Are there any real rock ‘n’ roll heroes left?
It’s a common question that unashamedly dips into wishful nostalgia. Still, it is one that needs to be posed after watching a documentary such as Crossfire Hurricane.
There’s a good reason why we continue to fork over our hard-earned to watch artists such as the Rolling Stones five decades past their prime. It provides a window into an era long past; an era that will never experience a renaissance.
To its credit, the documentary examines why it was all so unsustainable. Via narratives from each of the remaining members – the filmmakers wisely opt to use a dictaphone instead of a camera – it explores the chaos behind the chaos; drugs, arrests and eager groupies.
More poignantly, it looks at the devastating effects of Brian Jones’ drowning and the murder of a fan at their ill-fated 1969 San Francisco Altamont concert.
The latter is particular affecting with each member lamenting the festival should never have gone ahead. They also promptly point out that the Hell’s Angels – the event’s ‘security’ – probably shouldn’t have turned up as high as the crowd they were meant to be patrolling.
Of course, somehow, everything eventually turns out rosey. A lot of this is attributed to the addition of Ronnie Wood. He appears throughout as stabiliser, particularly between Richards and Jagger.
As a summation of the Stones’ career, the documentary has few comparisons, especially with others such as Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light focusing more so on their live repertoire.
Without treading on too much ‘remember when?’ sentimentality, it depicts the Stones at their best (and worst) while reminding us that the ‘greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world’ is still battle-ready half a century later.
