''Rockshow'' is a 1980

concert film A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

released by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...

and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

, filmed during the band's 1976 North American tour. The film features 30 songs from segments of four concerts of the tour: New York, on 25 May (four songs); Seattle, Washington, 10 June (five songs); and Los Angeles, California, 22 June (fifteen songs) and 23 June (six songs). However, both the cover of the home video release and McCartney, in his intro to '' The McCartney Years''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, acknowledge only the Seattle concert. These concerts were part of the 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour, which also produced the triple live album ''

Wings over America ''Wings over America'' is a triple live album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in December 1976. The album was recorded during the American leg of the band's 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour. It peaked at number 8 on the U ...

'' (1976) and the '' Wings Over the World'' television documentary (1979). This is also the first film released by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lea ...

Production

The music for what was to become ''Rockshow'' and part of '' Wings Over the World'' was produced by Chris Thomas and engineered by Phil McDonald during 1979. However, the processing of the ''Rockshow'' overdubs was obviously completed by the airdate of ''Wings Over the World'', as these same performances were featured in both productions. Not all of the songs made it to the film in their entirety ("Medicine Jar" and "Letting Go" have been edited), and the song introductions did not always match the performance that followed. For example, several of the introductions came from the Seattle performance while the actual song was taken from a Los Angeles show: "Magneto & Titanium Man", "Spirits of Ancient Egypt", "Lady Madonna", "Let 'Em In", and "Soily". The introduction of the horn section was a composite as well with portions coming from Seattle and the final Los Angeles show.

Release

The film premiered on 26 November 1980 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York; McCartney did not attend, as he was in the studio at the time. He did attend the London Premiere at the

Dominion Theatre The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...

in Piccadilly Circus on 8 April 1981. The film was later edited down to 102 minutes for its home video release. Its first home video release was on

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 197 ...

in October 1981, with a VHS, laserdisc, and CED release in 1982. This would be the last time a feature-length version of the film would be available to the general public until 31 years later, as McCartney had remained reluctant to make the entire film available on VHS or

. In 2007, a shortened cut with only seven songs was released as part of '' The McCartney Years'' DVD set – one of which, a version of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

' " Lady Madonna", was originally left out of the ''Rockshow'' home video release.

2013 re-release

In June 2013, a new version of the film was released. The longer 125-minute version was digitally restored from the 35mm negative with the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed in 5.1 surround sound. The film had a limited worldwide cinema re-release on 16 May 2013, with an exclusive introduction and interview with McCartney. An exclusive VIP premiere screening, with McCartney in attendance and introducing the film, took place at BAFTA on 15 May. This restored cut was released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

in June 2013.

Song listing

The following list is for the full-length, 125-minute version of ''Rockshow''. * Songs edited out of the first home video versions of the film.
+ Songs included in ''The McCartney Years'' DVD box set. # " Venus and Mars" + # "Rock Show" + # "

Jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

" + # " Let Me Roll It" # "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" (lead vocal Denny Laine) # "Medicine Jar" (lead vocal Jimmy McCulloch) # "

Maybe I'm Amazed "Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by English musician Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1970 debut solo album '' McCartney''. Although the original recording has never been released as a single, a live performance by McCartney's ...

" + # "

Call Me Back Again "Call Me Back Again" is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Wings. It was originally released on the album '' Venus and Mars''. It was performed throughout their world tours in Australia and America and a live version w ...

" * # " Lady Madonna" * + # "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beat ...

" * # " Live and Let Die" # " Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" * # "

Richard Cory "Richard Cory" is a narrative poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It was first published in 1897, as part of ''The Children of the Night'', having been completed in July of that year; and it remains one of Robinson's most popular and anth ...

" (lead vocal Denny Laine) * # "

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

" + # "

I've Just Seen a Face "I've Just Seen a Face" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in August 1965 on their album '' Help!'', except in North America, where it appeared as the opening track on the December 1965 release '' Rubber Soul''. ...

" # " Blackbird" # " Yesterday" # "

You Gave Me the Answer "You Gave Me the Answer" is a song by Wings. It was written by Paul McCartney and appeared on the album '' Venus and Mars''. Origin and recording McCartney has occasionally paid tribute to his father, James, who led his own band in his youth, ...

" # " Magneto and Titanium Man" # "

Go Now "Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year. Bessie Banks version The ...

" (lead vocal Denny Laine) # " My Love" * # " Listen to What the Man Said" + # " Let 'Em In" # "Time to Hide" (lead vocal Denny Laine) # "

Silly Love Songs "Silly Love Songs" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings that was written by Paul and Linda McCartney. The song first appeared in March 1976 on the album '' Wings at the Speed of Sound,'' then it was released as a single backed wit ...

" # "

Beware My Love "Beware My Love" is a rock song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was first released on the Wings 1976 album ''Wings at the Speed of Sound''. It was also used as the B-side of the single that included "Let 'Em In". A live version recor ...

" # " Letting Go" # "

Band on the Run ''Band on the Run'' is the third studio album by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released in December 1973. It was McCartney's fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970. Although sales were modest initiall ...

" # " Hi, Hi, Hi" # " Soily"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockshow 1980 films 1980 documentary films American documentary films Concert films Films set in 1976 Films shot in Washington (state) American independent films Paul McCartney video albums American rock music films Paul McCartney and Wings video albums Miramax films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films