Posted by Fleabit Peanut Monkey on February 13, 2000 at 21:23:53:
GeeeeeeeeZUS.
For those of you who haven't seen it yet (or are Sir Stonsalot and I the last two?), Rolling Stones At The Max is fucking incredible. Absolutely fucking incredible.
We got there right before it started and the only seats were right down front. I'd been advised against sitting up front, but it was okay. More than okay! The second it started, with pink fog spilling down from the corner of the darkened screen, I started giggling like a little girly-man. Then the backstage footage - and Charlie is DANCING! DANCING and SMILING! Then the music starts. I just sat there with my mouth open. By the end of Tumblin' Dice we had to whoop and applaud - everyone did. We wanted to applaud every song but refrained, limiting ourselves to slack-jawed sidelong glances - "did you see THAT?" -- there were so many moments that killed me. Seeing the cracks in the finish of Keith's tele. Seeing how BEAUTIFUL Ronnie's Zemeitis is up close. The little flower dancing on top of Woody's amp. The bad teeth on the Japanese chick in the front row. The God's-eye-view from above Mick during "Sympathy".
After the triumph of the Voodoo Lounge, B2B and No Security tours, I tended to downplay Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle. I remembered being thrilled by it, but tended to attribute much of that thrill to just the fact that they were back after 8 years' absence. Last night set me straight on that account. They killed then too. The segment from "2000 Light Years" to "Sympathy" was perhaps the greatest 15 minutes of music I've heard in years. Keith's solo in "Sympathy" was SOOOO good, and all I could think was "DAMN! I shook that guy's hand!"
We walked out of the theater babbling. It was damned close to the buzz you get from actually seeing them. And for me, it was my first IMAX experience too, so it was a double whammy. So much of the movie shows you exactly what it's like to be on stage with them. At one point I decided that I would like to rent out the theater, set up my amplifier, and play bass along with the movie to complete the effect.
To give a balanced view, some slightly negative remarks - both SS and I agreed that a lot of those songs sound better with Darryl. (I wish they could do an imax movie of every tour!) and, although the absurdist in me sort of appreciated it, I thought Mick's whole schtick with the dog puppets was out of place in "Street Fightin' Man", because the rest of the band was playing the SHIT out of it. It's not a giant inflatable song. The big sluts in "Honky Tonk Women" are fine because it's a party song, and the footage of them deflating was cool.
Well, I could go on and on. Everyone must experience this movie.