Concert for George
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Movie Reviews of Concert for George
Movie Review: A Beautiful Farewell To The Quiet One
Summary: 5 Stars
George's passing like John's left a big hole in the music world. While he was not the most prolific of The Beatles, the statement can be made that The Beatles would've simply not been The Beatles without him. He didn't write as many songs as John and Paul, but when he wrote, he wrote! It can certainly be said that George was one the first Western pop/rock musicians to incorporate Eastern sounds into his work that eventually led to the New Age/World Music genres you hear today.
This tribute, organized by bossom-buddy Eric Clapton, is probably the most beautifully staged and photographed concert since The Band's Last Waltz 28 years ago. Taking place at the Royal Albert Hall (the Filmore of England) we get a who's who of George's friends.
This DVD gives you 2 versions of the concert. Disc 1 consists of the entire concert unedited which this review refers to. Disc 2 contains the abreviated version used for theatrical release. This release incorporated behind the scenes interviews and footage that you can see separately on this disc as well.
The show opens with a great opening shot of the stage decked out with Indian and other foreign musicians dressed in white with a big photo of George hanging overhead. The stage is lit in a beautiful subdued gold color giving the show an ambience like I've never seen.
After a brief opening announcement by Eric, we're treated with a half hour of some of the most beautiful Indian music I've ever heard put together by George's mentor Ravi Shankar and his lovely and very talented daughter Anoushka. But the high point of this segment in my opinion is fellow Wilbury Jeff Lynn performing that sweet and almost forgotten gem that George wrote in '68 The Inner Light.
After a brief intermission, the show lightens-up with the Python crew (minus John Cleese, Tom Hanks filling in?!) doing their classic bits like Sit On My Face and The Lumberjack Song. George's film company produced a number of their films.
Next up is basically a stellar all-star jam of George's best songs. There's just to much here to go over completely, but take my word for it, it's terrific. Hightlights are Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers doing Taxman, then with Lynn, the Wilbury's hit Handle With Care, and ,of course, Eric with Paul on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. But it's all great ending with Joe Brown singing I'll See You In My Dreams while rose pettles fall from the ceiling onto the audience.
As for picture and sound on this set, you can't get any better. The shades of gold on the stage come through real sharp. And if you have DTS on your system, that's the way to go. I have several Albert Hall concerts on disc and this one is best sounding of them all.
Parting thoughts: There absolutely nothing sad about this show. In fact, it's really uplifting! George was a man who really cared about people and this show reflects that care. My only criticism of this concert is the obvious no-show of one of George's closest friends, Bob Dylan. But I respect Bob, and I'm sure he had a good reason for not being able to attend. All in all, this a must-have DVD. So pop it in the player, turn down the lights, fire-up the incense and enjoy!
Movie Review: george and friends
Summary: 5 Stars
rented this dvd from my favorite rental shop. thought i would find it interesting being a life long beatles fan but some of these tribute shows can be a bit dicey so i put it in very casually.
two hours later, i felt someone had to climb up to drag me down from the cloud i was floating on.
beginning with some heartfelt comments by george's friends eric clapton and ravi shankar and with the presense of george's wife nearby, the packed royal albert hall in london witnessed a once in a lifetime tribute to one of the music worlds treasured spirits and guiding lights.
like others, my initial reaction to the opening of the show-a full Indian orchestra, was something i imagined i would be skipping over without much arm twisting.
but i began to watch and was mesmerized with the musianship of all the musicians and singers led by the virtuoso performing of ravi shankar's daughter playing her sitar and later, conducting the orchestra.
this first indian section of the concert lasts quite a while bringing to a close with mr. clapton and his acoustic guitar adding to the mood.
i was thouroughly wrapped up in the indian music like i never thought i could be. it was the first time i had ever sat through an entire indian piece not wanting to skip it.
it was the influence of george from on-high yet, as mr. shankar put it , with us in the room this night, that held me rapt during the music george came to love.
jeff lynn came out during the indian portion and sang and played guitar to george's inner light. what a treat.
after an intermission, the 'western' music began.
to a beatles fan and fan of george harrison's music, i was not nearly disappointed. on the contrary, i was in awe at how excellent every rendition of a harrison song was executed.
each chestnut was treated as an unearthed gem and polished with fine care by all the performers.
