomly introduced archive clips, most of which are tediously familiar. Fatuous 'what's the setlist' drama at the start to give Marty 'di Bargi' Scorsese something to emote over. To say it's a curate's egg would be a kindness. Why is nearly all Rolling Stones output like this? Too many egos involved (and that of the knight of the realm in particular) perhaps? Avoid, and try instead to track down a copy of 25x5 which will remind you that there was once a really great band here, and one which could still, even at this late stage, do so much better. 2009-01-05 Nicely filmed but lacking soul I'm not a typical Stones fan. Although I have a number of their CDs, my favourite is 'It's Only Rock and Roll' for the sleazy funk of 'Fingerprint File'. I can still recall Mick strutting down the aisle in his pink suit for 'Brown Sugar' on Top of the Pops. I have a number of friends who have seen the band in concert, but they've never been highest on my wish list. So this DVD represented an inexpensive way for me to see what I've been missing. However I sense that this wasn't a proper Stones gig. Attractive girls populated the entire front row. The Clintons and their 30 guests were in the audience. The venue, the Beacon in Manhattan, is not enormous. Scorsese's cameras cannot have been unobtrusive. Behind the band are loads of men doing little -- presumably the band's normal production team plus Scorsese's. I sense this is more 'An Audience with Mick' (with the requisite guest appearances) than a Stones' stadium gig. Christina Aguillera, by the way, is superb for her one song. Mick is clearly energetic, but I imagine that as soon as he's off the stage, the enthusiasm and the commitment are instantly switched off. It's just a business, it's just the 40,000th rendition of 'Satisfaction'. Wonderful cinematography, but a big shame that Scorsese couldn't have filmed this in the 1970s, when there really was a Stones ethos whether they were on or off stage. The DVD extras, incidentally, are minimal. 2008-12-27 Shame about the sound I had great expectations of this DVD and first impressions of the sparkling video were encouraging. Then came the 5.1 dts sound. This simply wasn't up to current standards. It sounded muffled with a peculiar fading in and out of instruments. The sound stage was compressed without any illusion of being in a concert hall, rather lo-fi. I so wanted to be taken in by The Stones but found myself disappointed. 2008-12-02 Right up there with the best This is a fantastic concert film of The Stones' residence at The Beacon Theatre, New York, directed by Martin Scorcese The film is a mix of documentary type clips of the making of the concert, from stage design to setlist, interspersed with archive footage of The Stones and a mixture of favourites and lesser known songs The film is very much up close and personal and what comes across is how much The Stones seem to be enjoying themselves. The highlights for me are Loving Cup (with Jack White), Little T&A, Satisfaction and Brown Sugar This dvd is even better than the Theatre disc from The Four Flicks Stones dvd boxset Buy it, turn it up and enjoy ! 2008-11-24 |
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