Performances by: The Rolling Stones, Christina Aguilera, Buddy Guy, Jack White III
Director: Martin Scorcese
Studio: Paramount 13859
Video: 16:9 color, 1080p HD
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Stereo PCM
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: 4 bonus Stones performances: “Undercover of the Night,” “Paint It Black,” “Little T & A,” “I’m Free,” Behind-the-Scenes featurette
Length: 121 minutes
Rating: *****
Scorcese really pulled out all the technical stops to capture the Stones still doing their thing after all these years. The result is a smashing AV record of an event that is right up there with the few most successful feature films of pop music concerts ever made – films such as Scorcese’s own The Last Waltz of 1978. The coverage starts off with a pre-performance prologue showing the looseness of the Stone’s concert planning and Scorsese’s frustrations about having few details about the production on which to base his shooting setups. They won’t even tell him what their opening number will be! In between some of the concert numbers we see clips from early TV interviews with Jagger and the Stones, but not so much as to detract from the spectacular concert footage. You begin to feel you are onstage with the Stones, with the performers’ comments to one another between tunes and seeing exactly who is playing what. Keith Richards appears stopped in his tracks when Christine Aguilera comes onstage.
The theater selected was rather small and multiples cameras covered it from every possible angle. Scorcese has cut it together to keep interest up thru the long concert but not getting too hyperkinetic as do some music videos. The material performed should please Stones fans since it doesn’t lean too heavily on their big hits but goes into some seldom heard repertory. The three guest performers all add interest and excitement, especially veteran bluesman Buddy Guy. The four performances in the extras don’t add much to the whole but are worth seeing.
I saw this in an IMAX theater and the visual and auditory impact was intense; I was wishing I had brought my foam earplugs. Even though the Blu-ray transfer is excellent and reveals much detail, together with a very enveloping surround soundtrack, seeing it again on only a 56” screen (vs. the IMAX screen) caused me to focus more on the concert’s content than the audiovisual experience. As a result I found I was marveling more on the geriatric faces of both Keith Richards and Jagger – the former with his heavy mascared eyes and sparkly blue head-wrap and earrings. I was wondering how long these guys are going to keep this up? But Stones fans will have a ball for sure!
TrackList:
1) Jumpin’ Jack Flash
2) Shattered
3) She Was Hot
4) All Down the Line
5) Loving Cup (w/ Jack White)
6) As Tears Go By
7) Some Girls
8) Just My Imagination
9) Faraway Eyes
10) Champagne and Reefer (w/ Buddy Guy)
11) Tumbling Dice
12) You Got the Silver
13) Connection
14) Sympathy for the Devil
15) Live With Me (w/ Christina Aguilera)
16) Start Me Up
17) Brown Sugar
18) Satisfaction
– John Henry