i must comment as others have at the joy it was to watch george's son on stage. dhani is the spitting image of his father as he was when a young man. it was uncanny to watch.
one reviewer suggested that ringo singing honey don't did not really fit in to the program and was corrected by another reviewer that carl perkins was in fact a large inspiration to george and therefore very fitting.
i interject another case of did it fit however and that would be the song performed by jools holland and sung by (a very foxy looking) sam browne called HORSE TO THE WATER. now, what this has to do with george harrison-i'll be happy to be enlightened.
thank you.
a beautiful booklet comes inside the dvd cover and a beautiful cover it is.
i'm tired of all the paul bashers out there and his singing of For YOu blue was nice and his introduction to george's song Something was wistful and simple, leading into the full band version.
as proven by all the 5 star reviews, this concert and dvd are a joy, a treat and a moving experience.
in the same vein, may i also recommend another outstanding concert recorded and available on dvd and that is david gilmour in concert.
very similar in performance and professionalism.
Movie Review: Simply one of the best concerts ever -- great tribute!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an avid Beatles fan and I was just blown away by the concert.
A. The Performances
Great musicians and friends/collaborators of George: Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, etc. do an outstanding job and everyone of them put their heart and soul into the songs of George Harrison and make them come alive. It is eerie, but when you listen to Clapton singing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Paul McCartney singing "All Things Must Pass," or Billy Preston singing "My Sweet Lord," you could sense the presence of George as they're singing! Their renditions of Harrison's songs were just as masterful as George singing them. Those 3 songs stood out to me.
Some other musical highlights:
1) Ringo Starr's touching rendition of "Photograph" (the words take on a completely new meaning in this tribute) and "Honey Don't."
2) Anoushka Shankar's beautiful sitar playing accompanying Jeff Lynne's rendition of "The Inner Light."
3) Joe Brown's tender covers of "Here Comes the Sun" and "I'll See You in My Dreams."
4) Dhani Harrison's acknowledgement and thanks to all the musicians playing.
5) Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr playing together for the 1st time live in over 40 years!!! And they seem to be having a good time!
6) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and their exciting performance of "Taxman" and spot-on re-endition of "I Need You."
7) Billy Preston's enthusiastic singing of "My Sweet Lord"
8) The funny song "Lumberjack" by Monty Python which really lightened up the crowd and the occasion.
B. The Editing
I also liked how the DVD focussed its shots mostly on the musicians performing the songs, rather than panning to the audience and then back to the musicians. (This back and forth between the musicians and then the audience is a very annoying feature which plagues the Paul McCartney "live" DVDs).
C. The Unique Layout of the Discs
This movie is organized in an interesting fashion:
Disc 1 features the whole complete concert ( 2 hr 26 min) -- you cannot do any chapter or song selections.
Disc 2 is the theatrical version (2 hr 20 min) -- these are songs from the concert rearranged in order and backstage/ rehearsal scenes/ interviews of the musicians are interspersed within the songs. You can do scene / chapter selection for Disc 2.
D. Some Reservations
Even though the "Lumberjack" song was very funny and lightened up the occasion, I didn't care for the song "Sit on My Face" or the mooning of the audience when the Python members bared their rear-ends to the audience. I felt this dampened the whole respectability and dignity of the whole concert.
Summary:
That aside, I highly recommend this DVD. The performances are outstanding; the picture and sound quality are excellent.
If you're a Beatles fan and a fan of George, you'll love this DVD! A must-have! One of the best concert DVDs you can get!
Movie Review: A Concert For The Ages
Summary: 5 Stars
An extraordinary concert - musically, sonically, and visually. I started it at 11pm on the night of the blizzard, thinking I'd just start it, watch the best bits, and continue the next day. But I couldn't stop watching. This is a concert for the ages. First, for those of us who have never adapted to the MTV geenration's style of quick cuts and multiple angles, it's a pleasure to see camerawork with long slow cuts, intelligently placed. You get a "you are there" experience. From the musicans' point of view on stage, through extraordinary "overview" shots of this gorgeous hall. Sonically, the mix is sensational. If you see/hear this concert projected in a "home theater" environment with a fine 5.1 system you will be very, very pleased. Every instrument is clearly placed, there is a rock solid bass, vocals are up front, close your eyes and you can still "see it". But you really need to see the visual images of these guys to appreciate the music they made. For many of us, these are our contemporary rock heroes. And for many, there is no hiding the years that have passed.
