I've been looking forward to "It Might Get Loud" for some time, and I finally got a chance to see it. This is a documentary that gathers three generations of rock guitarists into a summit of sorts. The choices of the guitarists are rather interesting. Jimmy Page is incontrovertible. After him, it starts to get more muddy. The next generation is represented by The Edge. I never considered The Edge to be a great guitar icon, but someone who was an integral part of one of the best known rock bRands from the 80s on. So, while The Edge isn't even remotely the 'Jimmy Page of the 80s', the choice makes sense and is ultimately satisfying. Jack White is even more interesting still. As the youngest of the group (at 34, HA!), I wondered if he had truly established himself to be among this company. He proved to be the most interesting element of the picture.
I enjoyed the background information and interviews, but the director seemed intent to pull some sort of narrative out of the footage. This turned out to be Jack White's hatred of technology. The seeds of this were obviously there to be nurtured, but it was the filmmaker's choice to draw it out of the accumulated footage.
The guitar itself is a product of technology. However, Jack deconstructs this immediately. The movie opens like the trailer, with Jack White building a stringed instrument out of a block of wood and a coke bottle. Then, he plugs it into an overdrive pedal and a vintage head and cabinet. He convincingly demonstrates the crude device and steps back with a self-satisfied air and says "Who says you need to buy a guitar?" This is a fantastic, enjoyable moment. I admire the demonstration, but I can tell you from experience, you could plug nearly anything into that signal chain and achieve similar results. Without the pickup, pedal and amplifier, the concoction doesn't sound like anything at all. The point I'm making is it isn't so much the coke bottle as the other stuff. In other words, technology.
Later Jack informs us of his prejudices more directly. He says that technology destroys not just creativity, but truth itself. Woah.
Jack offers some compelling evidence by playing his favorite record, "Grinning in Your Face" which is simply voice and foot. No technology at all, and a profound emotional moment. "When you dig a little deeper in rock 'n' roll, you're on a freight train straight to the blues." Indeed.
This is juxtaposed with shots of unloading The Edge's guitar rig; his massive racks of effects and a custom pedal board with the surface area of a small bedroom. It seems designed for clown shoes. The message is clear. The Edge is all about technology. Jack White, with his plastic guitar, can't conceal his contempt. We're treated to copious eye-rolling.
Jimmy Page demonstrates the power of technology with a performance of "Ramble On“ that will make you sit perfectly still, holding your breath. He effortlessly glides from massive power to delicate beauty with nothing more than playing technique. "Dynamics, light and shade, whisper to the thunder.” Only possible with an amplifier. In fact, Jimmy Page asserts that amplification itself enables us to hear the individuality of a musician's fingers. Interesting, and I can see the truth in it.
I do agree with Jack that it doesn't matter what guitar or gear you use, it is the idea, the expression, the emotion that counts. Too often I've seen technology obfuscating an idea, or used as a crutch. I get it. What I don't agree with is absolutism. I bristle at this. Lao Tzu understood there are many pathways to enlightenment. Technology isn't inherently bad or good. It doesn't rob emotion or truth or beauty. Technology is a tool and it can be used in positive and negative ways. It isn't false creativity. The same argument could be said about a carefully-coiffed white boy in a bow tie and bowler hat ripping off the blues.
