People love going to concerts. Going to concert films, however, is a different thing altogether.

In the 40-year history of the modern concert film _ which, for our purposes, let’s say started with 1968’s “Monterey Pop” _ there have been many disappointing offerings, an endless amount of mediocrity and relatively few true keepers.

Yet, directors keep right on making these films, trying (usually in vain) to translate the magic of the concert-going experience to the big screen. It’s still only April but there’s already been three ballyhooed concert films released this year _ “U2 3D,” “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” and the recent Rolling Stones offering, “Shine a Light.”

Thus, I’ve decided to look back at the best concert films in history.

I’ve established some strict guidelines to narrow down the field. To be eligible, the film may only document a single event _ i.e., a concert, a multi-night run or a festival. That means that three of this critic’s favorite music movies _ Phish’s “Bittersweet Motel,” Neil Young’s “Year of the Horse” and the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” _ were not considered, since they document entire tours. Also, a film had to play on the big screen, which cuts out all those straight-to-DVD titles.

What follows are our picks for the 10 docs that rocked the hardest (with this year’s offerings excluded from the list). I’d love to hear about your favorites as well, so please post your picks on my blog.

Top 10 concert films:

1, “Stop Making Sense” (1984)
Most concert films are intended for the pre-existing fan base. It’s rare that one will actually create a legion of new fans for the featured artist _ but that’s exactly what happened with director Jonathan Demme’s documentary on the Talking Heads.

“Stop Making Sense” is filmed in a way that makes the viewer feel as if he or she is witnessing a private performance. Demme avoids audience scenes and amplified applause, while favoring lengthy camera shots over MTV-style quick cuts. That unblinking focus heightens the sense of band interaction and creates palpable tension in the songs.

The film was shot in late 1983, right as theatrical vocalist David Byrne and his crew were at the height of their powers. That’s one thing Demme had in his favor. Yet, the ingenious way the film was organized _ beginning with Byrne’s solo performance of “Psycho Killer” and then slowly building, as band members join the stage one-by-one to create increasingly rich and complex music _ was what truly earned “Stop Making Sense” the top spot on our list.

2, “Awesome, I . . . Shot That!” (2006)
By 2006, the standard concert film methodology was feeling pretty stale and we desperately needed something new to come along and shake things up. Enter the Beastie Boys, who provided a big shot in the arm to the tired genre with a film that definitely warranted the use of “Awesome.”

What makes this movie so special is how well it fits the current cultural climate, where so many people get their main source of entertainment through the Internet. The film comes across like dozens of YouTube videos stitched together, but the overall feel is as cohesive of an artistic statement as you’ll find in the genre.

Only the Beasties would think to hand out 50 camcorders to their fans and let them run wild during a sold-out concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2004. The cameras were returned at the end of the gig and then director Nathaniel Hornblower (the Beasties’ Adam “MCA” Yauch) edited the miles of footage into a thoroughly entertaining 90-minute end product.

What’s missing in terms of precise cinematography (as the fans often lose focus on what’s happening onstage) is more than made up for by the film’s fascinating swirl of different perspectives, all of which combine to give the viewer an amazingly accurate sense of what it actually feels like to attend a concert.

3, “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture” (1973)
D.A. Pennebaker is the greatest rock documentarian in film histor. His finest hour (or, really, 90 minutes) came with this feature focusing on David Bowie’s most famous alter-ego.

The concert fell on July 3, 1973 at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, the last date of a mammoth 60-night tour that would cement Bowie’s place among rock’s true immortals. It was also the night when pop’s ultimate chameleon would retire his sci-fi-inspired Ziggy Stardust persona.

Stardust, however, would go out on a high note as the rock alien and his band (known as the Spiders from Mars) delivered inspired versions of such favorites as “Changes,” “Suffragette City” and “Space Oddity.” Sideman Mick Ronson was in true guitar-hero form on this evening, but it was hard to pay attention to his riffs when Bowie/Stardust was such a thoroughly captivating presence. Has any musician ever inhabited a character more fully than Bowie wearing Stardust? Watch this movie before you answer.

4, “The Last Waltz” (1978)
Often labeled as the greatest rock movie in history, this Martin Scorsese-directed feature documents the Band’s swan song on Thanksgiving Day 1976 at the old Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

The film features some truly fine performances and interesting behind-the-scenes interviews, but it’s clearly not without some problems. For one, the bevy of guest performers, which included Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters, turns out to be a mixed blessing. These stars deliver some of the best moments of the film, but they also distract the viewer from focusing on the Band members. Also, Scorsese favors his old roommate Robbie Robertson in the interviews at the expense of input from others in the group.

