"...20 minutes in that shop defined our sound as a band..." Mr. The Edge

I went to see the movie It Might Get Loud last night and, like every other motion picture I have watched at the Princess, I loved it! You are instantly transformed into voyeur and you get to delve into the lives that created Rock Gods.

You get to revisit places with them, see the look on their faces as they walk the halls they once recorded in...see the place where they laid down the tracks that changed music. The Jack White "together at different ages" was odd, but whatever. Getting to hear them all play together was riveting.

As a music fan I loved the discussion about hand made guitars (Jack White is officially the MacGyver of guitars) and getting to see the first guitars these gentlemen owned was very compelling because it showed that genius comes from any little spark.


As a U2 fan (obsessed sans frontiers) this movie takes you into the magic world of Mr. The Edge and his own obsession with music. There is sweet video of The Hype performing Street Mission and it is pretty classic and hilarious, I wasn't the only one who laughed out loud. Larry, drumming in a Red Jacket, looking about 12 years old is worth the price of admission. The fashion the Hype are sporting is just flamboyant enough to distract from the look of terror in their eyes as they perform, giving it their all.

This movie proved to me that even if you are not really sure --you should just follow your instincts. What if Jimmy Page had not broken away from session guitar playing to follow his own sound. What if the Edge has become a banker and didn't pursue whether or not he was a songwriter.
That he asked that question....that to me was a brilliant part of this movie. The Edge's insight into Sunday Bloody Sunday and what it took to write that song was like getting a peek behind the emotion that resonates in that song, to catch a view of what he was like at that age in a time of war in Ireland.

At one point he is at a kitchen table rooting through old cassettes and crams one in to a 1960 style tape player and out bubbles the creative genius behind Streets. I loved the whimsical look on his face when he recognizes what it is. The old recording is edited incredibly well with concert footage; Flash forward to the Elevation tour and Streets in concert, the crowd giving it back to them. Having just experienced being on the floor of a U2 concert for Streets I got goosebumps watching that crowd bounce in unison and the power of that riff...the sheer power of rock and roll.

If you have no idea what I mean about the power of a rock song then this movie is not for you.

If you have ever been to a gig and felt something in your soul crack wide open when that guitar plays then -- go see this movie! I mean now. GO. What are you still reading for, go! Off with you..look up the time the movie starts and just go! If you are in Edmonton it plays at The Princess 6:50 and 9 p.m.

Song Du Jour: U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (The Edge) - Live Popmart Santiago