It Might Get Awesome I love guitar. I played guitar. I love movies. So this was a no brainer. I was excited when I heard it was coming out, then it fell off the radar. Thank God for Zune Marketplace. This film is a documentary set up for 3 world-class guitar players to meet, discuss, and play a little something. The movie starts off with an amazing clip. Jack White takes a board, puts two nails in it, attaches a guitar string to the nails, slides a coke bottle under the back of the string as the bridge, nails on a pick up, plugs it in, and with a slide and a pick, rips out the gnarliest tone you've ever heard. Then, after 15 seconds of playing he says, "Who said you needed to buy a guitar?" The movie gives each guitarist equal time to recall their youth, their influences, their equipment, and their motivation and mindsets. This all runs a little long for me. Not that it's not interesting but the scene where they actually meet and talk deserved more time. All 3 guitarists have very different takes and approaches to playing, though as any guitar player knows, rock and roll all stems from the blues. White, while discussing his path to rock and roll says (paraphrasing here) "When you start playing rock, you start digging. When you start digging you inevitably end up on a freight train to the blues." Jimmy Page's history is obviously very deep and not a lot of new info there as I am very familiar with his story. But he does take the camera on a tour of Headley Grange, where Led Zeppelin IV was recorded and discusses those days, which is great. Also, there is a scene where he puts on a "45 of Link Wray's "Rumble" and his face lights up like a child at Christmas. Watching him play air guitar to this song, you put two and two together and see what a tremendous impact this song had on him. It is easy to discount The Edge's roll in guitar history because of that douchey singer he works with. However, he is responsible for helping to keep guitar based rock in the Top 40 for over 25 years. This is no small task considering what is popular nowadays. The most impressive part of this doc for me however was Jack White. My appreciation for Jack White comes in huge spikes. When the White Stripes first "arrived", I though they were all right but that was based simply on what I heard on the radio. It wasn't until I saw this clip from the last of 5 nights they played on Conan that I knew this motherfucker was the real deal. The way he talks about music and playing are words you cannot fake and his playing backs that assertion. I've always had an inkling that he was a fan of the Flat Duo Jets, and that is verified in the movie. He loves picking up shitty guitars. His claim is that it's a challenge. "You need to pick a fight with it.". He talks about how technology doesn't help music and that it does nothing for creativity or soul. And he's right. And he can prove it all day long. This is a juxtaposition to The Edge who is obsessed with effects and (obviously) uses them to create his sound. There are way more stories in the film than I can share here. Stories you can use in the context of music or apply to any artistic endeavor you undertake. If any of these three guitarists interest you, or you play guitar, want to play guitar, or simply appreciate music, I recommend this highly. I will be adding it to my DVD collection for sure. LINKED MEDIA
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