‘The Rolling Stones: Ole, Ole, Ole! A Trip Across Latin America’ Shows Rock Lives South Of The Border

There’s been a lot of handwringing and proselytizing and gloating over the past couple of years about the supposed death of rock n’ roll. Guitar bands are passé, guitars are passé, bands are passé. We’ve got laptops! We’ve got recording software! We’ve got autotune! We’ve got EDM and alt pop and whatever passes for hip hop these days! Rock n’ roll? Feh, who needs it? I don’t even necessarily disagree with the deathsayers. Most of the new rock bands I like are so hopelessly retro, it’s hard for me to believe what they’re doing is vital or relevant. However, watching the 2016 Rolling Stones documentary, Olé, Olé, Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America, which is currently streaming on Netflix, it appears rock n’ roll is alive and well south of the border.

It makes sense it’s The Rolling Stones who teach us this lesson, the self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock N’ Roll Band In The World,” who codified the idea of the rock star as outlaw and were once the most dangerous band in the land. Now, like rock itself, they are objects of scorn and ridicule, septuagenarians overstaying their welcome, making fools of themselves on stage performing tired ass classic rock standards to geriatric baby boomers trying to ignore their looming demise. Latin America, apparently, doesn’t read that music blog, because judging from the crowds in Olé, Olé, Olé!, The Stones still command voluminous adoring crowds of good looking young people rocking their faces off and getting their ya-ya’s out.

The film chronicles The Stones’ América Latina Olé Tour 2016, which found them performing in Latin America for the first time in 10 years. Over 14 shows, they visited 8 different countries, several for the first time, ending with a massive free concert in Havana, Cuba. While Olé, Olé, Olé! finds the band playing at various tour stops and exploring the musical legacy of each locale, the Havana show envelopes the entire enterprise, as management negotiates with the Cuban government up until mere weeks before it’s scheduled. The documentary is a companion piece to Havana Moon, a stand-alone concert film of the event.

“Nobody else sees the world the way we do,” guitarist Keith Richards says early on. “There’s the explorer in us, the Christopher Columbus, that wants to see around the corner and see, is it round or is it flat?” Of course, Columbus wasn’t staying in five-star hotels besieged by mobs of devoted fans. The band is received euphorically wherever they go. In Argentina, there is an entire subculture known as “Rolingas,” who call the band, “a religion.” Who knew? Aware that the band is fighting a losing battle with time, many say this could be the last time they ever play the country. There, as elsewhere, locals remember the dictatorships of old, when just listening to rock n’ roll could land you in jail. As the social climate eased, The Rolling Stones were among the first bands to tour Latin America, resulting in a devoted fan base who see in them an eternal symbol of their own very real rebellion.

Authoritarianism has many faces, both on the right and the left. In Cuba, The Stones find themselves enmeshed with the bureaucratic hassles of Raúl Castro’s government. When then-President Barack Obama schedules his historic trip to Cuba, their show gets moved a week out. Then there is concern about the new date landing on Good Friday. The Stones? Not that concerned. As fans rush in, a crowd that would eventually swell to an estimated 500,000, one young fan says, “The chains are broken, censorship has fallen.” Whether that’s 100% true, I can’t say for sure, but it’s not the kind of thing people are saying at Coachella.

Between concert films and actual documentaries, there are over 20 different long form features about The Rolling Stones. Being a fan since I was two years old and made my older brother play the 45 RPM record of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” over and over, I have seen many of them and rank Olé, Olé, Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America among the best. Interestingly, the actual concert footage is rather lackluster and almost treated as an afterthought. Instead, what we have is a travelogue, more reminiscent of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, as a group of old friends seek adventure and entertainment in unfamiliar territory and spread the gospel of rock n’ roll to the unbaptized. As Keith Richards says before their Havana show, “They’re gonna see something they’ve never seen before.”

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter: @BHSmithNYC.

Where to stream The Rolling Stones: Olé Olé Olé