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.”
