I recently went on YouTube and I did a search for “concert films.”  The first video that came up was an upload of the 1980 film Rockshow.

Filmed during a 1976 world tour, Rockshow features Paul McCartney and Wings, the band that he formed after the break-up of the Beatles.  McCartney and his band play a total of 30 songs in front of an enthusiastic audience.  The crowd goes crazy for the Beatles songs, including Lady Madonna, The Long and Winding Road, Blackbird, and Yesterday.  That’s to be expected.  But they’re also pretty enthusiastic for the songs that McCartney wrote after the Beatles, quite a few of which I recognized.  (Silly Love Songs, Band on the Run, the beautiful Maybe I’m Amazed, and that annoying Listen To What The Man Said were all familiar to me.)  For all that I’ve read about people being disappointed by Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles career in the 70s, you wouldn’t know it from watching the audience in this film.  The highlight, for me, was undoubtedly the energetic performance of Live and Let Die, which featured a very basic but still effective light show.

It’s rare that you ever read anything positive about Paul McCartney’s work with Wings and, watching the film, it was pretty obvious that the band mostly just existed to showcase Paul.  The other members of the band seemed to understand that the crowd wasn’t there to see anyone but Paul McCartney and one gets the impression that they were okay with that.  That said, I actually liked quite a bit of their music.  Even if they weren’t as lyrically complex and creative as Paul’s work with the Beatles, the songs were still enjoyable to listen to and most of them got stuck in my head, for better or worse.  There’s a tendency, amongst music snobs, to be dismissive of Paul’s post-Beatles work because he is often viewed as being the most “corporate” of the Beatles.  In the popular imagination, John Lennon was the sarcastic peace activist.  George Harrison was the spiritual seeker.  Ringo Starr was the down-to-Earth comedian.  And Paul is often portrayed as being the one who was the most concerned with scoring the most hits, selling the most albums, and making the most money.  Well, so be it.  That’s usually the point of having a band, after all.  Very few people devote their life to the hope of being obscure and poor.  Johnny Rotten moved into a mansion the first chance he got.

As for Rockshow, it’s an interesting time capsule.  The main thing that stuck out to me was how straight-forward and simple the concert was.  There were a few laser effects, a few lighting effects, and a screen that occasionally flashed images of comic book characters but, as far as extra flourishes were concerned, that was pretty much it.  There weren’t any dancers doing carefully choreographed routines.  There weren’t any explosions or fancy costume changes.  Paul and the band played their songs and the audience obviously felt that they got their money’s worth.  Paul comes across as being cheerful and enthusiastic about performing and the band seems to have a good time as well. “Hey Paul,” someone in the audience yells and Paul pauses to wave back and it’s a moment of human connection that is missing from so many concert films.

Rockshow runs a little long.  30 songs can be a bit much.  But, overall, it’s a good concert film and an enjoyable time capsule.  Do you want to experience 1976?  Step into the YouTube time machine.