Yet, those are just minor quibbles. In all, “The Last Waltz” is a richly romantic and endearing masterpiece, one that served as a fitting farewell to one of the greatest rock bands of the time.

5, “The Grateful Dead Movie” (1977)
Although its members might have claimed otherwise, the Grateful Dead was so much more than just a band. It was a way of life, a calling and, practically, a religion for some of the most “Dead-icated” followers.

“The Grateful Dead Movie,” to a greater extent than any other single document, captures the essence of the colorful, chaotic scene that revolved around the band for so many decades. Through interview segments and crowd footage, the viewer gets a real sense of what makes these fans (known as “Deadheads”) tick and why they are so committed to the group.

The film was co-directed by the Dead’s own Jerry Garcia and recorded during a five-night stand at Winterland, coming at the end of the group’s 1974 tour. It features some inspired jams, a particularly mesmerizing version of “Morning Dew” and the coolest animation segment (the “U.S. Blues” opener) in rock doc history.

6, “Rock the Bells” (2007)
The story is told from the perspective of the concert promoter, which, we realize, makes it sound about as promising as a new reality show on VH1. It addresses all of the many things that go into mounting a large-scale concert _ and this one, the first annual “Rock the Bells” festival in Southern California, took more than most.

Back in 2004, independent promoter Chang Weisberg is handed an opportunity he simply can’t refuse _ to try and present a full-fledged Wu-Tang Clan reunion show. Booking Wu-Tang, one of the most popular acts in hip-hop history, means huge ticket sales. The downside is that the Clan is infamous for not showing up for gigs. If that happened at this festival, the fans could riot and the promoter _ who mortgaged his house to put on the concert _ would lose everything.

Thus this fascinating musical odyssey begins, as Weisberg and his crew try to coral the Clan to the venue, while dealing with hundreds of other details (like ticketing, promotion, etc.) Directors Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan do an excellent job spinning the storyline, quickly creating a sense of impending doom that gives each scene a sense of dire urgency.

7, “Monterey Pop” (1968)
This is the better of the two most widely celebrated rock festival documentaries (the other, of course, being “Woodstock”).

All NorCal bias aside, “Monterey” just features so many legendary performances _ Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar at the end of “Wild Thing,” the Who smashing up their instruments onstage and, best of all, Otis Redding outshining all the other stars on “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”

Plus, these performances are masterfully recorded by Pennebaker. The director, who had already made his name with the Bob Dylan doc “Don’t Look Back,” uses a light-handed “cinema verite” style to great impact here. He avoids voice-over narration, staged interviews and other such techniques and simply lets the story unfold through the songs.

8, “Fade to Black” (2004)
A film that gets better with repeated viewings, “Fade to Black” is one of the most insightful looks inside big-time hip-hop. The feature documents Jay-Z’s sold-out Madison Square Garden show of November 2003, which was billed as the star’s final gig before taking an early retirement from the rap game. In other words, Jay-Z _ ever the showman _ had staged his own “Last Waltz.”

The concert features several sensational performances, from Jay as well as such musical associates as Beyonce and Mary J. Blige, but some of the film’s best moments come offstage. The segment in the studio, where Jay strives to find the right beat for a song, is both fun and fascinating.

9, “The Song Remains the Same” (1976)
While far from a perfect film, “The Song Remains the Same” still serves as a powerful document of this mighty live act. It was recorded during a three-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 1973, back when Led Zep was arguably the biggest band on the planet, and featured the foursome carving up major metal on “Dazed and Confused,” “Heartbreaker” and other favorites.

The non-concert footage drags the whole package down a bit, but the performances onstage are all pretty phenomenal. The concert footage is enough to make one understand why Led Zep _ nearly 30 years removed from its last studio offering _ remains so popular today.

10, “Jimi Plays Berkeley” (1971)
This flick, recorded during two performances on May 30, 1970 at the Berkeley Community Theater, is a midnight-movie/college-circuit classic. It was shot for cheap and it looks the part.

Why pick this one over Pennebaker’s more celebrated “The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live at Monterey” documentary? For one thing, “Berkeley” provides some really interesting (and incredibly rare) behind-the-scenes footage, including during the limo drive to the venue and at sound check. It also captures one heck of a night for the ultimate guitar god _ who would die just months later _ as he leads his wrecking crew through such classics as “Machine Gun” and “Purple Haze.”

Amy Winehouse tried to go to the Grammys, but the government said “no no no.’’

