Ninety Minutes of Pure Satisfaction
Tickets for the iconic film Rolling Stones – At the Max are on sale, and I had a sneak preview at BFI IMAX last night, writes Michael Holland.
Filmed during the band’s 1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour across five concerts on MAX® film cameras, it has been remastered to deliver a truly immersive experience of one of the most famous bands in the world. Remastered to the point where you felt like you were actually on the stage with the Rolling Stones. And for someone who for most of my life has felt that the greatest job in the world must be being a Rolling Stone, on stage with them is a great place to be.
The clarity and quality of the footage is unsurpassed. You can see the teenage spots on the kids in the mosh pit and wonder why and how they got to be at a concert for a band who had already made their best music before they were born. And that right there shows the greatness of The Stones.
For the majority of us they have never looked or sounded too old to be doing what they do. They have not grown fat and bald or appear to be living on past glories. What they have don, though, is a great job of being Rolling Stones.
To be fair, they always looked quite old up against their baby-faced rivals, The Beatles, back in their 60s heyday. So when you see Jagger running up and down the 100m stage in his 40s, age becomes a mere number. The man just does not stop. At all. And even now, 35 years after this film was made, the remaining members hardly look or sound any different – or create less of a stage presence.
The MAX® cameras really do let you see into their souls. Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts are the engine room of the band, creating a solid foundation that the others can pimp up with guitar riffs, dance moves and stage clothes. They just, workman-like, get on with the job while Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards do the rockstar and guitar god stances, and Jagger lives and breathes his stagecraft; a Rock ‘n’ Roll King playing to his people in hand-sewn outfits while Wyman puts on a pair of Levis. As Mick gesticulates with face and body, Bill looks like he is going to roll his eyes at all the fuss and look at his watch to check how long left. That is the Rolling Stones of 1990.
But along with that Famous Five there is an army of crew backstage and a small platoon of singers and musicians onstage. Every single one a vital cog in the Steel Wheels.
The stage is amazing. Taller than a block of flats and Mick Jagger uses every part of it with his twinkle-toes prancing and dancing through some of the best music the world has ever known. The light show is magnificent and when the Honky Tonk Inflatable Women floated into existence I wanted to cheer from my cinema seat!
Of course, the majority of the playlist is focussed on those golden years between ’64-’72 when they ruled and were at their song-writing best, and any audience would have been questioning anything different. Yes, they still make music now; infrequently and not to stay ‘relevant’ but because making music is what Rolling Stones do.
Rolling Stones – At the Max has been re-released worldwide for its 35th Anniversary and older fans can relive those days. Younger fans can see why they are truly iconic. And it’s coming to an IMAX near you for your Christmas treat.
Check out the trailer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TS7egJOUApRK40XzBCbbm-tOZUsMSddU/view
Booking and full details: https://www.imax.com/en/gb/get-tickets
