Grand Tour

By JAY COCKS

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE ROLLING STONES Directed by ROLLIN BINZER

When the Rolling Stones last stormed the U.S. in 1972, essayists checked out the rocking and stomping and evoked Nuremberg, the Apocalypse, ancient Rome, the coming of a new decadence, or any second-degree calamity that seemed especially pressing that week. The Stones rolled along with it all in typical fashion, a little taunting, a little sardonic, wholly splendid showmen.

Each of the five knows his role, knows when to play it and when to step aside and parody it. Sometimes they do both at once, which is good for keeping everyone off balance and juicing interest even higher. Whatever the Stones play at, they remain the definitive rock-'n'-roll group, gutter-hard, brash and tough and tight. They are real monsters in the contemporary sense: outrageous, fine, unstoppable, uncatchable. Call them the best rock-'n'-roll band in the world.

This movie, culled from the '72 tour, captures the Rolling Stones at their best. They play their instruments and perform even better than they play their roles of satanic majesties and sated superstars. As if to rebut all the preshrunk philosophy and opinion-mongering, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones contains no interviews with pundits, no chats with enraptured audience members, no cinema verite lowdowns about what went on behind the scenes. The music is all, and it is plenty.

The total concert experience is here. The footage covers 15 songs from various Stones concerts. The deft camera work insinuates the film audience into the midst of the group, giving a sense of privileged, almost private participation. The sound track, reproduced quadraphonically, makes the floor hum and the seats vibrate, and the songs come out in bounteous cascades.

-Jay Cocks

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