The Rolling Stones
Let’s Spend The Night Together
Umbrella
It’s at least the second time this concert film has been made available on DVD – and there’s nothing new about it, so I’m not quite sure why it’s out and about again; re-released. Beyond, of course, the obvious money-scrape perhaps. But hey, one thing I’ll say is this is the first time this film actually made any sense to me. In the past I haven’t really enjoyed it – the spectacle of it was something when I first saw it, but it’s such a sloppy performance, I never really cared for The Stones’ ’81 tour in any shape or form (the live album is a bit of a dud too).
But what I see and hear now is The Stones still trying to be modern – they were serving up their hits, sure, the oldies, the songs from the past, from all incarnations of the band – but this is The Stones while still recording new material and still trying to be a new band, very nearly a new wave band you would have to think – given the colour scheme anyway.
With everything louder than everything else – and that was just the wardrobe manager’s instructions – a shoulder padded Mick does one of his finest aerobics workouts, the band kicking off with a rather unhinged, so loose and brilliant version of Under My Thumb. There’s plenty from the current albums – not just Tattoo You but also Emotional Rescue and Some Girls – and then there’s all the riff-tastic concert closers we’ve come to know and tolerate (Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Satisfaction).
All up it makes for one of the more interesting Stones concert-film setlists – and it is really the only time you get to see the Stones approach The 1980s. They were back on the patch-up tour at the very end of the decade and yes, sure, they had a new album to plug too but that was the beginning of what is now a 25 year long victory lap.
This was them rude, raw, sloppy, loose – all the things they were (always) supposed to be. Now, so often, it either seems mechanical or just plain awful.
If you’ve not seen this before it might be worth a gawk now – if you haven’t seen it in a while give it another look.