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The Last Waltz (1978)
Scosese's lovingly crafted, elegiac ode to The Band performing their farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day, 1976, remains an unforgettable experience, the guest artists alone - Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young among them - making it worth the price of admission. Shot by seven camera operators, including legendary cinematographers Michael Chapman, Vilmos Zsigmond and L�szl� Kov�cs, it was an epic production, capturing an astonishing pageant of American popular music, from rock to blues, to folk to Tin Pan Alley pop. Levon Helm never liked it, but that's drummers for you.
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| "Examples of the genre" my arse. | Not including Prince's 'Sign o' The Times' concert movie in this list is bordering on the criminal. ... Read More
fang About me | | 19:45, 14 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Good choices. Though Stop Making Sense should be no. 1. ... Read More
Olaf About me | | 00:30, 14 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | boring!!!!!!!! | well that was a rubbish collection most of these people are from years ago - what about depeche mode 101 by the legendary D.a Pennenbaker? You could try to make you list a bit more up to date!!!!!!!!!! ... Read More
deepbluepete About me | | 20:37, 11 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | Agreed with previous posts re Depeche Mode 101 Film! Funny for the kids that star in it, excellent when concert footage is shown.. especially when Dave Gahan gets the crowd to swing the arms in unison to 'Never Let Me Down Again'.. sends shivers up my spine everytime I see it!!! ... Read More
Mr_Goodfella About me | | 15:45, 11 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | RE: 101 | U2 are shit, and Live Aid was only particularly good for about 30 minutes.
All in all, not a bad selection there. Managed to steer clear from anything particularly obvious for the most part, which is always nice. ... Read More
nutteronabus About me | | 13:00, 11 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | 101 | Would have liked to see Depeche Mode's 101 concert included.. even if it is more a documentary than a movie... ... Read More
Reaps About me | | 14:15, 10 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | RE: one missing | Totally agree that U2's Zoo Tv Live from Sydney should've been there. Live Aid should have made the top 10 an' all. Plus Bowie's Spiders From Mars Tour should've been much higher. ... Read More
ordboy17 About me | | 13:36, 10 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | one missing | U2's Zoo TV concert from Sydney, nov 1993, should have been in here somewhere... ... Read More
amerelium About me | | 13:13, 10 November 2008 | Report This Post | | | | | |
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Simon Braund explains his choices...
Okay, I hear you. "No Stairway? Denied!" Right, and no Woodstock or Elvis either. Why? Well, first of all, let's deal with the films that did make the cut. Basically they are all examples of the genre that capture with consummate but circumspect skill outstanding, often historic performances. That, to my mind, is the warp and woof of a classic concert movie. Woodstock, for all its cultural baggage, simply doesn't measure up. It looks dated and contrived, and with the exception of several brilliant sets (Sly Stone, CSN&Y, Hendrix - who was better at Monterey), a lot of the music is self-indulgent bollocks.
On a more personal level, Led Zeppelin's monolithic The Song Remains The Same rules itself out for breaking up the undeniably awesome live footage with those absurd home movies intended to represent each band-member's cosmic being. Far out! Also, crotch-rottingly pretentious. 1968's Elvis, commonly known as 'the comeback special', is a scintillating portrait of The King before Vegas and cheeseburgers did him in, parading his carnal potency in skin-tight black leather. But, for me, that guy playing drums on a flightcase ruins it.
Close-but-no-cigar awards go to T.Rex: Born To Boogie, which was edged out by Ziggy, and Alice Cooper's Good To See You Again. Any concert movie where the lead singer gets hanged live on stage deserves at least an honourable mention.
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This top ten first appeared in Empire Magazine Issue 233.
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