PMC7027
10-10-2003, 06:30 AM
The Concert For George
I saw this at the Loews Theatre in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on Wednesday October 8, 2003. I shared the 8:20 PM showing with 3 other people in a 90 seat theatre. Until 2 minutes before the start of the picture I was the only person in the theatre, so naturally I picked a seat that I thought would be in the best position sonically. I positioned myself so my eyes were just above mid-screen height and centered in front of the screen. I was three rows from the back of the small theatre so I wouldn’t have to deal with any boundary effects in the bass. I also wanted a little breathing room between the rear speakers and me. Boy was I surprised when I discovered that the movie was being shown in mono, with only the speakers behind the screen playing!
I was so impressed with The Concert For George that it seemed to last only a few minutes. The photography was beautiful and the editing, thank goodness, was not in the MTV "quick-cutting" style. The camera stayed on the various players for as long as it took to convey the emotion of the performance.
So many things ran through my mind as I watched I wish I had brought a tape recorder to capture my thoughts. It was so obvious that the performers really loved George and had checked their egos at the door (except for one who I shall discuss later). I enjoyed the numerous times that the "action" switched to the rehearsal to show a bit of the behind the scenes activities. Dhani Harrison wearing the "Stamp Out The Beatles" sweatshirt at the rehearsal was great! I certainly don’t know if that was the same sweatshirt that George used to have, but it captured George's spirit perfectly. Watching Dhani on stage, sometimes concentrating so hard on his guitar playing that his face looked pained (or worried), was a treat. Although instrumentally he was a very small part of the show he worked VERY hard. I'm sure he was unbelievably nervous up on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall. I couldn't help comparing Dhani's part, which I'm sure he discussed beforehand with Olivia, with Sean Lennon's part in the John Lennon tribute that was televised a couple of years ago.
On that occasion Yoko thrust Sean on us by having him perform both solo numbers and as a trio, if I remember. All of the other performers were accomplished (at least in terms of music sales) artists. Sean did not even belong on the stage with them, in my opinion. Similarly, Dhani, from an accomplishment point of view, didn't belong on stage with the other players. Rather than Olivia thrusting him on us she let him (or he decided to) play a very small musical part. Just watching him revealed the entire spectrum of human emotion.
I've always been a fan of Eric Clapton, but because this movie my appreciation of him has increased enormously. Eric sang and played beautifully, but more importantly, he "felt" every song during the show. It was so obvious that he really loved George and wanted George's music to be appreciated by the audience. Eric also did a beautiful job playing the acoustic guitar during the performance by the Indian musicians of Ravi Shankar's composition for George.
Jeff Lynne also did a great job, in my opinion. He willingly played "second fiddle" on many of the performances singing backup and playing rhythm guitar. When he took the mic to sing lead it was easy to tell that he really "felt" George's words. His singing of The Inner Light, combined with Ravi's daughter's sitar playing was especially moving.
Ringo was typically Ringo. He sang Photograph and Honey Don't and played drums on many other songs. I found it interesting, at least in the songs showed during the film, that Ringo didn’t seem to play drums on many of the Beatles numbers. I wonder if he still thinks as he did during the "Give My Regards To Broad Street" days?
I didn't want to like Billy Preston because of his "off stage" legal problem, but he was fantastic! It was obvious that he loved being on the stage, and his lead vocal performance on My Sweet Lord was heartfelt. I was touched to see him put his arm around Ringo during one of the performances.
Maybe I'm overly critical, but I was upset with Paul McCartney. Before playing Something he told the same "ukulele" story that he did about a hundred times during his tour. Playing guitar and singing All Things Must Pass upset me, because that could have been a Beatles song if only Paul had shown some interest in it during the "Get Back" sessions. I have a theory as to why the performance of Something changed in the middle of the song from Paul on the uke to the entire band. When Paul was at the microphone the concert seemed to become a Paul McCartney show. No other voices were heard and the emotional spotlight seemed to shine too brightly on him. By having the entire "band" come in the spotlight went back on George's music. The entire night, other than when Paul sang, came across as a group of musicians playing together. When Paul sang it came across as a group backing Paul.
I don’t want to end my ramblings on a negative note because I really loved the experience of seeing The Concert For George on the big screen. I’m sorry I didn’t get to hear it in 5.1 surround, but it really didn’t matter. I was swept away by the emotion of the event. I look forward to the DVD, but I look forward more to watching this film and singing along with the crowds at Beatlefest next year. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!