Visa problems stopped the controversial Brit _ best known for living up to her hit single “Rehab’’ _ from actually attending the 50th Grammy Awards. Yet, nothing could stop her from having a huge night on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Winehouse nabbed the most trophies of anyone, winning five of the six categories she was nominated in, including a triumph over Oakland’s own R&B-jazz sensation Ledisi in the hotly contested Best New Artist field. Her song “Rehab’’ won for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Performance and its parent album, “Back to Black,’’ scored Best Pop Vocal Album.

Kanye West was the other big winner during “music’s biggest night,’’ an evening that some had speculated might be canceled due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. Fortunately, the writers agreed not to picket the Grammys and West was able to properly celebrate his victories. The hip-hop star aced four of the five rap categories _ Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album. It could have been a clean sweep of the genre, but Rihanna and Jay-Z’s “Umbrella’’ beat out West for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

West, however, was once again shut down in the race for Album of the Year. He was the heavy favorite in that category, since he also lost Album of the Year in 2005 (for “The College Dropout’’) and 2006 (“Late Registration’’) and it was assumed voters would reward him for his continued excellence this year. Winehouse’s “Back to Black’’ was considered a strong contender as well. Instead, however, they gave it to Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters’’ _ marking the first time in 43 years that a jazz artist won the top award.

West and Winehouse, however, did deliver two of the event’s best performances. West combined with Daft Punk to put on a visually stunning version of the Grammy-winning “Stronger,’’ during which the rapper wore a spacey suit with glow-in-the-dark sunglasses and sang amid bursts of pyrotechnics, and then followed with a touching take on “Hey Mama.’’

Winehouse performed via satellite from London and wowed the assembled masses with renditions of “You Know I’m No Good’’ and “Rehab.’’ The British singer was originally scheduled to appear live in Los Angeles, but she was apparently judged to be a risk to national security. Her visa was denied, reportedly, for her “use and abuse of narcotics.’’ It was later approved, but not in time for her to make it to L.A. for the event. (Thank goodness that our government is spending millions to keep us safe from partying rock stars and juiced-up baseball players. We can all sleep safely now.)

Other notable winners among the 110 Grammy categories included Bruce Springsteen, who nabbed three awards in the rock field, and the Foo Fighters, who scored twice, also in the rock field.

In all, it was one of most diverse nights for music in Grammy history. This year’s batch of nominations in the biggie categories _ the four “general field’’ competitions _ drew from several major genres. Most significantly, the top prize, Album of the Year, was a fight between country (Vince Gill’s “These Days’’), rock (the Foo Fighter’s “`Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace’’), pop (Winehouse’s “Back to Black’’), rap (West’s “Graduation’’) and jazz (Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters’’).

Interesting, all five of the Album of the Year nominees won in their respective genre-specific categories (Hancock’s “River’’ won Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Gill’s “Days’’ took Best Country Album, etc.).

As delightfully diverse as the Album of the Year category was this year, it would take some time for that kind of musical variety to have an impact on the actual show. At first, it seemed like we were just watching the Alicia Keys show.

The soul singer led off the show with her own performance and then stuck around to welcome the crowd and introduce the next act, Carrie Underwood. Prince was the third star to take the stage, wearing a decidedly un-purple red suit, and he gave out the first award, for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The recipient was _ you guessed it! _ Keys. The show was barely 10 minutes old, yet Keys had already nabbed more Grammy airtime than some major acts score during entire careers.

To her credit, Key’s Grammy opening performance was one of the show’s finest musical moments. The vocalist-pianist performed a sentimental duet with Frank Sinatra on “Learning the Blues.’’ Keys performed in person, while the Chairman of the Board was shown via skillfully edited archival video footage. That technologically-enhanced trick is a Grammy favorite _ the most memorable occurrence came back in 1992, when Nat King Cole would perform a posthumous duet with daughter Natalie on “Unforgettable’’ _ and the trick still works in 2008. (Keys wouldn’t fair quite so well later in the show when she joined with pop star John Mayer on “No One.’’)

Overall, the performances were mostly solid _ and, at times, spectacular. On a purely musical note, nothing topped the dual piano work of jazz giant Hancock and classical child prodigy Lang Lang on George Gershwin’s epic “Rhapsody in Blue.’’ What a triumphant moment _ the embrace between the two men at the end of the piece said it all. The biggest crowd pleaser, however, had to have been the pairing of Beyonce and Tina Turner early in the show.

The much ballyhooed Time reunion, marking the first time the band’s original members had performed together in 15 years, also lived up to the hype. The old-school funk group was joined by new-school R&B star Rihanna, who added her vocal talent and other charms to the mix. Also, it was a nice bit of synergy to have a woman known for the song “Umbrella’’ perform with a band known for the film “Purple Rain.’’

