Home » Jazz Articles » Film Review » The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang: Live on Copacabana Beach DVD/CD
The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang: Live on Copacabana Beach DVD/CD
By
A Bigger Bang: Live on Copacabana Beach
UME/Mercury Studios/Rolling Stones Records
2021

The Rolling Stones
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1962
The tight, focused musicianship there is a direct reflection of the cover images showing the core four Stones overlapping, interconnected and in reflection of their very selves. Nearly sixty years of time together have bonded

Keith Richards
guitar, electricb.1943

Charlie Watts
drums1941 - 2021

Ronnie Wood
guitar, electric
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991

Darryl Jones
bassb.1961

Chuck Leavell
keyboardsb.1952
Infusing their performances with passion while never missing a cue or betraying any ennui based on their extended tenure in the fold is a tribute to the professionalism experience and savvy of all those participants. The same is true of the three background vocalists (who get little camera time except for Lisa Fischer on

Ray Charles
piano and vocals1930 - 2004
Arrangements of familiar material indicate musicianly imagination brought to bear. The charts not only keep the chestnuts fresh, but also place them in proper context of the Rolling Stones major influences, For instance, "Tumbling Dice" from Exile on Main Street (Rolling Stones Records, 1972) turns into a Memphis funk piece via the brassy horns, as does "Honky Tonk Women," which carries more of a big band flavor. Wood's lap steel highlights Richards' "Happy" and Leavell's piano intro rejiggers "Sympathy For The Devil," at least at the outset when the crowd sings along spontaneously.
If the band shows some signs of fatigue here before it's done pounding out the familiar rhythm near the two-hour mark, "Start Me Up" serves as a kick-start for a sprint to the finish. And when Jagger sings "Wild Horses," he hits and holds the notes without strain in his voice: it's as if he's aiming the sentiment directly at not just at the estimated million and a half observers in front of him but also the viewing audiences around the world he acknowledges early on in the show (and exhorts periodically with gutsy 'Oh yeah's that recall the late blues icon

Muddy Waters
guitar1915 - 1983
New songs from the latest release of the time, like "Rough Justice," are mere rewrites of old (this one the

Chuck Berry
guitar, electric1926 - 2017
At this point, Rolling Stones packages like A Bigger Bang: Live on Copacabana Beach are like their global tours, for both better and worse. These gifts to the world at large appear at regular reliable intervals and while they contain much the same basic content in this three-disc set, it's the wrapping of the present itself, such as the one-off setting on the beach in Brazil, that grabs the attention to compel a listening and/or watching that might not otherwise occur. In those instances, it may be a revelation for many less-than-avid music lovers to hear the zest with which the Rolling Stones play and sing these days.
Accordingly, it's telling (and demographically-astute) CDs are enclosed with a DVD in this bundle. The first complete release of the February 2006 concert (there is a more expansive item too with a book plus another whole show from 2005). The packaging design here, however, functions like a tacit invitation from the band to their fans to go mobile with music that's long been an integral part of both their lives: in a wry sequencing turn that benefits both chestnuts, the timeless ("Can't Get No) Satisfaction" immediately follows "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
Though it is not specifically designated as 'From The Vault," Live on Copacabana Beach brings the tally of exhumations to over a dozen, More importantly, the release prompts a thought-provoking notion about exactly what keeps the Rolling Stones motivated as live performers. Along the same lines as the intimate theater shows they still offer as means of a deeper and different connection with those attendees (on this very tour in fact), their challenge in arenas and even larger setting such as this one in South America is to deliver more impact with their instruments and voices than the giant-sized video and graphics projections that frame that action. Well-rehearsed but far from rote in brandishing its considerable firepower, 'the greatest rock and roll band in the world' delivers A Bigger Bang indeed.
Tags
Comments
About The Rolling Stones
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz
