Not A Very Bright Light

Lori and I attended a private screening of the new Martin Scorsese directed Rolling Stones rockumentary "Shine a Light" on Friday night at the Marcus Hollywood movie theater in Appleton. Oh, we didn't know it was going to be a private screening but--and I'm not making this up--at the 9:30 p.m. show we were literally the only two people in attendance. I realize the Stones ceased being a serious band a long time ago (1976's Black and Blue is the last great record, IMHO), but especially given that the film is still pretty new I thought we'd see at least some aging boomers or their curious kids. Nobody.

You'd think that pairing a legendary rock band with a legendary film director would produce something memorable. Not so in this case. It pains me to say that "Shine a Light" is a mostly awful film and quite possibly Scorsese's worst effort ever. The problem is Mick Jagger: now in his 60s, he insists on looking, singing, and dancing around like he's still 25; it's almost like a "Rolling Stones Mania" tribute to the 1960s and 70s band in which Mick Jagger gets to the play the first Mick Jagger impersonator.

Worse, the Stones for some reason cling to racey songs like "Some Girls" and "She was Hot" that might have made them appear macho to some people 30 years ago, but now emit a dirty-old-pervert persona. It's kind of disgusting. Thankfully, Mick's on-stage flirtation with Christina Aguilera during "Live With Me" was mercifully brief.

There are two highlights in the film that almost make it worthwhile. Blues legend Buddy Guy joins the Stones for an exuberant cover of Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer." The early Rolling Stones (1963-1965) played blues almost exclusively; I never cared too much for that early stuff because it imitated the blues greats like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters to the point of sounding like karaoke. How ironic that the when the Stones are now at the age when they have the experience to play some authentic blues, they choose instead to relegate themselves to the role of museum pieces playing popular tunes of yesteryear.

The other excellent part of the film is Keith Richards singing "You Got The Silver" (a genuine Stones classic) with Ronnie Wood on slide guitar. Mick is off stage during that performance, a fact which I found to be oddly soothing.

Before "Shine A Light," the Stones' most noteworthy film was the 1970s documentary "Gimme Shelter." Back then a filmmaker could suggest, as the makers of Gimme Shelter did, that the Stones' cutting edge rock-and-roll had the power to provoke chaos and define the end of the Woodstock era. Today, Scorsese's film suggests that the Stones can . . . still stand?

I just found out that K.T. Tunstall is coming to Milwaukee in August. She's an example of someone with the authenticity and rock spirit that Scorcese--unintentionally I think--displays the demise of in reference to the Stones.