Rolling Stones movie Shine a Light delivers satisfaction

Rolling Stones movie Shine a Light delivers satisfaction

by Albert Rodriguez - SGN A&E Writer SHINE A LIGHT OPENING APRIL 4 EXCLUSIVELY AT BOEING IMAX For anyone who's ever seen The Rolling Stones in concert, the experience is monumental. A stadium packed with thousands and thousands of screaming fans, on hand to witness the best rock 'n' roll group on the planet - it's a thrill beyond words. What if you were given front-row seats to a more intimate Stones concert, say inside New York City's Beacon Theatre? Thrilling doesn't even begin to explain it. In Martin Scorcese's Shine a Light, a concert biopic starring the legendary rockers as themselves, you're so close to the stage that you can count the wrinkles on Mick Jagger - not that you would, of course, because he clearly hasn't aged well. Ditto for Keith Richards. But the magnifying lens - in this case a six story-high Boeing IMAX theater at Seattle Center - provides you with a rare opportunity to be way, way up close to these rock icons. The film begins with Scorcese frustratingly attempting to get the Stones, primarily Jagger, to finalize the set list for the show, which took place in the fall of 2006. While the director nears a panicked state, a relaxed Jagger sits on a chartered plane, far from having the task completed. Even Richards quips, "I can't wait to see what we finally end up with". But just as a recording musician morphs into a bigger than life stage act, so too does Scorcese's magic under pressure. Opening with "Jumpin' Jack Flash," The Rolling Stones appear, uh & old, yet are filled with the enthusiasm of a band a quarter of their age. They look dreadful, though they sound unbelievably at the top of their game. The IMAX experience allows not only a first-row and onstage seat, it provides an amazing digital surround sound - the crowd cheers and whistles, and you swear it's coming from the seat directly behind you. Shine a Light is really a concert film, not a biopic. Ten to 15 minutes of it is vintage footage of interviews from the group's early years, when Jagger could've passed for reasonably attractive (key word: reasonably). During "Shattered," the lead singer is seen strutting and posing and posturing sexily - a rather feminine quality about him that has never truly offended the Stones' macho fan base, and has been copied by many leading rock vocalists today. Jack White, the male quotient of Grammy-winning duo The White Stripes, joins the Stones for a duet on "Loving Cup." Usually a cross between Edward Scissorhands and Lucifer, White actually looks pretty damn hot, and his schoolboy smile and uncommon giddiness tell us he's beside himself to be singing next to Jagger and backed by none other than The Rolling Stones. Another guest performer is a pre-mommy Christina Aguilera, who certainly hits those high notes on "Live With Me." Sometimes appearing as bit of a wreck, she looks fabulous here in black stretch pants, white button-down shirt, spiked heels, and long blonde hair. Bluesman Buddy Guy, however, gives the coolest guest appearance, playing a mean guitar on Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer." The scene of he and Richards jamming on guitar simultaneously is worth the price of admission alone. It's through the roof! Former president Bill Clinton gets in on the action as well, shaking hands with the Stones before showtime and informing them that his entourage of 30 guests is on the way, and all are expecting a personal meet 'n' greet with the band. To this Richards quips, "Hey Clinton, I'm bushed!" As someone privileged to see The Rolling Stones twice in concert, I wouldn't know the feeling of the opposite - and I feel for anyone who's never enjoyed the opportunity because it's life-altering. Shine a Light could very well be the next best thing.

Music of Remembrance Timeless concert features Brundibár children's opera

Timeless Seattle Asian Art Museum April 12, 2:30 PM Free Seattle 's Music of Remembrance (MOR) presents the concert-with-commentary Timeless at 2:30 p.m. on April 12, 2008, at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The last program in this season's free Sparks of Glory outreach series, Timeless makes for a family-friendly afternoon, with scenes from Hans Krása's beloved children's opera Brundibár, sung by some of Seattle's top young vocalists, and chamber music by Robert Dauber and Gideon Klein. MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller, an international speaker on musicians' spiritual resistance during the Holocaust, will introduce the 90-minute, Terezín-centered program. Terezín (Theresienstadt) was the infamous "model" concentration camp outside Prague that the Nazis used for propaganda purposes, deceiving the International Red Cross and the rest of the outside world about their treatment of the Jews. Virtually all the inmates who survived Terezín's harsh conditions were fated for transport to death camps. Says Miller, "Our mission - to perform for everyone to hear this music, which speaks so movingly, so eloquently against the Holocaust - is amplified by children's voices when we turn to Terezín. Genocide knows no limits. Their courageous example reminds us we must always be vigilant." Miller, a concert pianist, will also perform, accompanied by cellist Julian Schwarz and violinist Jocelyn Chang (winners of MOR's youth musician David Tonkonogui Memorial Award, in 2005 and 2006, respectively). In spite of the horrific conditions, Terezín's inmates shared a rich cultural life that asserted their humanity against Nazi oppression. Czech composer Hans Krása revised his children's opera Brundibár for the instruments available at the camp. The opera had 55 performances in Terezín, cast with child inmates, nearly all of whom would be killed before liberation. MOR presents excerpts from the opera, directed by Erich Parce, and featuring young Seattle vocalists Ross Hauck, Megan Chenovick, Malya Muth, Michael Drumheller, Signe Mortensen, and Cliff Watson. They will be singing Tony Kushner's English adaptation of the original Czech libretto. The Brundibár score that Krása revised was smuggled into the camp; two musicians who wrote new music during their imprisonment there were Robert Dauber (1922-45) and Czech pianist/composer Gideon Klein (just 23 years old when he came to Terezín). Dauber played cello in Brundibár's orchestra; the Serenata for violin and piano is his only composition that remains. He died at Dachau in 1945. Klein's Duo for Violin and Cello was written in 1941; he spent three years at Terezín, composing, performing, and lecturing, and died at the Fürstengrube concentration camp in 1945. Offered free to the public - thanks to sponsorship by Chamber Music America and the National Endowment for the Arts - the performance takes place at the Seattle Asian Art Museum on Capitol Hill, which offers free parking for visitors. A Music of Remembrance press release