The Rolling Stones were losing their edge. By the late ‘70s, amid the throes of punk's rebellious angst and disco's ribald decadence, the Stones—who had long personified both such distinctions—seemed atypically tame.
It had been a long six years since the band’s last really big deal, Exile on Main Street, and even that wasn’t considered the classic then that it generally is today. Critics had begun to dismiss the Stones as obsolete, a relic of a bygone age. If they failed to harness their collective talent, stave off their detractors, and deliver the goods with their next album, the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band stood to get knocked off its proverbial cloud.
Some Girls, released in June 1978, heralded the Stones’ brazen return to form and, moreover, to artistic relevance. Simmering with loose groove and swagger the album seethed with all the spunk and splendor of New York’s urban jungle.
By the time the Stones rolled into the Lone Star State the following month on a tour stop in Fort Worth, Some Girls was the number-one album in America. Their performance at the Will Rogers Memorial Centre, captured in the concert film, Some Girls - Live in Texas '78, reveals just how hard they were pushing to stay on top.
Watching them here, not so much playing as but working—the band performs seven of the new album’s ten tracks in one block, book-ended by a smattering of older hits and favorites—is riveting.
Mick Jagger prowls the stage with a feral, no-bounds libido—during “Tumbling Dice” he cops a feel of guitarist Ronnie Wood’s crotch—and striking, in-the-moment conviction. Fronting the band with impassioned, soulful urgency one moment (“Beast of Burden”) and savage ferocity the next (“Shattered,” “When The Whip Comes Down”), he rules the roost throughout this stunning performance
David Byrne’s critically acclaimed 2008/2009 concert tour in support of his collaborative album with fellow iconoclast Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is the subject of a fascinating new documentary, Ride, Rise, Roar: A Live Concert Film.
One of popular music’s most progressive artists—beginning with his groundbreaking tenure in Talking Heads and continued through with an uncompromising, if less popular, solo career—Byrne has long explored the synergistic possibilities in mixing aural and visual mediums. As the near-90-minute feature details, for this project he incorporated elements of modern dance into the context of a rock concert.
Byrne's alliance with Eno dates back decades, and the songs played on this tour concentrated on their unique chemistry. And so it's of no surprise that Talking Heads albums Fear of Music and Remain in Light, in particular, yield some of the most exciting live moments here—“The Great Curve,” “Heaven,” and the primal rhythms of “I Zimbra,” to cite but a few—while new cuts like the reflective “My Big Nurse” and the show-stopping “I Feel My Stuff” bring their bond full circle with equal conviction.
Overall, the film functions more as an exposition of Byrne's creative process than as a straightforward chronicle of this particular tour, thus steering clear of the carbon-copy format of most concert films. Instead, it transitions between divergent scenes—rehearsal footage of the band and dancers, commentary by those most pertinent to the stage production, and select live performances—that altogether make for a striking and, in a cumulative sense, the representative impression of what was an exhilarating concert experience.
To coincide with the recent reissue of the Rolling Stones’ seminal work, Exile On Main Street, filmmaker Stephen Kijak collected a considerable amount of archival footage to present Stones In Exile, which summarizes the making of the album, its reception by critics and fans upon release in 1972, and its enduring legacy today.
Through cinematography that often blends still photography from the time and present-day, voice-over narration by the band and other principal figures, the film uniquely invites viewers back to Keith Richards’ 19th century mansion, Villa Nellcôte, where much of the album was conceived.
It was also where much decadence and depravity ensued and, over time, overwhelmed just about everyone involved. This is an authorized film, though—Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts serve as executive producers—so while some salacious behavior is acknowledged (drug use, mainly), details of the more incriminating, hedonistic kind are selectively overlooked. Nevertheless, the film does well in rendering an impressionistic portrait of the circumstances and chaos that saw the Stones at their most turbulent and, arguably, their most artistically profound.
Of the supplementary material that accompanies the main feature, the best is “Extended Interviews,” in which select band members (Richards especially, but also former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and retired bassist Bill Wyman) offer up recollections that either didn't make it into the film proper or were cut short. Also, the “Exile Fans” segment injects a bit of welcome perspective and context—the most insightful coming from director Martin Scorsese and record producer Don Was—from outside the immediate Stones circle.
All together, while the film is more entertaining than revelatory, one does come away from it wondering (if you didn't already) how the band managed to make any music at all, especially under such trying circumstances, never mind the caliber of which graces Exile On Main Street.
If you’ve ever experienced U2 in concert, you’re well aware that Bono can seem larger than life even when he’s physically in front of you. Beholding a three-dimensional projection of him on a massive IMAX screen quite literally solidifies that illusion. In a mind-boggling spectacle of sound and vision, U2 elevates the art of the concert film with U23D.
Recorded during the South American leg of the band’s Vertigo world tour, this film encapsulates much of the raw power of a U2 performance while pushing the boundaries of how a rock concert can be presented and ultimately appreciated. The visual tangibility generated by the 3D production draws the viewer not so much toward the screen as it does within the atmosphere of a packed stadium, amid the euphoria of transcendent rock and roll. Cameras zoom in and out from surreptitious angles and locations, yielding brilliant perspectives and fluid footage. Horizontal shots from the ground capture the sensation of being among the standing-room-only portion of the audience, watching the band while outstretched arms wave in front of your eyes. The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, Jr. take their turns in the proverbial spotlight, their images and instruments gigantic and ostensibly within reach. Bono sings for you, to you, at you. He gets in your face when he wants some attention and you’ve no choice but to let the precocious frontman have his way.
While U23D doesn’t comprise a complete performance, at 80 minutes it does adequately represent the essential material and prevailing mood of the Vertigo tour. U2’s fundamental messages of advocating spiritual tolerance and defending human rights are certainly not lost or blurred in this elaborate and enthralling translation of technology. Indeed, the most remarkable aspect of this film is that the technology doesn’t distract from the actual performance. To the contrary, the integration of 3D and IMAX production facilitates a progressive way of perceiving and enjoying a thrilling rock concert.
At the top of their game on the most giant of screens, U2 can now quite earnestly lay claim as being the biggest band on the planet.
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