Rockshow (1980)

Very best movie i ever watch

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Rockshow, the film which is in fact different from "Wings Over America", is one of the late seventies best concert films. No it isn't state-of-the-art by current standards, far from it, but it can be found in very good quality if one is dogged in pursuit. That is what I'm reviewing here. I have a quite good DVD transfer of the film and the sound is very good - considering all things. I say this because it allows a closer inspection. Paul is obviously very happy to be in the structure of a band, his band this time. The joy he is experiencing in being the master of his destiny is apparent.Many thought, especially at the time, that it was pure indulgence to include his wife Linda. In retrospect, and by examining this performance as well as revisiting his Wings albums, Linda was most assuredly up to the task. Wings was a crack band. Jimmy McCulloch was a very versatile and talented guitarist/song-writer/vocalist, Denny Laine should have been a star in his own right and not just remembered by the masses as the guy who with The Moody Blues sang their first and second best single of all time, Joe English had the power of Keith Moon with a penchant for embellishing that power with fantastic cymbal work, and finally Linda really did have chops as a keyboardist and her background vocals somehow blended far better than she ever got credit for. Simply put: This band rocks with a vengeance and takes no prisoners and those in 1976 who were fortunate enough to be at any of their shows seem to uniformly testify to this.Rockshow is a fantastic concert film. If you can find a good copy that will be your verdict even if you are a hard-case. Paul had assembled some fantastic pop songs as only he could and he was excited to be playing them live - it shows. There is also great balance to the aural assault as Paul added a blue-chip horn section which really sweetened it, but yet the music still has a definitely edgy dirty rock and roll feel. Long before that once dedicated music network came up with their innovation of live acoustic set Paul did it right here and it is good as it gets plus it paces the concert nicely.I have nothing but compliments for Rockshow. I have no idea why Paul hasn't decided to remaster the entire show, add extras, and release it for his legions of fans. Paul is quite generous in his later years in making pro-shot performances available in the public domain as well as releasing a steady diet of current tour shows, this gives one hope one day this will again surface and in a quality never before imagined. Until that time I feel fortunate to have a good copy and I love to pull it out regularly. Please Paul do hear your fans requests and re-release it! Rockshow is a fantastic concert film for the ages.UPDATE: Thank you Paul! I got the Blu-Ray in 2013 and it is utterly fantastic.

Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles band, Wings, embarked on a massive world tour (Wings Over The World) in 1975/6 - probably the first of its kind. It ended up at Wembley Arena (aka the Empire Pool) in late 1976, and made its way onto record as Wings Over America that Christmas.Rock Show is the theatrical movie edited from the footage of the Seattle concert from that tour, dropping about 10 songs from the 30 or so in the full show. It should not be confused with the hour-long TV documentary called Wings Over The World.This show, well filmed and brilliantly performed and recorded, features the classic Wings of Venus And Mars and Speed Of Sound, and is probably the best filmed record of Paul McCartney at the height of his performing abilities.Edited to add:15 May 2013Having just watched the 2013 restoration edition, this is the first time I have seen Rockshow at the cinema. Restored and remastered, the missing songs have been restored and they are just as good as the rest. My videotape copy was 4:3 aspect ratio, so it was pleasing to see it for the first time in 1.85:1. The sound was excellent - crystal clear, even if sometimes the mix lost parts of the sound (it was a little too toppy for my taste).Two criticisms: one, some of the camera-work was out of focus (not much you can do about that!) and, two, only the audience was in stereo at my showing: the music was a single sound source from the screen. I don't know what they will have done for the Blu-ray.

I've had this movie on a VHS tape that I burned from a laser disk in the early 1980s. This is the closest you are going to get to seeing the Wings Over America Tour in 1976 - The sound surpasses almost all 1970s concert films. I have the digitally remastered WOA CD and it sounds like it was recorded yesterday - please release this film in a digitally remastered DVD! The direction is sadly...lacking (which is true of many 70s concert films).This is what Paul McCartney wanted to do with the Beatles at the end - become a touring performing band.This movie shows that dream realized nicely.

This is the best recorded tour of Paul McCartney, showing the power of his solid band Wings. Linda reaches beautiful vocal harmonies on "Listen To What The Man Said" and Paul distills love and careness for her in the masterpiece "Maybe I´m Amazed".The sound quality of the video is not the best; well, it was 1976 and the record machines for live performances weren´t as good as the studio ones, but It´s not the hi-fi sound that kicks here, is the talented Paul and his beloved wife.It´s pretty hard to get this picture, so I recommend you to buy the "Wings Over America" CD at www.amazon.com. It has all the movie songs, plus some surprises.