I’ve just got home from this screening. Absolutely blown away - again! The estate just keep slapping! I normally like to write my feelings and opinions after a new release.
Seeing the One to One Concert on the big screen with restored visuals and audio was something genuinely special. The additional camera angles added so much too, it was like being there and moving about the stadium
. It gave the whole performance a much more immersive, almost surround feel experience rather than simply watching archive footage (hopefully that’s what
@Sean and
@Good Dog Nigel were going for). At times it honestly felt like you were sitting inside Madison Square Garden watching history unfold in real time.
The audio was beautiful throughout. Lennon’s voice sounded raw, vulnerable and powerful all at once, and the band had that loose, unpredictable energy that made everything feel alive instead of overly polished. There is still something incredibly magnetic about watching him perform during that era. He could be funny, intense, chaotic and deeply human within the space of a single song, the way he kept acting like it was not going to plan and was a rehearsal was funny too! “We’ll get it right next time” comment stuck with me too. As we now know there wasn’t to be another “time” full concert wise.
The moment that stayed with me most though was ‘Mother’. On the cinema screen, with the close camera shots and restored sound, it stopped feeling like just a performance. At points I genuinely felt like I was looking directly into John’s eyes while he poured his soul out to the world. It was uncomfortable, heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time. There are very few artists who could expose themselves that openly in front of thousands of people, and even fewer where it still feels that real over 50 years later. The pain his screams were there for us all to feel and see.
What also really came across was the care that has gone into preserving and presenting this material properly. Huge credit has to go to Sean and Simon (and the rest of the team) for the continued effort they put into keeping the Lennon legacy feeling alive, relevant and human rather than simply nostalgic and an easy cash cow. You can feel that this is not just about putting old footage back out into the world. There is genuine love, respect and attention behind it all. Recent projects connected to Lennon’s work have consistently been handled with creativity and heart, and this felt like another success in that line.
My only real disappointment (and it wasn’t REALLY that dramatic), is that I would have loved even more of it. A bit more backstage footage, rehearsals, candid moments or behind the scenes interaction would have elevated it even further. You come away wanting to stay in that world a little longer. Hopefully that is something included in a later streaming or physical release because there must be so much fascinating material sitting in the archives (any clues Simon
). .
But overall, this was far more than just a concert film. It felt warm, immersive, emotional and surprisingly intimate at times. The cinema room stopped feeling like a cinema and started feeling like a time machine. Beautiful.
