BlackBook Magazine

The most disappointing thing about the Rolling Stones press conference for their Martin Scorsese documentary, Shine a Light, on Sunday at the Palace Hotel was that it lasted only 23 minutes, instead of the promised 60. Some journos observed Mick Jagger signaling to the publicist for only two more questions. Was he displeased? After all, the very few archival scenes in the film which were added to footage of the 2006 concerts at the Beacon Theater, focused on, according to Scorsese, “the same questions asked over and over to the point where they don’t mean anything anymore.”

One journalist at the conference referred to a scene in the film where the band is asked if they’ll still play at 60, and then she herself asked if they’ll still play at 70. Richards, not wanting to reflect on that, replied to audience laughter, “Ah, it’s five years away!”

Actually, the best part of the conference was the Stones’ quipping. When asked if the audience was special, Jagger replied, “The audience was a good audience ‘cause I think they really got into the spirit of making the movie, as well as being an audience for the band.” Ronnie Wood interrupted to laughter, “They were all cameramen!”

One journo remarked about Jagger’s “boundless energy” in the film, wanting to know, “what vitamins you take and what’s your workout regimen, ‘cause all of us would like to be able to do this.” Jagger replied that he hoped “you’d forget about that,” and Scorsese interrupted to the roar in the room, “If he told you that, you’d all be on it!”

When asked what Scorsese “brings to this film that other directors wouldn’t,” Jagger stammered, again to laughter, “Aw, c’mon! I can’t answer that. I mean—but, I think—I’m embarrassed now. He’s not part of the furniture. You know, he’s actually sittin’ here!”

Later at the Ziegfeld Theater premiere , Ronnie Wood was flirting with and kissing some of the female video and TV reporters on the black (not red!) carpet. (Perhaps he’s more friendly towards the media now that he’s promoting his own artwork exhibitions.) Jenna Pace of livevideo.com said to him, “There’s such an appetite for documentaries these days --“

“So are you, baby!” he countered. “What the hell is going on?” he laughed.

She continued, “Do you think that has anything to do with the overwhelming amount of reality TV that we are bombarded with every day?”

Wood replied, “Yeah, people like you are the reason that we’re bombarded with reality TV!”

Pace queried, “Where’s the after party, baby?”

Wood revealed, “It’s going to be in our hotel, just everyone in Media Land. It’s going to be at the New York Palace Hotel, all in my room, 213. All right, everybody in the world? Just come there, after!”

We asked Ronnie Wood, “Have you had any positive experiences with journalists? The movie seemed to show a pretty, negative portrayal of journalists.”

He told us, “Well, it’s weird making a movie. That’s why you have to trust people, like --” he stopped to say hello to musicians from the movie. “I think you have to trust a little bit, the paparazzi and the journalists, you have to kind of be honest with them, otherwise they’ll pick on you and pick you to pieces. I think if you’re honest with them and you just kind of—they’re my friends.”

We asked Keith Richards, “What would you have done differently in your career?” He replied, “I’d have learned how to be a better plumber!” Why is that? “‘Cause my sinks are always breaking down!”

The premiere was topped off with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony running down the black carpet as they arrived late, and even the TV reporters were instructed to get behind the barricades; the couple wasn’t granting interviews.