In autumn 2006, the Rolling Stones gave two concerts at the famed Beacon Theatre in New York. Encounter living legends Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts in Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese's concert documentary "Shine A Light" as it shows the world the Rolling Stones as they've never been seen before. Before an enthusiastic audience that includes Hillary and Bill Clinton, the Stones present their hit songs as well as lesser known numbers. Guest apprearances include Christina Aguilera and blues legends Buddy Guy and Jack White.

Concert films are hard to come by these days, aren't they!

Instead of catching this on DVD as a Stones fan normally would, thank heavens they've decided to screen this at some selected cinemas for the big screen enjoyment of any fan who wasn't there at New York City's Beacon Theatre on October 29 and November 1 2006.

"Shine A Light" isn't one of those tedious career-spanning music documentaries that we have come to know through the years. It's not some fictionalised account of how some band shot to fame either. It's simply an amazingly edited piece of solid entertainment in 122 minutes of celluloid. Director Martin Scorcese's choice of angles and how he intersperses them is a delight to watch - blessed is he who managed to catch this at an IMAX theatre! The pacing is completely appropriate, right from the black-and-white introductory footage to the rousing finale when the ageless rock stars take a bow.

My favourite Stones song is "Sympathy For The Devil" but I was most captured by the devilish Keith Richards smoking a cigarette, but I can't remember what song he was singing now!

The only two complaints I have about this experience is having to watch a most undeserving invited guest in Christina Aguilera, who cheapened the band, I'd say, plus the decision to fill the front rows with young good-looking people (mostly girls) who don't really look like bona fide Stones fans. This compromised on the authenticity of the production and I was saddened that such means were needed to amplify the ageless electricity that was already there.

At the time of publishing, the international box office gross for "Shine A Light" stands at just over US $12 million. The proverbial light is shone when so many would pay to see the Stones, even if it is from the unconventional POV of a cinema seat. Rock on.