Nearly a full year since releasing his second solo album, INNERSTANDING, Dhani Harrison is adding a new dimension to the project today with a full-length concert film spotlighting this new material titled INNERSOUNDSTAGE. While the album comes to life with the help of Harrison’s expansive eight-piece band, the title refers to the film’s off-stage footage taking viewers into the production space where the concert’s unseen stars pull the strings behind the scenes. Filmed at Soundstage Studios in North London, the project was helmed by Joel Kazuo Knoernschild, whose work on the making-of documentary about Shōgun recently earned him his second Emmy.
“I wrote INNERSTANDING during a time when touring wasn’t a possibility, so I thought it was important to document the album in a live setting with some of the incredible musicians I collaborated with to create it,” Harrison shared in a press statement this morning promoting the new film. “I also believe that an album's not truly done until you've played it live from start to finish—that's the fun part! We’re here now, this is it.”
With the film now available to watch on Harrison’s YouTube channel for a limited time before hitting on-demand streaming on October 1, we used the occasion to ask Harrison which live-concert documentaries inspire him most. From Talking Heads’ game-changing Stop Making Sense film to equally familiar benefit concerts, Woodstock performances, and MTV Unplugged sessions, see his nine picks below. Additionally, you can check out the hour-long INNERSOUNDSTAGE all weekend here.
Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense
It’s a super high-level concept for a show. If you look at bands like Massive Attack, doing what they’ve done with Adam Curtis, it’s not too dissimilar. I mean, we’re talking decades later, but things that are really edgy and cool, still to this day, are not too dissimilar from Stop Making Sense. The fact that they build up from a brick wall, a mop, and a stereo with “Psycho Killer” on the acoustic and a beat, and they build to a full band—that’s amazing. I had the privilege of being able to go to the same school as David Byrne, and those guys are clearly great designers.
Blur, Live at Wembley Stadium
I was at that show, and it was one of the most amazing, feel-good shows of all-time. It was my favorite Wembley show of all-time. The country was so behind that band at that time. Just seeing the people that I would recognize in the crowd, seeing so many of my friends on social media at the same concert, no one knew that we were all going, it was just one of those things—it was a big fat “Yes!” from everyone. And Blur delivered. They played every single song the crowd wanted, and I thought it was beautiful. There was so much emotion. Graham Coxon worked so hard, and just watching his little pair of glasses sitting on the side of his amp whilst he just shreds was amazing. I loved that show. And Dave Rowntree had an injured knee, so played the whole set with a broken knee. Just incredible.
Concert for George
David Leland did such a great job shooting that. There was nothing that can really compare to that lineup and I don’t think there’ll ever be anything like that again. The only thing that comes close, which was what it was based on, was the Concert for Bangladesh, which is another one that I want to mention. Seeing Leon Russell, Dylan, and George harmonizing together and then in the future version having Ravi’s band still opening up. It was the next generation of Ravi’s band with Zakir, instead of Alla Rakha, and Pedro Eustache, who just did the Dune soundtrack with Hans Zimmer—he was there doing all our flutes back in 2001—and Anoushka conducting. I got to play on both sides of the break (the Indian side and on the Western side) and I don’t know which one was more rewarding. It was just incredible. We practiced so hard for that show, and they really delivered.
Concert for Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangladesh was seven years before I was born, on my birthday, August 1. It looks so amazing, especially now we’ve restored the footage—so you can look forward to seeing this one again. One of the greatest lineups of all time that won’t ever be repeated. A huge fan of that show.
Portishead, Roseland NYC Live
It was before they’d even done the third album. It’s not much to look at, but it’s one of the greatest orchestral mashups with a band that I’ve ever seen. I burnt my CD and vinyl versions out listening to that. The version of “Over” that they do live, with Jeff Barrow scratching, changed my mind about Portishead and took it to another place. Just huge.
Eric Clapton, Unplugged
Nirvana, Unplugged
I was at the Eric Clapton unplugged concert—the very famous, and first, MTV Unplugged. I was in the crowd when he played “Tears in Heaven” for the first time. I got a call at the last minute to go to that, and I sat there and they did it a bunch of times. I just remember no one really knew what it was, because they hadn’t done an MTV Unplugged yet. And a few months later, or a year later, I was nearly at the Nirvana one. And those two, I think, are probably the best; they have to be tied as the best, because Nirvana unplugged and Eric Clapton unplugged are just iconic. Can you remember how many times those things were played on MTV? How many times was that on in the background?
Metallica, Michael Kamen, and San Francisco Symphony, S&M
S&M was amazing. I grew up with Michael Kamen as my godfather, so watching him do orchestral Metallica was the coolest thing ever.
Jimi Hendrix, Live at Woodstock
In at number one, tied with Stop Making Sense, is Hendrix at Woodstock, because of “Villanova Junction” and just that one shot where he plays guitar for about 45 minutes straight—and then the camera pans around and you can see Jerry Velez, the bongo player, is just off his head. Then it pans around, and everyone in the crowd looks like they’re coming down off acid, which they probably were, because he’d come on the next morning instead of being on the night before. Apart from one guy who’s got his hands on his ears and he’s just got his mouth dropped open, and he’s the only one who looks like he’s actually realizing what he’s seeing. It’s a brilliant shot. There’s one person in the crowd who’s having that “Holy shit, I’m realizing what I’m actually seeing,” moment—everyone else is just on a downer. He’s just the greatest guitar player. And he’s wearing Sandra Kamen’s white tasseled leather jacket, which he stole from Sandra’s apartment because she lived with his girlfriend years before she met Michael Kamen. That’s another fact for you.
