New John Lennon and Yoko Ono Concert Film to Screen in April and May

There’s a certain charge that comes with experiencing the moment that John Lennon and Yoko Ono first stepped into frame. The first trailer for Power to the People: John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory and Special Guests – Live at the One To One Concert, New York City, 1972 doesn’t try to reinvent the moment, but instead, it pays tribute to it.

The film pulls from their August ’72 shows at Madison Square Garden, which still mark the only full-length concerts Lennon played after the The Beatles called it quits in 1970. There’s weight in that, but the trailer doesn’t lean on it. The trailer opens loose, almost casual, with John and Yoko on the mic, setting the scene in their own voices. It's as if they're just saying, “Here we are.”

Then, the band kicks in. You get flashes of familiar songs, such as “Come Together,” “Imagine,” “Instant Karma” and “Give Peace a Chance.” These are songs that have been played to death somehow feel a little less polished here and a little more alive. Lennon sounds wired but focused, the way he did when he had something to prove but didn’t feel like saying it outright. Yoko, as ever, cuts across the grain in a way that still feels a step ahead of the room.

The footage itself has been cleaned up without totally sanding off the edges. The clips have been restored, re-edited and remixed by a team led by their son, Sean Ono Lennon, who seems to understand that you don’t mess with the pulse of something already legendary. You're just releasing it to make sure people can feel it again.

If some of this looks familiar, it should. Bits and pieces of the footage showed up in One to One: John and Yoko, the Kevin Macdonald documentary, but this feels more direct.

Power to the People hits theaters nationwide April 29 and May 3.