There’s nothing small about a Rolling Stones concert. The band has been regularly playing before crowds of 100,000 or more since 1969. Then came February 8, 2006. That’s when the Stones and their entourage walked across a bridge from the Copacabana Palace Hotel to a stage on the shoreline of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Forget 100,000 people — there were over a million. Yes, you read that right. The New York Times reported up 1.5 million bodies — all on a endless stretch of sea and sand to see the Rolling Stones. Bangs don’t get much bigger than that.
A moment like this wasn’t about to go undocumented, so naturally the show was filmed and recorded. Sixteen songs were part of The Biggest Bang, a four -DVD set released in 2007. Now that the Stones routinely release concert videos, it only made sense to expand the Rio de Janeiro show with the remaining songs and put it out as a standalone, multi-format package called A Bigger Bang: Live On Copacabana Beach. For Stones completists, this is one to add to the collection.
Having already played a hundred shows or so over the previous year, the Rolling Stones and their crew were a well-oiled machine more than ready to take on Marvellous City. South America has a particular strong love for the band, so it was important for them to give the show of their lives. Sweeping shots of the crowd expose a massive chunk of humanity — on the beach, in the water, in boats, and on the streets. Watching it all unfold, there’s hardly time for mistakes. A two-hour thrill ride ensues, filled with favorites like “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” “Brown Sugar,” “Start Me Up,” “Satisfaction,” and “Wild Horses” alongside then-new tracks such as “Rain Fall Down,” “This Place Is Empty,” “Oh No, Not You Again,” and “Rough Justice,” all from the group’s 2005 studio release, Bigger Bang. The fans in Brazil ate up every savory note.
Available on Blu-ray, DVD and double CD, the Deluxe Edition features extra footage from the Stones’ November 2005 concert in Salt Lake City, UT. Altogether, A Bigger Bang: Live On Copacabana Beach captures yet another piece of history in the 50-plus-year odyssey of the Rolling Stones — a group that has never broken up, never announced a farewell tour, and seemingly — just as a fall stadium tour has been announced for 2021 — never stops. Will these guys still be playing in their 80s? By all accounts, they’ll keep rolling until they can roll no more.
~ Shawn Perry
