Rolling Stones

"Let's Spend the Night Together" is the concert film made during The Rolling Stones' 1981 US tour. There were two shows used for the movie. Most of the first half of the film was recorded at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona, on December 13, 1981. Most of the film's second half was recorded at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey, on November 5-6, 1981. Generally, the arena show is stronger, which works out well, as it makes the film seem like it got better. There were many more shows filmed - in fact, this film nearly identical to the Stones' previous concert film "Rocks Off" (1982).

For those keeping track, "When the Whip Comes Down" sadly makes the omission list, and backstage is footage added.

Your Set List - "Under My Thumb" / "Let's Spend the Night Together" / "Shattered" /"Neighbours" / "Black Limousine" / "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" / "Twenty Flight Rock" / "Let Me Go" / "Time Is On My Side" / "Beast of Burden" / "Waiting on a Friend" / "Going to a Go Go" / "You Can't Always Get What You Want" / "Little T & A" / "Tumbling Dice" / "She's So Cold" / "All Down the Line" / "Hang Fire" / "Miss You" / "Let It Bleed" / "Start Me Up" / "Honky Tonk Women" / "Brown Sugar" / "Jumpin' Jack Flash" / "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" / "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Jimi Hendrix).

This is not consistently terrific stuff… but, you would be right if you said, "STFU, it's still the Rolling STONES!"

Things start off with Mick front and center, doing his dance and hip swiveling in the "sporty" costume he wore then - with scarves, hats, and accessories added around and around. None of this works for the era's regular opening song, "Under My Thumb" which sounds pitched about the same as "Let's Spend the Night Together" and others. The "stadium" songs run around the bases quickly, and the show gets better. By "You Can't Always Get What You Want" they really are rolling. A relatively sober Keith cuts loose. Another highlight occurs around "Miss You" and "Let It Bleed", then it's more set list stretching.

***** Let's Spend the Night Together (2/11/83) Hal Ashby ~ Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts

Forget what critics say about this one, it's a rock 'n' roll concert NOT

cinema verité and that's all I want from The Stones. Filmed at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona (outdoors segment) and

the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey (indoor segment) by

director Hal Ashby ("Harold And Maude", "Coming Home") in the fall of

1981 on the Stones' very successful Tattoo You Tour. This is the last tour to feature the basic meat and potatoes Stones lineup

(guitar, bass, drums, piano, sax) as every subsequent tour since has featured an musical entourage of 3 or 4 backup singers, big horn sections and

multiple keyboardists. The material is great although I wish they'd have

played "Gimme Shelter", "Monkey Man", "Street Fighting Man", "Bitch"

but hey, those songs were not performed on that tour so what are you

gonna do? I would have liked more backstage activity but then again that's what the

"C*cks*cker Blues" 1972 film by Robert Frank does to excess. "Let's Spend The Night Together" perfectly captures the Stones as they

were in 1981 in their late 30s and early 40s and is a must for any Rolling

Stones fan.

4 - 1/2 STARS out of 5

Hey, let's keep one thing in mind: This is a concert film! Forget Maltin. What does he know about the Stones? I'm sorry, but I love this film. As a film? No. As a concert? Yes. Why? Because the Stones play tunes one rarely hears with great punch. Why else? Because if you didn't get to go, this is the next best thing. Any true Stones fan need only explore the set list to know that this CONCERT rocks--from one of the best covers of JUST MY IMAGINATION I have ever heard (Ernie Watts kicking butt on sax), to an excellent TIME IS ON MY SIDE and BEAST OF BURDEN couplet, and finally a tremendous HONKY TONK WOMAN (as even Maltin notes) with Keith jamming that first riff out one-handed for a joyously extended period. Don't listen to the Danish guy below. He doesn't know anything. If you are a true LIVE Stones fan, you will adore this.

By 1981 the Stones were beginning to struggle under the weight of their own legacy, and it shows in "Let's Spend the Night Together". The first three numbers--'Under My Thumb', the title song, and 'Shattered'--are terrific, but the set soon descends into mediocrity. Part of the problem was that the band tried to cram way too many songs into a ninety-minute performance, which resulted in sped-up versions with no melody or musical texture. The other problem was that they had played this material too many times; what you see and hear in the film is a great band simply going through the motions. The rest of the set ranges from decent ('Let It Bleed') to embarrassingly bad ('Miss You') to somewhere in between ('Start Me Up'). You might want to see this if you're a Stones fanatic, but it's not a must. Interestingly, the live album recorded during this tour ("Still Life") is far better than the concert film itself--better versions of the songs were chosen, and the sound is immaculate. "Still Life" is, in fact, my favorite Rolling Stones live album.

Having been a huge Stones fan and seeing them in 1978 and twice on the '81 "Jovan" tour (in two cities mind you, Rockford and Chicago) I saw this in a theater upon it's release. No film can faithfully capture any concert experience, however, this managed to document a Stones tour that was like no other. Although the sound on the DVD is not as bright as it should be in this digital age, the vibrant fluorescent colors throughout the film foreshadowed the god awful palette of the 80's.

The best thing about the film is the lingering shots that hold on a particular Stone during a song. Due to a bit of clumsiness, it is surprising to many that the legendary Hal Ashby directed this film. Unfortunately he was not healthy during this production and it shows in a harried final cut.

This film is really for true Stones fans only.