Best Music Documentaries/Live Films

[Rich Tea Wellin]

What are your favourites and why?

[StillSpike]

D A Pennebacker - Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders farewell gig at Hammersmith. Brilliant live performance movie.

[Dunners]

D A Pennebacker - Depeche Mode 101 - in 1988, a group of fans won a competition to follow the band on its US tour, culminating in the infamous 101 concert at the Pasedena Rose Bowl. The film crew followed the fans on their tour bus, and now acts as a great document of late 80s teenage americana.

[Dunners]

Also, Shane Meadows' Made of Stone did a great job of capturing the 2012 reformation of the Stone Roses after their 16 year split, and the lead-up to their reunion world tour.

[one o in huntingdon]

Spinal Tap

[henry]

Woodstock.

[Dunners]

There's uploads of videos taken from early 90s raves on YouTube (I.e. World Dance, Dreamscape, Hysteria, etc). The behind the scenes footage and voxpop interviews with ravers that were interspersed amongst the music are a rare and brilliant capture of a unique youth-culture moment in Britain, the likes of which will never be seen again.

[Dunners]

I also really enjoyed Ron Howard's 2019 documentary, Pavarotti. It tells his life story, and feature plenty of incredible live footage, including the 3 Tenors concert in 1990. I had to go to Modena to visit his home after watching this.

[Long slender neck]

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

Searching for Sugarman, Anvil: the story of Anvil

[oxo]

Searching for Sugarman, Anvil: the story of Anvil

Loved Anvil

[Dunners]

Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback.

True story of behind the scenes of his 1968 comeback special.

[StillSpike]

Stop Making Sense, remastered version that came out last year. Fantastic

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

^ great shout

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Stop Making Sense, remastered version that came out last year. Fantastic

I bought it about 4 years ago. Worth forking out for the remaster?

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Really enjoyed Beatles 64 on Disney. Even though it’s all stuff I sort of knew about it’s presented in a good way.
Also been enjoying 1971: the year that music changed history with my little Apple TV trial

[Real Al]

Not really a documentary, but the film Good Vibrations about the Belfast record label that discovered the Undertones is a cracker.

Also, the BBC4 documentary We Who Wait about Tim Smith (T V Smith of the Adverts) is brilliant. Whereas most similar docs just turn into one ex-member slagging off another, T V seems to completely understand all the reasons why band members let him down. Seems a perfectly decent chap.

[JimbO]

Also, Shane Meadows' Made of Stone did a great job of capturing the 2012 reformation of the Stone Roses after their 16 year split, and the lead-up to their reunion world tour.

Stone Roses did that tour for the money not for any musical reasons. I was backstage at one of their big gigs and they didn't even walk to the stage together were a good 50 yards apart from each other.

[Dunners]

Also, Shane Meadows' Made of Stone did a great job of capturing the 2012 reformation of the Stone Roses after their 16 year split, and the lead-up to their reunion world tour.

Stone Roses did that tour for the money not for any musical reasons. I was backstage at one of their big gigs and they didn't even walk to the stage together were a good 50 yards apart from each other.

That was never in doubt, and is the main reason behind most reunions. It's a chance for a final payday and to give the band a pension as they head into their sunset years. The Stone Roses got stuffed by their initial record deal with Silvertone, and never managed to fully capitalise on their deal with Geffen for the second album. So I didn't begrudge them taking the opportunity.

[mildandbitter]

The Last Waltz by Scorsese documenting The Band's last concert at The Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Oil City Confidential by Julien Temple about Dr. Feelgood. What Happened, Miss Simone ? by Liz Garbus. Irish Tour 74' by Tony Palmer, Rory in all his glory. Plus many of the above.
Just remembered Shellshock Rock about the Northern Ireland punk scene in the late seventies.

[mildandbitter]

One more. A.K.A Doc Pomus. One of my absolute favourites.

[LPE]

Flight 666 - Iron Maiden.

A truly unique documentary. Great live footage too.

[Constanza]

Purple Rain is princetastic.

[Constanza]

Does Kneecap count?