John & Yoko prove they have the ‘Power’

    If you had the pleasure of seeing last year’s wonderful “One to One: John and Yoko,” you might want to skip its repetitive follow-up, “Power to the People: John & Yoko Live in NYC.” There’s simply too much overlap and not nearly enough context to help post-boomers grasp the importance of the only full-length concert Lennon staged in the wake of The Beatles’ break-up.

    While the footage shot by Steve Gebhardt during the Aug. 30, 1972, One to One benefit has been pristinely restored, the alternating performances by Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, lack urgency and cohesiveness. And nearly half of the 11 Lennon-sung tunes – “Mother,” “Instant Karma,” “Cold Turkey,” “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine” – were included in the “One to One” doc. And the six additional songs here – the primal “Well Well Well,” the autobiographical “New York City,” the kinky “It’s So Hard,” the Fab Four’s “Come Together,” along with the title cut and the Elvis tribute, “Hound Dog” – are well done but surprisingly staid in their ability to energize.

    There’s also almost no banter with the appreciative audiences that packed Madison Square Garden for the sold-out matinee and evening sets, which raised $1.5 million (equivalent to $11.5 million today) for Willowbrook State School. But there are some risqué asides and innuendos, such as adding, “And I did,” after the lyric, “She looked so beautiful I could eat her” on “Well Well Well”; and in suggestively altering the lyrics for “It’s So Hard” to “You know it’s hard, it’s hard to get hard; sometimes I feel like going down.” But you crave even more of that cheeky Lennon wit.

      He is, however, a tad rude, talking over Yoko’s introduction to her controversial tune, “Open Your Box,” which she reminds us was banned from radio play at the time for lyrics such as “Open your box, open your legs, open your thighs, open your eyes.” I’d never been much of an Ono fan, but her voice on that tune and on the existential “Born in a Prison” is strong and persuasive, an obvious inspiration for future acts such as Patti Smith, P.J. Harvey, and the burgeoning punk movement spearheaded by The Sex Pistols.

   Ably supported by Elephant’s Memory, the couple’s outstanding backup band, the music is consistently tight and crisp, with a kick-ass rhythm section featuring two drummers and two bassists. It’s a muscular sound that provides perfect accompaniment to Lennon’s impassioned singing. How he fails to damage his vocal cords with his goosebump-inducing screams on “Mother” and “Well Well Well” is a wonder.

    If only the visuals were as compelling as the audio. Editor Ben Wainwright-Pearce and director Simon Hilton do all they can to enliven the narrow-aspect presentation, including a generous use of split screens that depict crowd reactions alongside the performances. But such tricks can only go so far. Although it’s fun ogling the terrible fashions and the long, unkempt hair on the musicians. It makes for an interesting contrast when a squeaky-clean Stevie Wonder pops in for a cameo during the encore of “Give Peace a Chance.”

    Soon, he’s joined onstage by Woodstock standout, Melanie Safka and a host of counterculture icons. Among them are Alan Ginsberg, Kurt Vonnegut, Shirley MacLaine and Geraldo Rivera, whose TV report about the deplorable conditions at the Willowbrook mental institution inspired John and Yoko to spring into action, both through the concert and an accompanying fair in Central Park, excerpts from which play during the closing credits.

    These clips are yet another overlap with the superior “One to One.” Yet, in myriad ways, “Power to the People” stands alone as a towering time capsule whisking you back to an era when young people truly believed, to quote Lennon, “all you need is love.” It seems so passe now, but there’s an unbridled optimism in that idealism that remains infectious. And, boy, could we use some of those rose-colored granny glasses right about now, as we endeavor to peacefully fight the power of those conspiring to keep us down. I suspect Lennon wouldn’t want it any other way.

Movie review

Power to the People: John & Yoko Live in NYC

Rated: Not rated

Featuring: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Melonie Safka and Elephant’s Memory

Director: Simon Hilton

Runtime: 80 minutes

Where: In theaters April 29

Grade: B-