favorite rockumentaries/concert films

[Colfax]

Good call on Festival Express

Grateful Dawg with Jerry Garcia and David Grisman is pretty nice too


I never tire of Concert for George (Harrison) and Talking Heads Stop Making Sense.

There's a great music documentary on the Wetlands currently on Netflix.

[parkervb]

Haven't reviewed the whole post but I just saw "Shut Up and Play the Hits" about LCD Soundsystem's final show at MSG. I had little to no exposure to them other than hearing "Daft Punk Is Playing..." and reading about how fast the show sold out. But damn that was a fucking show. Not so much of a fan of the James Murphy interview parts with Chuck Klosterman.

[alienlanes]

Did I remember Pink Floyd's Live At Pompeii!?

So fucking good! 

[Crispy]

Did I remember Pink Floyd's Live At Pompeii!?

So fucking good! 

Yes!

However, it can be annoying when I get it out and forget that the original is way better than the 2003 "director's cut" version until I've already watched the whole thing.

[ericm]

Springsteen - Live at Hammersmith 1975. A concert film that's part of the Born To Run 30 yr Anniversary box set.

Genesis- Come Rain Or Shine. A rockumentary with a little bit of the show. Mostly behind the scenes rehearsal, planning of the tour, stage design, and setup. Not to mention ALL THE RAIN!  The 3rd DVD in their "When In Rome" DVD from the 2007 tour.

[pawpaw]

for me, it starts and ends with STOP MAKING SENSE. I've never seen a better concert film than that.

I agree completely, and I'm not even a huge Talking Heads fan. I mean, I like 'em, a lot, just not TOTALLY CRAZY () about 'em or anything.

Talking Heads - Burning down the house LIVE "Stop making sense" 1984 HQ

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones is another outstanding one, and of course, so is The Last Waltz.

I like a lot of the others already mentioned, but I'll also throw out The T.A.M.I Show, Wattstax, and Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967. They're all awesome.

[mahg33ta]

I watched the Eagles documentary playing on Showtime these days and really enjoyed it.   (and I'm not an Eagles fan by any means).   Lots of high quality old footage.

[pawpaw]

I watched the Eagles documentary playing on Showtime these days and really enjoyed it.   (and I'm not an Eagles fan by any means).   Lots of high quality old footage.

I haven't seen it, but was just reading about it last night. Bill Simmons loves it! I'd definitely like to see it.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9562051/the-eagles-greatest-hit

[Shug]

I am a big fan of the Eagles music (even though I think Glenn Frey and Irving Azoff and to a lesser extent, Don Henley, have behaved absolutely atrociously and from what I can tell by what they say and do and what other band members have said about them, they are despicable people).  I have known for a long time what great songwriters they are, but what shocked me is just how kick ass they were as singers.  Some of that footage where they are warming up before going on stage or singing backstage and especially the short concert DVD of the 1976 show, they are frickin' singing their asses off!  Don Henley has a killer voice and Randy Meisner's singing just slays me. And the songs are so so great.

I love disc 1 (the early years) and I hate disc 2 (the reunion years) of the documentary, but it is a really good package.  Why they hell they didn't release the entire concert, or more of it, is baffling to me.

[weeniebeenie]

I watched the Eagles documentary a little while ago and loved it. I had to rewind that part where Glenn, Randy and Bernie are are singing Silver Dagger just because it was so good. I kind of knew a bit about how Glenn and Don treated other band members but what really shocked me was how matter of fact and blunt they were about it all. Like they were in the right when, in my opinion they were massive jerks. But my gosh they're good song writers. And I love Joe, he's great!

[Shug]

Yeah, weenie, I agree.  It was shocking to hear how Frey openly admitted without shame that he and Don demanded more money than the rest of the band and basically gave them an ultimatum.  And I hated seeing how hurt Felder was in one of the interview scenes when he was saying he loved playing music with those guys, but couldn't stand the way he was treated.  He got so emotional, he had to stand up and leave the interview.  A friend I know spent quite a bit of time with Felder once and told me how humble and down-to-earth he is.  I hate it when greed ruins a great band.

I don't know if that live concert from '76 has any vocal overdubs or not.  The idealist part of me thinks it does not and if that is true, its fucking amazing how good their vocals were, even live.  The cynic in me wonders if they did redo the vocals later in the studio.  I mean, its so damn perfect.  But I really doubt they would overdub on the backstage/rehearsal footage and they are singing just as killer then, as well, and acapella, no less.  Stunningly good singing, I love that shit!

[Shug]

I watched the Eagles documentary playing on Showtime these days and really enjoyed it.   (and I'm not an Eagles fan by any means).   Lots of high quality old footage.

I haven't seen it, but was just reading about it last night. Bill Simmons loves it! I'd definitely like to see it.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9562051/the-eagles-greatest-hit

The Bill Simmons essay is pretty cool, even though I'm not sure I agree with him on each point.  I think the Eagles' music is a little more serious and important to me than it is for him. 

His assertion that a rock band is like a basketball team makes me think of an interesting philosophical question.  I can see his point (a group of people working together with a common goal, but each with a different role that deserves different rewards), but for me they are not the same.  Basketball is sport and music is art.  Performance on a sports team can easily be measured by statistics (even though there are other intangibles) but that is not really true for rock bands (unless you count who sang or wrote how many songs or guitar solos, which is a related topic: why do songwriters get more money in the music business than the ones who play an instrument or sing?  Is there inherently more value to songwriting than playing music?).  For me, sports is primarily entertainment, while music, even though it can entertain, can also serve loftier purposes to people and societies.  It can serve a spiritual purpose or speak to one's soul about the meaning of life and deals in the realm of feelings and all those kind of things.  That is why I don't think different members of the Eagles should have earned more or less money than the others.  Its a fundamental disagreement I have with many folks. Would the Eagles have been anywhere near as good without Randy Meisner's vocals?  I say they would not and I think he should earn just as much money as Don or Glenn.  Rock bands should be egalitarian.  Obviously Don and Glenn (and many many others) disagree.  But they have for years been in the music business more than they have been artists.

[wheelhousetunes]

For those that mentioned the Grateful Dead's "Sunshine Daydream" it is now up for pre-order on dead.net. Multiple versions available, but of course I went for the blu-ray edition. 

[APR]

I'm a pretty big Radiohead fan and remember seeing Meeting People Is Easy.  That was a weird one.  It could probably make people not like the band.... at least their personalities.  They (especially Thom) seem different in more recent interviews.  I guess that's not my favorite.

I really like Jeff Buckley Grace Around the World.

My favorites though are Okonokos and some Pearl Jam  - Single Video Theory for those that like the behind the scenes/interview stuff.  And Live at the Garden for those that like just one show straight thru.  I don't see how someone could watch PJ 20 and not become a fan.

[APR]

Just saw Sound City last week and really love it. Good behind the curtain look at one of the great recording studios and what made it special.


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This is definitely worth watching!  Palladia, VH1, and VH1 Classic have been airing it recently. 

[APR]

Foals - Live at the Royal Albert Hall = Awesome.   It came out about a few weeks ago.  There is some between song banter/backstage stuff but not much.  It rocks especially the last two songs, Inhaler and Two Steps Twice.

[e_wind]

I watched A Band Called Death on Nexflix not too long ago. It was great.

[LeanneP]

e_wind, agreed. A Band Called Death was fantastic.