No, it’s not “Cocksucker Blues” or “Charlie Is My Darling” but it sure is “Ladies And Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones” and Paul Dugdale’s “Sweet Summer Sun”, the Stones 2013 performance at Hyde Park for 100,000 fans, 44 years after they last performed there does the job at hand.
With audio produced by Don Was and engineered by Bob Clearmountain, the sound is immaculate and the performances are as good as the sound. I saw the Stones last December and the rust was still on them, but this performance showed none whatsoever. Indeed, as Jahn Xavier noted, they sound significantly better than they did in 1969 and, I might add, a lot less self serving.
Opening with some shots from Glastonbury, where the Stones had just performed, it follows the band to sleepy London time, where the Stones wax nostalgic but also in soundbites. Only Charlie Watts terse, “It’s a business ” cuts through the mush.
The large stage is filled with close circuit TVs and sometimes there are three Jagger’s dancing across the stage at once. The director leaves the stage for long shots, so we can drink it in, and for crowd reactions, especially on “Ruby Tuesday” where we are brought face to face with random fans.
“Ruby Tuesday” is good, opening song “Start Me Up” is extremely good, and “Gimme Shelter” is mindblowing and for good reason, his back up singer is a terrific foil for Jagger and sings her lungs out. Between the two they dance circles round the stage and send the “kiss away” into the night.
Still, I was less keen on the usual suspects, “Jumping Jack Flash”, “Honky Tonk Woman” and “Sympathy For The Devil” but having said that, Jagger is 70 years old and actually puts on the shirt from his 1969 performance. I might, I do, claim, that he is more energetic now than then. Still, age is catching up with Richard and despite a Keef-y solo on “Honky Tonk Women” , he isn’t the man he was (nor should he be) and the band seems to be carrying him.
The show takes two performances at London’s Hyde Park from July 6 and 13, at what was a major event this summer and gives it a sense of moment. The Stones seem to claim a bigness for the evenings, at least they say claim to, though Keih seems to feel the contradiction between just another gig and a huge home town performance. You might not believe Keith when he claims the Stones intentions to be better with every performance, not after his decades worth of going on stage very intoxicated, but it is nice to hear any way.
I bought the live at Hyde Park 2013 album the day it was released (like a month after the shows) and liked it a lot but the film I saw was cut by 50 minutes for reviewers so I am not sure if they did or did not include “Emotional Rescue” or the two newbies or Keith’s excellent “Before They Let Me Run” for that matter.
But the movie works as more than a souvenir, it is a good Stones live album. Better than “Shine A light”, better than “Live Lucks”… not the Stones “A” list movie, but definitely their B.
“Sweet Summer sun” just aired on the BBC in the UK and will be available on DVD November 11.
Grade: B