The Grammys’ track record with Beatles’ tributes has been, to be generous, inconsistent. There have been some great moments (such as when Dave Matthews, Vince Gill, Sting and Pharrell Williams combined forces on a rollicking version of “I Saw Her Standing There’’ in 2004) and some shoddy showings (Jay-Z, Linkin Park and Sir Paul McCartney himself demolish “Yesterday’’ in 2006). The one early in the show that featured the combined casts of Cirque Du Soleil’s “Love’’ and the film “Across the Universe’’ (both Beatles-themed artistic statements) fell somewhere right in the middle.

Well, I’m here - in Laker land. Home of the Dodgers, Hollywood, fake (ummm?) stuff and big dreams. Flew into Burbank, because it’s so much easier than LAX, and shuttled to my hotel. I’m staying in Silver Lake, which is a really cool neighborhood. I’m about 3 miles from where it will all go down, tomorrow night, at Staples. I’ll be Mr. Taxi while I’m here.

I’m down here a day early, because that’s what the Grammy folks require in order to cover the event. You can’t pick up your press credential on the actual day of the show, which is a new one for me. So, in 30 minutes or so, I’m going to head down to the LA Convention Center to pick up my credential and try to figure out what tomorrow is going to be like for me.

Really, I don’t have a clue what covering the Grammys, live, means. Never done it before. It’s cool that my first time is the 50th anniversary. I expect to be blogging all weekend, to keep you in tune with my experience. Unless, of course, Beyonce sees me today and wants to go kick it by the pool or something. In that case, I’ll blog later.

There’s only one sure bet for this year’s Grammy Awards:

It’s going to be more fun to watch than the Golden Globes.

The union for striking Hollywood writers, which forced the cancellation of the Golden Globes gala, has decided to spare the Grammys from the picket lines. Thus, the show will be shown at 8 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 10th) on CBS, broadcast from Staples Center in Los Angeles.

That’s good news, since it would have been a shame to cancel the 50th annual Grammy Awards. In honor of the milestone anniversary, we’ve decided to look back at 50 big moments in Grammy history. We’ve collected up the milestone victories and the most memorable performances, as well as the Grammy goofs (like Milli Vanilli’s victory as Best New Artist in 1990) and other lowlights. All of these moments, both good and bad, have combined to define what’s become music’s biggest night.

Please note that these memories are listed chronologically, as opposed to using a ranking system. Also, we’re sure that we’ve forgotten a few of the top moments _ 50 years, after all, is a lot of ground to cover _ so please help us out. Please post your top Grammy memories below.

1, Just for laughs
Music takes a back seat as comedian Bob Newhart wins Best New Artist and Album of the Year (for “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart’’) in 1961. It was not the only time that a comedic offering would score Album of the Year _ Phil Collins’ “No Jacket Required’’ would also win in 1986.

2, Celebrating a life
The very first Lifetime Achievement Grammy was given out in 1962 to a well-deserving Bing Crosby. By the time the trophy was given out again, in 1965 to Frank Sinatra, it was officially known as the Bing Crosby Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award.

3, Vaudeville act
Grammy voters get it wrong at least as often as they get it right. In hindsight, one of the earliest major flubs was when they picked the New Vaudeville Band’s novelty hit “Winchester Cathedral’’ for Best Contemporary R&B recording in 1966. What else was nominated? Only five of the best songs in pop-music history _ the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,’’ the Association’s “Cherish,’’ the Mamas and the Papa’s “Monday Monday,’’ the Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville’’ and the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.’’

4, Beatlemania
A rock platter finally wins for Album of the Year in 1968. Grammy voters were late in catching up with the times (a trend that continues to this day), but they certainly picked a good one to start with _ the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’’

5, A true Wonder
Stevie Wonder owned the ‘70s like no other, at least according to Grammy voters. He won the most coveted of all trophies, Album of the Year, for three consecutive releases _ “Innervisions’’ (1974), “Fulfillingness’ First Finale’’ (1975) and “Songs in the Key of Life’’ (1977). It was such a Grammy dynasty that when Paul Simon picked up the award in 1976, for “Still Crazy After All These Years,’’ he thanked Wonder for not releasing a record that year.

6, It’s a tie
For the only time in Grammy history, the Song of the Year category ends in a tie and two trophies are given out in 1978, to Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen’’ and Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life.’’ And, really, who could pick between those two?

7, Taste of success
In 1979, A Taste of Honey passed the Cars and Elvis Costello to win Best New Artist. A Taste of Honey, of course, is still known today for the single “Boogie Oogie Oogie,’’ while the Cars and Costello haven’t been heard of since.

8, Bringing the `Flowers