Band : Rolling Stones

Album title : Martin Scorsese – Shine A Light

Label : Promotone - Polydor

Distributor : Universal

Release date : April 2008

Release : Double (live) CD

Live recordings...something which is always good for record companies to make an fairly easy buck, as the fans will go out and buy the darn thing anyway, and usually there's no big recordings expense note to be payed! Well, I guess the recordings for the DVD that was recorded two years ago by noted movie producer and director Martin Scorsese will have cost the concerned label a fair amount of money anyway, but then the Rolling Stones are always good for nice sales figures, so I guess they must've felt it was worth the (financial) risc.

(Following info taken from liner notes in the album by Martin Scorsese ) Although he'd only first went to see 'em live during the '70s, turns out Scorsese has always been a RS fan, and in many ways whatever he does in movies always started out with his favourite band, often using their music in the soundtracks of his movies...so when he was approached to do their next "live movie", it's safe to say he was kinda excited. To Scorsese it all hàd to be done in New York, as he (and many others) has (have) always considered the band to be a New York act, and after lengthy discussions it was agreed upon that the recordings would be done at the Beacon Theater , because it is one of the city's great halls, in fact a piece of New York history, and has perfect acoustics and extraordinary visual possibilities.

None of which you'll be able to see on the Double- CD audio version of the DVD, except in a very little way through the small amount of printed photos. On stage, the Stones ( Jagger , Richards , Wood , and Watts ) were fortified by bassist Darryl Jones , keyboardist Chuck Leavell , backing singers Lisa Fisher , Bernard Fowler , and Blondie Chaplin , and a horns section consisting of saxophone players Bobby Keys and Tim Ries (the latter also playing the occasional extra tune on the keyboards), trumpetist Kent Smith , and trombone player Michael Davis . As guests for the evenings, the band introduced (in order of appearance) Jack White III (during "Loving Cup" ), the legendary Blues guitarist & singer Buddy Guy (during "Champagne & Reefer "), and Pop queen Christina Aguilera ( "Live With Me" ). For the Stones , the set-list had to be perfect and fitting for the occasion. With the majority of the music being chosen of equal parts from the '60s (in order of appearance: "Jumpin' Jack Flash" , "As Tears Go By" , "You Got The Silver" , "Connection" , "Sympathy For The Devil" , "Live With Me" , "Satisfaction" , "Paint It Black" , and "I'm Free" ) and '70s ( "Shattered" , "All Down The Line" , "Loving Cup" , "Some Girls" , "Just My Imagination" , "Faraway Eyes" , "Tumbing Dice" , "Brown Sugar" , and concert closer "Shine A Light" ), you still get some of the band's bigger hits of the '80s as well ( "She Was Hot" , "Champagne & Reefer" , "Start Me Up" , and "Little T & A" ). All together, that gives us a measly total of 22 songs and only 1 hour and 41 minutes worth of audio material...which is not a lot considering the material was recorded over two nights (October 29 and November 1 st ).

In my personal opinion, Jagger does not always bring the songs in their former glory (in fact, the live recordings occasionally sound like there's someone quite different singing up there), but then who can blame the man for now being a couple of years older? The Rolling Stones still remain one of the mastodonts of Rock 'n' Roll music...but I wish a new studio album could finally come my way for review! As this is a live recording, it gets no rating (which is just as well, because sound quality wize there may worse recordings, but there's also a lot better ones).

Tony.