There’s a scene in Shine a Light of Dick Cavett interviewing Mick Jagger in 1972. Cavett asks,” Can you possibly see yourself doing this at sixty?” Jagger replies, “Easily yeah.”
Perhaps Cavett should have been more specific and phrased the question, “Can you possibly see yourself working a stage, shaking your hips, ass and strutting like a peacock at 63?”
34 years later Jagger frenetically displays these outlandish stage moves and documents exactly why he’s still the prototypical rock and roll lead singer in Martin Scorseses’ Shine a Light. Filmed during two 2006 Beacon Theater New York City performances (October 29, November 1) during the Stones’ A Bigger Bang Tour, Shine A Light brings all the modern technology to a Stones’ film experience that earlier films Gimme Shelter, Ladies and Gentleman the Rolling Stones and the grainy unreleased documentary Cocksucker Blues couldn’t communicate. Most importantly it gives the casual $30 budget concert ticket buyer a front row experience to a Stones show which is typically three figures now for a “get in.”
Scorsese carefully had eighteen cameras tracking and zooming the rockers at dramatic moments, while carefully placing attractive young woman in the first few rows (along with Bruce Willis). Instead of doing a historical documentary, Scorsese let the stage antics do the talking, by focusing on Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts at their most vulnerable and courageous concert moments.
Infamously stoic drummer Watts catching his breath and wiping his brow with a “I’m too old for this shit,” look on his face after keeping the pace in " She Was Hot.” There’s Richards losing his guitar and Wood playing lap steel during “You Got the Silver,” as Keef croons through the western themed number. And during a version of Muddy Water’s “Champagne and Reefer,” guest Buddy Guy makes the stage his bitch, while Jagger fearlessly trades a harmonica riff to his shrieking blues riffs, never once flinching. During “As Tears Go By” the Stones reveal their delicate 60’s side during the introspective oldie, pleasing their “older” fan base.
Shine a Light contains the usual Stones’ radio hit standards (“Jumping Jack Flash,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Brown Sugar,” “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”) each played with moments of reinvention. But with the high definition audio mix, you can easily hear Richards and Wood weave their guitars and create their bluesy riff mix of melody that encompasses the Stone’s trademark gritty rock and roll. Jack White holds up his end of the invite on a rousing version of “Loving Cup,” while Christina Aguilera doesn’t sound as good as she looks bumping and grinding with Jagger during “Live With Me.”
Scorsese proves there are moments where the Stones’ have slowed down in their old age and other moments where they can easily kick Coldplay’s ass. As the first rock band to age before our eyes, Shine a Light, big pay days aside, shows why the Stones have lasted longer than any other rock band.
