Gina's Mick Jagger moves

April 22nd, 2008,  a Tuesday

Today is a big day.  Not only is it the long awaited Pennsylvania Democratic primary between Barack and Hillary, but it is the Suns second playoff game in San Antonio after an awful loss in double overtime on the weekend.  As an act of rebellion, I am not going to write about either of these things although I will be watching them closely.  No, I am going to write about the Rolling Stones.  How's that for bear rebellion?

I went to the IMAX theatre to see Shine a Light, the super big documentary about what some say is the best rock and roll band in the world.  I don't know if they are the best, but I'm pretty sure they are the oldest.  All you have to do is Google Mick and the boys to find out they have long ago seen their 60th birthdays.  So the IMAX screen, they tell you before it starts, is 8 stories high and as wide as an NBA basketball court is long.  That's a lot of screen for a little bear like me so I  chose the back row.  Even if you're not in the IMAX, Mick has a way of looking like he could swallow you whole.  (Why else would he use that giant tongue as a logo?)  So it was kind of scary.  Well, actually, the band itself is kind of scary.

So you have this scary band and you add Martin Scorsese and a gang of 18 cameramen, and you get two full hours of up close and way too personal Stones.  Rock stars are supposed to be cute and appealing, like you would do just about anything to be their girlfriend.  I admit that in the 40 year old clips, Mick was pretty cute and the others weren't all that bad, but now I would be scared I would catch something if I got too close.  Funny though, there were scads of young girls in the front section who seemed to want to do more than hang out with the band and were dressed to let them know that. 

Marty decided his movie would be shot close up, like you were on stage, rather than looking at the stage.  And it makes it all look like a magic trick which can be figured out if you get close enough.  You know how everyone thinks Mick is such a great dancer, and I did also which is one reason I went to the movie?  Well, when you watch him for two hours close up, he really only has about three moves.  He constantly points towards the balcony with one, and sometimes two hands, while jumping up and down.  And he skips around the stage at a very quick pace, moving and darting like a bumble bee, which is impressive because he can sing without being out of breath even with all the wild moving about.  And then he has the back to the audience move where he just wiggles his tiny hips side to side with arms up in the air to make sure his tummy shows as his shirt pulls up.  That's pretty much it.  I'm sure it looks better from far away.

As for the others, the drummer looked pooped after one really fast song.  And Keith Richards is just plain scary and for some reason keeps dropping to his knees and then gets back up.  The other one, Ronnie, seems to be in pretty good shape like Mick.  But let me tell you guys, these boys are not pretty.  Not at all.  Yikes.

The beginning of the movie showed how the band didn't really give a crap about the movie preparations and wouldn't even give Marty their play list which he begged for prior to the show.  Finally he just asked to know the first song so his cameras could be ready but it didn't arrive until the curtain came up.  I heard through the blog grapevine that some of that wasn't even true and was maybe staged but why would the Stones want anyone to think they were that mean and arrogant and self-absorbed?  Is it an inside joke or are they really like that?  Who cares?

One thing for sure is that the band  really, really does care about their audience and giving them a good show.   The best show they can.  It is why they probably work so hard to stay in shape and they take a lot of pride in that.  You don't get the feeling they are tired of playing their tired old hits (even though they all sound a lot alike) and they still seem enthused about what they are doing.  I admire that.  They are not too cool to give it absolutely everything they've got.  In fact, that is what makes them kinda cool to most people, I think. 

When I was a very young girl, living in a hippie commune in the 60's outside of San Francisco, I first heard "Let's Spend the Night Together" and it scared me.  I thought they were bad boys, the Rolling Stones.  Because our commune was so safe and full of peace and love.  And drugs and sex.  I got the hell out of there.  So at least I guess I owe that to the Stones. 

GR