Review of Let's Spend the Night Together (1982) by Rebecca N — 28 Jan 2008

"Shortly thereafter, [Hal] Ashby -- a longtime Rolling Stones fan -- accompanied the group on their 1981 American tour, in the process filming the documentary Let's Spend the Night Together. The occupational hazards of the road were too much for Ashby, who overdosed before a show in Phoenix, Arizona. Although the film was eventually completed, it was relegated to cable TV.".

--from Wikipedia entry for Hal Ashby, under subhead "Decline" -- this is the man who brought the world "Harold and Maude".

...And cable TV is where I saw it. Well, most of it, but enough to feel as if I've seen it, or enough anyway. Probably the first 1.5 hours, while doing other things. Went back to catch the last 10 minutes but it must have ended already, because VH1 was playing the video for "Emotional Rescue," which has a fun Lite-Brite effect but otherwise is one of their more disco-focused tunes (need I say more). I expected off-screen interviews, the insider stuff, but really it was just footage of them performing on tour. Which is interesting to watch, and sparks in me thoughts like, "Are the other band members really looking at Mick, whispering to each other, and then laughing?" or is that just my imagination, running away with me? (Cover of which they did in the early part of the flick, by the way.) And if Mick and Keith were both taking a facebook/cosmo/seventeen mag-style personality quiz, and it asked a question about how you select the clothes you wear, Mick would check A. I prefer to dress in the fashions and trends of the times, and Keith would check C. I have my own timeless rock'n'roller style. White spandex and kneepads for Mick. And then, the idea of seeing a band in such a large arena -- I guess it becomes more about the spectacle and vibe of the event than any kind of close-up view. I don't feel I've seen enough concert films to qualify as a proper evaluator (or at least the ones I have seen have had more talking -- documentary-style talking AND all-out rocking), so I give this a worth seeing if you like concert films and you like the Rolling Stones and maybe you have some other things to do while you're watching it, like eat, and read magazines, or if you're a knitter you might knit, or maybe make some lists (if you're a list maker), or this might work well with drugs of some sort (Ashby does achieve the nice trippy concert film quality). But it's not so much worth seeing if you can't go for any of the aforementioned. That's where I leave the matter. Emotional rescue, ooh ooh ooh ooh. [vh1 1-08].