It had to happen. It's more reliable than any other regularly occurring phenomenon we have. If the Stones tour, there will be a live album to document it. Sure, they released the Biggest Bang DVD box set through (Satan)Best Buy last year, but that was DVD only. Thanks to Martin Scorsese's film Shine a Light, we finally have a CD companion to their most recent tour. The film is in IMAX theaters now and we have to assume it will be made available on DVD in the near future; we can hope it will also come to us on Blu-ray DVD, giving us our first HD Stones tour document.
Even folks like me who are live-album junkies, it can get a bit wearing trying to keep up with all the live releases from this band. How essential are these anyway?
Aside from there just being too damned many of them, there's something that plagues nearly all LDS live records- that's Latter Day Stones, by the way. The tempo, pitch, key, and vibe don't have as much variation when this incarnation of the band plays as they do on record. It's almost possible to tap your foot and sing the lyrics to "Satisfaction" when they're playing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" or "Brown Sugar" when they're playing "Honky Tonk Woman" and sound perfectly attuned to what is happening on the stage.
It's not a fatal flaw because despite that and the occasional fuck up from the band, these guys still bring enough energy and musicianship to drown out every late-night talk-show host who has ever made them a punch line as the poster children for everything past its expiration date. If David Letterman is reading this and wants some new material, here's an idea: Mick Jagger is the planet's #1 source of renewable energy, and I'm not just talking about the twelve tribes he's fathered.
I haven't seen Shine a Light yet, but I know how much energy Jagger was emitting on the Bigger Bang tour and this is from that same time frame. He's still incredible. As for the Scorsese effect, it doesn't really come across on the soundtrack and I have a sneaking suspicion it won't in the visual presentation of the band, either. These are the Stones. You can't stop the Stones from being the Stones, you can only hope to contain them - and why would you want to try and contain them anyway? The best thing Scorsese can do is try to capture them. I can't wait to see if he did.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
it is absolutely true about the energy these guys bring to their shows. as i've said before, i was almost shocked at how they blew onto the stage in boston. heck, if anybody could have a reason to phone it in, it's these guys....but they don't.
nice review. gotta get the cd. in fact, i tried to...but the jackholes at borders didn't have any in stock. crazy, eh?
2 - Josh Hathaway
Make sure when you do get a copy (clicking on the above Amazon link, for instance) that you get the 2-CD version, not the single.
I can't wait to see this as well as hear it, but it sounds really great.
3 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.
4 - Josh Hathaway
Thanks, Connie. I'd missed this until just now.
5 - Mat Brewster
I finally saw the film on the plane the other day. Scorsese absolutely captures the Stones at this stage in their career. Your right about Buddy Guy too, he scorches, which I knew already from the CD, but it is great to see it on film too.
6 - Josh Hathaway
The DVD and Blu-Ray DVD get released on Tuesday and I can't wait to finally see what I've already heard. We'll have to compare notes once I've seen it as well.
7 - drt
The vocal mix is horrible. Mick should have Keith stab somebody.