Believe it or not, but it has been almost two years since this planet lost one of the most amazing poets of music, George Harrison. And almost 1 year after the tribute concert that was performed for this feature. Some of George Harrison's closest and personal friends performed a tribute concert on November 29, 2002 at London's Royal Albert Hall; one year to the date of George's death of cancer. Some of the performers include a fantastic line-up: Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Joe Brown (an English performer that The Beatles opened up for), Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, and even the two surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. The entire concert was a tribute and remembrance of his achievement in life, by performing his songs from both as a Beatle and a soloist. The concert and performance of this film is amazing, it is was a very wise decision to have this film be released on the big screen. Being that I am a HUGE Beatle and George Harrison fan, I was both overwhelemd and even emotionally touched during some of the performances from this concert. My personal favorite numbers were Eric Clapton doing a fantastic performance of "BEWARE OF DARKENSS" (from Harrison's solo album ALL THINGS MUST PASS); Clapton and Billy Preston's duet of my favorite Harrison song, "ISN'T IT A PITY," and Paul McCartney performing another one of my favorite Harrison songs, "ALL THINGS MUST PASS." There are also very great noteworthy performances including Jeff Lynne doing "I WANT TO TELL YOU," and "THE INNER LIGHT," Tom Petty performing "TAXMAN" and "HANDLE ME WITH CARE." And Billy Preston playing "MY SWEET LORD." I haven't forgotten the other "surprising" appearances, but why ruin the surprise? I was delighted to see some of some more guests appear, making the film more enjoyable. (Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.) For me, the performances are top-rate and fantastic! But CONCERT FOR GEORGE doesn't quite reach the masterpiece status of THE LAST WALTZ or STOP MAKING SENSE for concert films. The flaw is more from director David Leland's part. Unlike Scorsese's LAST WALTZ, Leland keeps cutting to the audience reaction and cheers, where Scorsese never showed the crowd's faces during the concert performances for The Band. This gave the viewer the illusion of being at the show, by watching the performers all the time, and never seeing a audience member "groovin'" to the songs. But the biggest flaw with the film is the structure. Leland has a song being shown, then the sound dies down and... BAM! It cuts to an interview. Don't get me wrong, I was delighted to hear what Ringo, Eric, and Tom had to say with their personal stories and memories of George. But where Scorsese passed, and Leland failed; THE LAST WALTZ would show an entire song without any interruptions, then after the song is finished in LAST WALTZ, then Scorsese cuts to an interview. Leland cuts to an interview in the middle of the song! For me it was very distracting and annoying, especially when Top Petty was performing the highly enjoyable Traveling Wilbury song, "HANDLE ME WITH CARE." Fortunate, I was told that the DVD that will be released on Nov. 29th, is going to have the entire concert, without any interruptions, which is very satisfying for me. However, the performances and the concert itself is a fantastic concert film, and I would considerate the best "concert film" of this decade. Plus, it is very very delightful to see McCartney perform songs that aren't from his catalogue.
Performances: ***** (out of five) Film itself: **** Overall: ****1/2
Performances: ***** (out of five) Film itself: **** Overall: ****1/2