I've seen THE LAST WALTZ, Marty....and this is no Last Waltz. (Though in terms of Stones' big-screen endeavors, it probably is.)
Yes, I understand that The Band's filmic opus was more a celebration of musical-storytellers, and by comparison the Stones have pretty much been a grunge-it-out Party-band for at least the last 3 decades. Perhaps this is what stymied you, Marty?!
The Stones remain true rock icons, yet you have failed to come up with a compensatory filmic-gameplan. Especially so given the intimacy of the setting all but cried out for stools & acoustic guitars. (Some footage of which is teasingly shown in DVD-featurette, but only in rehearsal or sound-check.)
All those cameras, all that footage, Marty, and nary a wide-shot in sight for context or crowd-impact. Yes, the lensing is assuredly workmanlike - but after awhile eyeballs glaze at so much of it so 'on the nose' as they say. Great angles for a Mick or Keith bio - but you never seem to quite capture the energy & flow of the entirety of the Stones-experience. Which should've been so much easier without the usual enormity of a Stones' stadium gig.
Pointed avoidance of the Big-Three's sidemen gives the whole presentation a kind of top-heavy feel - not good, Marty. By being lost in the visual mix, the drums, bass, keys & Keyes are somehow diminished in the audio mix - or at least our apparent appreciation of same.
Upfront present-day docu-footage of concert-prep should've been more interesting/revealing - especially the idea of trying to dial-down the magnitude of a stadium show into such close-quarters. Older b&w docu-material fared slightly better - but truly galvanizing revelations were apparently never in the script, as it were. With the Stones' on-stage antics so universal-by-now, backstage banter & prep could've been ripe-for-re-evaluation - especially with the kinda access you had Marty. How does getting-pumped-up for a gig circa 2006 relate to a gig 1972 or 1982?! Yes, running-time is always an issue, but I wish you'd used some of that Scorcese-auteur magic to uncover the Stones-magic.
Mick & Keith may not give-a-rat's-ass about dispensing any Old-Rocker wisdom, or rear-view analysis. But c'mon, Marty - these guys are bloody at-the-top-o-the-heap SURVIVORS. This flick serves up nary a morsel of their collective insight or integrity.
As to the music, obviously the Stones are not the laconic, romantic troubadours of Robbie Robertson & The Band. And they are universally-known for (perhaps purposefully) making a clanging hash of their most popular material. I believe 'raucous' is the word.
And yes, much of the music lends itself to such ragged, rave-up interpretation; the lilting tones of an Emylou Harris or Joni would surely get buried in this boisterous mix. Perhaps the intimate venue was not the best choice, Marty. You might've fared better on the anything-goes beaches of Rio.
Anyone familiar with Stones' studio-outtakes or bootlegs knows that their consummate gift for that final-mix is their great gift. Lyrics and music finally harnessed into rock-n-roll glory. And fans have long since given up on the Stones for that kind of finesse or fidelity on-stage. And hey, let's face it - stadium spectaculars don't exactly lend themselves to anything close to virtuosic creativity.
And it is no knock on you, Marty, that the Raging Stones (live) have long seemed to have an open disdain for the utter rigors of musicianship. (Apologies to Charlie Watts.) It seems almost a badge of honor for Mick & Co. to sing & dance on that ragged edge - a barely-controlled cacophony of rock-n-roll exuberance. And while your cameras and the audio mix were exceedingly smooth - it only serves to heighten those musical-performance limitations.
As it happens, for those looking for a true generation-later successor to THE LAST WALTZ, this DVD-trailers section features Jonathan Demme's NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD. Those of us looking a for filmic-monument to the World's Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band....keep looking.
Yes, I understand that The Band's filmic opus was more a celebration of musical-storytellers, and by comparison the Stones have pretty much been a grunge-it-out Party-band for at least the last 3 decades. Perhaps this is what stymied you, Marty?!
The Stones remain true rock icons, yet you have failed to come up with a compensatory filmic-gameplan. Especially so given the intimacy of the setting all but cried out for stools & acoustic guitars. (Some footage of which is teasingly shown in DVD-featurette, but only in rehearsal or sound-check.)
All those cameras, all that footage, Marty, and nary a wide-shot in sight for context or crowd-impact. Yes, the lensing is assuredly workmanlike - but after awhile eyeballs glaze at so much of it so 'on the nose' as they say. Great angles for a Mick or Keith bio - but you never seem to quite capture the energy & flow of the entirety of the Stones-experience. Which should've been so much easier without the usual enormity of a Stones' stadium gig.
Pointed avoidance of the Big-Three's sidemen gives the whole presentation a kind of top-heavy feel - not good, Marty. By being lost in the visual mix, the drums, bass, keys & Keyes are somehow diminished in the audio mix - or at least our apparent appreciation of same.
Upfront present-day docu-footage of concert-prep should've been more interesting/revealing - especially the idea of trying to dial-down the magnitude of a stadium show into such close-quarters. Older b&w docu-material fared slightly better - but truly galvanizing revelations were apparently never in the script, as it were. With the Stones' on-stage antics so universal-by-now, backstage banter & prep could've been ripe-for-re-evaluation - especially with the kinda access you had Marty. How does getting-pumped-up for a gig circa 2006 relate to a gig 1972 or 1982?! Yes, running-time is always an issue, but I wish you'd used some of that Scorcese-auteur magic to uncover the Stones-magic.
Mick & Keith may not give-a-rat's-ass about dispensing any Old-Rocker wisdom, or rear-view analysis. But c'mon, Marty - these guys are bloody at-the-top-o-the-heap SURVIVORS. This flick serves up nary a morsel of their collective insight or integrity.
As to the music, obviously the Stones are not the laconic, romantic troubadours of Robbie Robertson & The Band. And they are universally-known for (perhaps purposefully) making a clanging hash of their most popular material. I believe 'raucous' is the word.
And yes, much of the music lends itself to such ragged, rave-up interpretation; the lilting tones of an Emylou Harris or Joni would surely get buried in this boisterous mix. Perhaps the intimate venue was not the best choice, Marty. You might've fared better on the anything-goes beaches of Rio.
Anyone familiar with Stones' studio-outtakes or bootlegs knows that their consummate gift for that final-mix is their great gift. Lyrics and music finally harnessed into rock-n-roll glory. And fans have long since given up on the Stones for that kind of finesse or fidelity on-stage. And hey, let's face it - stadium spectaculars don't exactly lend themselves to anything close to virtuosic creativity.
And it is no knock on you, Marty, that the Raging Stones (live) have long seemed to have an open disdain for the utter rigors of musicianship. (Apologies to Charlie Watts.) It seems almost a badge of honor for Mick & Co. to sing & dance on that ragged edge - a barely-controlled cacophony of rock-n-roll exuberance. And while your cameras and the audio mix were exceedingly smooth - it only serves to heighten those musical-performance limitations.
As it happens, for those looking for a true generation-later successor to THE LAST WALTZ, this DVD-trailers section features Jonathan Demme's NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD. Those of us looking a for filmic-monument to the World's Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band....keep looking.
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