It opens with Eric Clapton's noble introduction (apparantly edited to omit his mistaken reference to "George's wife Dhani" the latter being his son. (Paul McC. later reminded him of his mistake on stage - tacky Sir Paul, very tacky. This too, has been editted out) An aged Ravi Shanker - looking very much like the village wise man in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - opens the concert along with his daughter, seque-ing into a beautiful "The Inner Light" sung by Jeff Lyne. Beautiful. The suite of indian music composed for the occasion sets the tone nicely. And it reminds us that it was George Harrision who first brought "World Music" into the rock/pop scene.
Sam Brown (Joe Brown's daughter) does an absolutely scorching version of Horse To The Water Joe Brown - unknown to most of us stateside fans - a British musician and George ukelale mentor, seems an odd choice to sing Here Comes The Sun, but does the song proud. His closing uke sing-a-long I'll See You In My Dreams will bring tears to your eyes (especially when you see the falling flower petals which accompany it on the DVD) Ringo is in fine voice but just a wee bit TOO jovial, thin as a rail, 60s velveteen jacket, constant peace signs, and bouncing and conducting. Maybe it was nerves. Everyone else is superb - particularly the magisterial Billy Preston, Eric clapton, and of course, "Our Jeff" Lynn. Gary Brooker's name may elude some of you, but as soon as he begins singing Old Brown Shoe, you'll probably place the voice - think A Whiter Shade of Pale. Add Jim Keltner, Klaus Voorman (!) on bass, and the incredible one-of-a-kind Ray Cooper on persussion (if you've never seen Ray Cooper live and in action - you're in fora real treat!) - well, it's a killer band. All play it straight - solid musicianship on the soundtrack to our lives. It's really great stuff. This one's a keeper. As Ravi Shanker says at the beginning - "George is here with us, after all, how could he not be?"
Movie Review: "A Concert for George" to honor and remember a truly gentle soul
Summary: 5 Stars
A year after his death the family and friends of George Harrison had "A Concert for George" at Royal Albert Hall. Eric Clapton served as the musical director for the evening and the more you know about the life and music of George Harrison the less surprised you will be by who showed up. Of course Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were there, along with Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. There was also Joe Brown, Gary Brooker, and George's son Dhani Harrison. Most of Monty Python showed up as well (with Tom Hanks joining their number), which makes sense when you remember that Harrison not only was a producer on "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" but also played a part during the Sermon on the Mount scene. Throwing "I'm a Lumberjack" into the middle of the proceedings since as good a way as any of bridging the gulf from the eastern music portion of the evening and all of those assembled taking turns singing almost all of Harrison's best songs (changing the giant black & white photograph of Harrison for the two halves of the evening was a nice touch as well).
For me it is impossible to watch this concert and not remember going to see "The Concert for Bangladesh" and thinking of these two concert films as bookends of a sort for Harrison's career. The relief effort for Bangladesh was really the point when Harrison transcended being a Beatle, which is obviously a hard thing to do. In this double-DVD gives you a choice between the complete two-and-a-half hour concert and the feature fill that edited the concert down and mixed it with interviews and rehearsal footage. My preference is for the complete concert, which obviously has more songs (e.g., "That's the Way It Goes," "I Need You," and "Wah Wah") but listening to these artists share their memories and feelings for George is worth watching from time to time as well. "A Concert for George" is clearly not just another concert of musical all-stars.
My favorite moment from the concert has to be when McCartney pulls out a ukelel to sing "Something," which is so charming in its simplicity that it seems a shame when the rest of the band joins in on the song. Lynne sounds the most like Harrison in singing George's songs, most notably on "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth"), and Clapton's best moment singing is "Beware of Darkness." Of course his best guitar work shows up on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which has always been a favorite Harrison composition (the only song that I missed not hearing was "Don't Bother Me," which certainly runs counter to most of his music but was the first song he had on a Beatles album). Joe Brown's "Here Comes the Sun" is pretty good and so is Billy Preston's "My Sweet Lord." Ringo reminds us that George wrote "Photograph" for him and that the lyrics obviously have a new meaning. The choice of Clapton leading the band doing "Wah Wah" and Brown singing the old song "I"ll See You in My Dreams" makes for an interesting conclusion to the evening.