See David Byrne and the big white suit in Stop Making Sense.
Psst! We’ve got your backstage pass to great music documentaries.
One of the venues for the Atlantic Film Festival is right here at Dalhousie. The Dal Art Gallery is hosting a series of music documentaries to mark the film festival’s 30th anniversary and long association with the music scene in Atlantic Canada.
“We wanted to develop a series that would appeal to the incoming students and that would also celebrate the support between the music scene and the cinema here in Atlantic Canada,” explains Ron Foley Macdonald, film curator for the Dal Art Gallery.
The series starts and ends with two docs with special relevance to Halifax. Monterey Pop kicks off the series on Thursday, Sept. 16. The film of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival sports a stunning rendition of California Dreaming by The Mamas & the Papas, with lead vocals by Denny Doherty, a denizen of Halifax’s north-end who died in 2007. The Mamas & the Papas actually organized the three-day rock festival and arranged its filming.
The final film in the series, White Stripes Under Great Northern Skies, unspools Saturday, Sept. 25. The final third of the doc was filmed in Halifax and Glace Bay, where Jack White met up with his Nova Scotian relatives. It features a pre-show fiddle duet from Jack’s cousins Ashley MacIsaac and Buddy MacMaster.
“Jack White's real name, by the way, is the very un-rock-star-ish John Gillis,” notes Mr. Macdonald. “(It’s) rather Antigonishy.”
Screenings run September 16 to 25 at 5 p.m. in the Dalhousie Art Gallery, which is located downstairs in the Dal Arts Centre. Admission is free.
Monterey Pop (D.A. Pennebaker, USA, 1967, 78 minutes) The quintessential “Summer of Love” event, the Monterey Pop Festival – organized by the Mamas & the Papas witnessed incredible performances by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Ravi Shankar.
Screens Thursday, Sept. 16.
Don't Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker, USA, 1967, 95 minutes) A touchstone of the cinéma vérité movement, this on-the-fly portrait of Bob Dylan’s acoustic 1965 U.K. tour sees the singer/songwriter confronting and confounding the machinery of celebrity and fame.
Screens Friday, Sept. 17.
Gimme Shelter (The Maysles Brothers, USA, 1970, 95 minutes.) The disastrous Altamont Festival and the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour leading up to the concert gets self-consciously de-constructed, right down to Mick Jagger reacting to footage of the violence.
Screens Saturday, Sept. 18.
The Kids Are Alright (Jeff Stein, UK, 1979, 99 minutes.) The Who in all their glory, revealed through archival footage, interviews and live shots. Released just after the passing of the band’s drummer Keith Moon.
Screens Sunday, Sept. 19
Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, USA, 1984, 88 minutes.) The New Wave finally hits the big screen, with art-punkers Talking Heads delivering a standout performance with songs like Psycho Killer, Once In A Lifetime and Burning Down the House. Cue the giant suit!
Screens Monday, Sept. 20
Down From the Mountain (Chris Hegedus, USA, 2000, 98 minutes.) A film of the concert of the American Roots music associated with the Coen Brothers’ classic film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Down From the Mountain features bluegrass mainstays like Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Screens Tuesday, Sept. 21
Festival Express (Bob Smeaton, Canada, 2003, 90 minutes.) The summer of 1970 saw a trainful of musicians – including Janis Joplin, The Band, Ian and Sylvia and The Grateful Dead – tour across Canada whistle-stop style. The footage was fashioned into a feature film 33 years later.
Screens Wednesday, Sept. 22
loudQUIETloud (Matthew Galkin/Steven Cantor, USA, 2006, 85 minutes.) Alt-rock greats the Pixies are caught on film during their 004 reunion tour doing what they do best, with Frank Black and Kim Deal.
Screens Thursday, Sept. 23
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi, USA/Canada, 2008, 80 minutes) and Heavy Metal Parking Lot (Jeff Krulik, USA, 1986, 17 minutes.) Documentaries hard-luck rockers Anvil and Judas Priest.
Screens Friday, Sept. 24
The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (Emmett Malloy, Canada/USA, 2009, 92 minutes.) The red, white and black minimalist duo’s 2007 tour of Canada, with emphasis on the North and a moving conclusion amongst Jack White’s relatives in Glace Bay, Cape Breton.
