Fade to Black

I have just looked at this concert film on Turner Classic Movies. There have been a lot of concert movies running on that venue recently, and I run the risk of overdosing on them. Nonetheless, it was there, and it look at it.

First, I need to note that I am not the core audience for rap music. It's not my music at all, even though I can link it to the talking blues and recitative. The simplicity of its music and the crudeness of its language both bore me. So, can I place myself in the dual position of one of this show's audience, while standing far enough outside to judge its inherent value? You be the judge of that.

It is mostly a stage show, and an obviously and carefully plotted one, that makes its performers and the artists that walk onstage for an 'impromptu' rap battle look far less than spontaneous to my eye. Clearly, however, the theater audience doesn't care, and it's their energy that is infectious, energy that breaks through the constrained pace of the rappers.

If you're a Jay Z fan this registration is a trip down memory lane. The concert and the backgrounds behind the songs off the Black Album are portrayed and during one last concert at Madison Square Garden the roof is blown off by one of rap's most talented mc's. Starring everyone from Mary J Blige, Beyonce to R. Kelly as guest performers this show has it all. One hell of a concert will give you insights into his music and if you weren't a fan yet, you will be after the credits roll.

Most hiphop or concert videos are done poorly. A few takes behind the scenes of bored band members and screaming groupies tell you nothing your imagination couldn't have figured out for itself. This movie however shows new insights into the way the collaboration with different artists works and yet doesn't distract from it's main purpose: show you the music, send you the vibe people must have had at the concert at Madison Square Garden.

Top notch!

Concert films by definition are boring. After 30 minutes you always start looking at your watch. Fade to Black somehow stays fresh for almost two hours. Although the film is far from perfect it is swollen personality and charisma. At points, it's down right hilarious. It breathes life into an almost dead genre of film. I like the way it hops back and fourth between the legendary concert and now historic Black Album studio sessions. Also, I've never heard a concert film sound that good ever! I thought my face was going to melt once Jay-Z took the stage. Fade to Black rewrites the definition of concert film and as time goes on will eventually be called a classic.

Rapper Jay-Z records The Black Album and performs his farewell concert at Madison Square Garden in November 2003. I'm not a big fun of his music other than a few big hits. I'm more impressed with his command, his producing, and his business skills. The man is a mogul and a genius. There is real energy at his concert. I love the audience. As for Jay-Z with his boys, there is too much fawning going on. I can't really expect different but it would be nice to see him in more varied situations. While I don't care that much about his recording, it's fascinating to see him spitting his rhymes. This is for his fans. For his non-fans, this may get a bit repetitive and they may not care about being at his concert.

Here are my credentials for reviewing the documentary about Jay-Z's 'farewell' performance in Madison Square Garden. Talk about 'square': I am a student of language and literature (Ph.D. in English) and trained in rapid talking (licensed auctioneer), but I cannot repeat to you more than a half dozen words from this energetic and positive look at one of rap's icons. His glossing of 'idiosyncrasy' for the audience was both a kindness and a put down but at least understandable.

Although I saw Eminem's early Detroit life in '8 Mile' and connected with Metallica's challenges in 'Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,' because of my inexperience with Jay-Z's music, I could not get past my ear's inability to hear the lyrics or even the dressing room and studio talk, a slight testimony to Bill Cosby's warnings about language. Yet, virtually everyone at that November 2003 concert knew every word of his songs. I am in the minority on this one.

Anyway, about a well-structured film I already have some idea. 'Fade to Black' is a faithful rendering of the excitement and beat of the Garden show. With the likes of girl friend Beyonce (whose scantily-clad, lip-syncing performance of 'Crazy in Love' is worth the admission price), Mary J. Blige, and R. Kelly (before the rift) joining Jay-Z, the film relays the energy and synergy of performers who speak to countless hip-hop fans. It is also as good a billboard for his platinum-selling "Black Album" as he could get.

Therefore, because so much of the documentary is dedicated to the performance, little is allowed for getting to know the rapper and how he creates. That he does not write down his machine-gun lyrics is a rare insight (In '8 Mile' I loved the exhilaration of seeing and hearing young people fight with 'vocabulary' rather than guns); that he cares about how his words effect his fans is sweet; what he does to shape the 'tracks' into pop gold as he listens to them in the studio is never satisfactorily explained (and surely the most boring part of the film). 'Metallica,' for instance, has an accurate rendering of the rock group's long struggle to create its latest album. Perhaps an exploration of Jay-Z's 'Hard Knock Life' would have better taught us about this post-gangsta powerhouse. A documentary should teach; 'Fade' mostly shows. Or maybe that's all there is.

As even I know, he reneged on the 'farewell,' remarkable because his other businesses such as his 'Roc-a-fella' recording label and clothing line could have kept him busy for a lifetime. I suspect music is much better for his forsaking retirement.

Like the opening and closing aerial shots of New York at night, we are too far away to get close to understanding the performer. Like the city, he dazzles and eludes.