It Might Get Loud

Now, I know this is supposed to be a concert review blog, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want. I'm gonna write about a movie. In early 2008, Jack White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge all got together for no real apparent reason other to talk about playing guitar. "It Might Get Loud" is a documentary of this meeting.

It's a film about these three masters getting together, but it's also sort of like 3 mini documentaries about each player. The audience travels from Detroit to London and Dublin, touring old rehearsal spaces and part time jobs. Each star tells the story of how he got his first guitar and what song he rushed home to learn, all behind a slide show of black and white photos of greasy haired kids.

Then, amongst all of these mini-docs, we are brought back to the present with the three of them sitting on a set, each with a guitar and jamming. It's interesting that no matter how famous or legendary you are, that moment of meeting 2 other guitar players and trying to all play together still has that same strange feeling. Looking at the others' hands and trying to read the chords while your ears struggle to hear if you're playing the right thing. Trying to add something new without sounding like a ball hog. It seemed like Jack White was the most star struck of the 3. And why wouldn't he be? There were some great shots of him looking around, cracking the slightest of smiles, and realizing what was going on around him. The generational implications were an interesting part of the story, with Page saying things like "before rock and roll", The Edge walking us through all of his wacky effects, and White talking about his "Sears" guitar.

As a fan of these 3 guitar players, a rock history enthusiast, and a guitar player, this film was right up my ally. I'd like to see a series of these with more of my favorite rockers. Who wouldn't love to see Dave Grohl, Ringo Starr, and Mitch Mitchell swapping secrets and teaching each other their most famous beats? It's a cool idea for a music movie and it was well done.