I saw this at the Loews Theatre in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on Wednesday October 8, 2003. I shared the 8:20 PM showing with 3 other people in a 90 seat theatre. Until 2 minutes before the start of the picture I was the only person in the theatre, so naturally I picked a seat that I thought would be in the best position sonically. I positioned myself so my eyes were just above mid-screen height and centered in front of the screen. I was three rows from the back of the small theatre so I wouldn’t have to deal with any boundary effects in the bass. I also wanted a little breathing room between the rear speakers and me. Boy was I surprised when I discovered that the movie was being shown in mono, with only the speakers behind the screen playing!
I was so impressed with The Concert For George that it seemed to last only a few minutes. The photography was beautiful and the editing, thank goodness, was not in the MTV "quick-cutting" style. The camera stayed on the various players for as long as it took to convey the emotion of the performance.
So many things ran through my mind as I watched I wish I had brought a tape recorder to capture my thoughts. It was so obvious that the performers really loved George and had checked their egos at the door (except for one who I shall discuss later). I enjoyed the numerous times that the "action" switched to the rehearsal to show a bit of the behind the scenes activities. Dhani Harrison wearing the "Stamp Out The Beatles" sweatshirt at the rehearsal was great! I certainly don’t know if that was the same sweatshirt that George used to have, but it captured George's spirit perfectly. Watching Dhani on stage, sometimes concentrating so hard on his guitar playing that his face looked pained (or worried), was a treat. Although instrumentally he was a very small part of the show he worked VERY hard. I'm sure he was unbelievably nervous up on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall. I couldn't help comparing Dhani's part, which I'm sure he discussed beforehand with Olivia, with Sean Lennon's part in the John Lennon tribute that was televised a couple of years ago.
On that occasion Yoko thrust Sean on us by having him perform both solo numbers and as a trio, if I remember. All of the other performers were accomplished (at least in terms of music sales) artists. Sean did not even belong on the stage with them, in my opinion. Similarly, Dhani, from an accomplishment point of view, didn't belong on stage with the other players. Rather than Olivia thrusting him on us she let him (or he decided to) play a very small musical part. Just watching him revealed the entire spectrum of human emotion.
I've always been a fan of Eric Clapton, but because this movie my appreciation of him has increased enormously. Eric sang and played beautifully, but more importantly, he "felt" every song during the show. It was so obvious that he really loved George and wanted George's music to be appreciated by the audience. Eric also did a beautiful job playing the acoustic guitar during the performance by the Indian musicians of Ravi Shankar's composition for George.
Jeff Lynne also did a great job, in my opinion. He willingly played "second fiddle" on many of the performances singing backup and playing rhythm guitar. When he took the mic to sing lead it was easy to tell that he really "felt" George's words. His singing of The Inner Light, combined with Ravi's daughter's sitar playing was especially moving.
Ringo was typically Ringo. He sang Photograph and Honey Don't and played drums on many other songs. I found it interesting, at least in the songs showed during the film, that Ringo didn’t seem to play drums on many of the Beatles numbers. I wonder if he still thinks as he did during the "Give My Regards To Broad Street" days?
I didn't want to like Billy Preston because of his "off stage" legal problem, but he was fantastic! It was obvious that he loved being on the stage, and his lead vocal performance on My Sweet Lord was heartfelt. I was touched to see him put his arm around Ringo during one of the performances.
Maybe I'm overly critical, but I was upset with Paul McCartney. Before playing Something he told the same "ukulele" story that he did about a hundred times during his tour. Playing guitar and singing All Things Must Pass upset me, because that could have been a Beatles song if only Paul had shown some interest in it during the "Get Back" sessions. I have a theory as to why the performance of Something changed in the middle of the song from Paul on the uke to the entire band. When Paul was at the microphone the concert seemed to become a Paul McCartney show. No other voices were heard and the emotional spotlight seemed to shine too brightly on him. By having the entire "band" come in the spotlight went back on George's music. The entire night, other than when Paul sang, came across as a group of musicians playing together. When Paul sang it came across as a group backing Paul.
I don’t want to end my ramblings on a negative note because I really loved the experience of seeing The Concert For George on the big screen. I’m sorry I didn’t get to hear it in 5.1 surround, but it really didn’t matter. I was swept away by the emotion of the event. I look forward to the DVD, but I look forward more to watching this film and singing along with the crowds at Beatlefest next year. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!