A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician[2] or a stand-up comedian.[3]
Early history
Poster for Concert Magic in 1948 at the Towne Cinema in Toronto, Ontario
One of the earliest-known concert films is the 1944 film Adventure in Music.[4] Another early film is the 1948 picture Concert Magic. This concert features virtuoso violinist Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) at the Charlie Chaplin Studios in 1947. Together with various artists he performed classical and romantic works of famous composers such as Beethoven, Wieniawski, Bach, Paganini and others.[5]
The earliest known jazz concert film is the 1959 film Jazz on a Summer's Day. The film was recorded during the fifth annual Newport Jazz Festival.[6] The earliest known rock concert film is Rock’n’Roll, a 1959 feature film produced by the promoter Lee Gordon. As it also features some Jazz performances and was released prior to Jazz on a Summers Day, it arguably has claims to being the first Jazz concert film as well.
One of popular music's most ground-breaking concert films is Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1972), directed by Adrian Maben, in which Pink Floyd perform a short set of songs inside the amphitheatre of Pompeii without an audience (save for the recording crew).
Examples
Rockumentary
The term "rockumentary" was first used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast and is a portmanteau of "rock" and "documentary".[8][9] The term was subsequently used to describe concert films containing appearances by multiple artists.[10][11] Then, in 1976, the term was used by the promoters of the live musical production Beatlemania which documented the evolving career of The Beatles.[12] The 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap notably parodied the rockumentary genre.[13]
Others
Other examples of this type of film include Menudo's 1981 film, Menudo: La Película, and Duran Duran's 85-minute 1984 video, Sing Blue Silver. The former mixes a Menudo concert (in Merida, Venezuela) with movie scenes and a plot, while the latter follows Duran Duran as they travel around Canada and the United States doing concerts and actual tourism.
^"Yehudi Menuhin and Alma Trio Player Scheduled to Appear in New Concert Film". Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer. December 17, 1948. p. 8. Retrieved October 17, 2023. Gordon...reports that the success of "Concert Magic", the first full length concert film to be produced, prompted plans for the filming of the second picture.
^Moreau, Jordan; Lang, Brent (2023-10-13). "Box Office: 'Taylor Swift: Eras Tour' Kicks Off With $2.8 Million in Previews". Variety. Retrieved 2023-10-14. The movie has already made $100 million in advance ticket sales, according to its distributor AMC Theatres. That makes it the highest-grossing concert film ever, surpassing Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" ($99 million).
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