Early on in Thomas Tull's documentary about three of rock 'n' roll's seminal guitarists, the White Stripes' Jack White gives his humorous prediction of what will happen when he meets up with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and U2's The Edge. Says White: "We'll probably get in a fistfight."
That doesn't happen. Instead, the three pickers find common ground despite their considerable musical differences. For the viewer, "It Might Get Loud" is an invigorating and beautiful thing to watch.
Page, the oldest of three, guided Led Zeppelin to glorious musical heights (and some decadent offstage lows) during the 1960s and 1970s; the band's songs include radio warhorses such as "Kashmir" and "Whole Lotta Love." The Edge, U2's sonic genius, reinvented rhythm guitar in the 1980s and 1990s on pieces such as "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Numb." White, teaming up with his ex-wife, drummer Meg, has spent the 2000s and 2010s fusing punk, grunge and rock on pieces such as "Seven Nation Army" and "Blue Orchid."
So what do these three have in common? The blues, of course. Page and White wear their blues influences on their sleeves. Edge keeps his blue heart a bit more hidden, but it does beat; just listen to his slide guitar part on "Bullet the Blue Sky," from "The Joshua Tree."
My favorite moment of this documentary: Edge, Page and White all three playing slide guitar on Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying." Slide guitar -- in which the player uses a metal tube to sound notes instead of placing his or her fingers on the fretboard -- is a sound that dates back at least a century, and it's a technique that make a guitar scream, moan or cry.
It also lends itself to highly individual expression. On "In My Time of Dying," White wears his slide on his pinkie finger, Page on his ring finger, Edge on his middle finger. Each player takes turns in the musical spotlight, and the results are pure ear candy. Page's tone is a growl, White's a howl, Edge's a sort of wolfish yowl. I confess I could barely sit still as I watched and listened.
And then I went upstairs, grabbed my own guitar, and played for 15 minutes or so. Whether you're a guitarist or not, though, it doesn't matter: This is a film about how art comes to be. Art is the intersection of experience and imagination. These guys have lived, loved, suffered and searched for their music; you can hear it in every note. "It Might Get Loud" is a great film for anyone interested in the creative process.