My First DVD Review!

And it's for my favorite band of the 80s!

A few weeks ago I was in the East Bay with my bandmate Alex Adler for what turned out to be the supposedly second to last Flash Gilmore & the Funbeatles Show. Before that historic night we took a trip out to Berkley where Adler picked up this fine DVD I have been unable to find since returning to Los Angeles.

We spent the two less eventful nights of that trip watching this DVD and it's bonus features and what a knockout. For a DVD it was not a bad competitor against Flash's jaw-dropping performance on "Earth Girl."

The general feature compiles live footage of the Pups at their commercial peak hot off their tour and the brothers' televised appearance with Nirvana and the subsequent album Too High to Die. Some are from big shows, other small, plus a lot of record store appearances, surprisingly. For every occasion the band lives up to its legendary status. In fact, these performances wiped any doubt I had that Derrick Bostrom was a worthy sideman to the Kirkwoods. His skill is clearly sufficient, though I hesitate to say equal to those virtuosos. These stellar live performances are interspersed with backstage tour videos that capture the trio's unique personalities and luckily slow down the relentless pace and unbelievable energy of the live shows.

The bonus features, though, are even better. We see an excited young girl interview Curt around the time of Huevos, memories from Derrick Bostrom, and a somber reflection on the band by Mike Watt, retelling his departed bandmate D. Boon's love of their music. However these are easily forgotten compared to an inspirational conversation between Cris, Mike Watt, and Flea essential for not just bassists but any musician with dreams. Almost as engaging is Thurston Moore's story of his first encounter with the Meat Puppets after fantasizing about the mysterious group from the desert. Every crazy thing you could imagine about the Pups is confirmed in Moore's account of what one must assume was their first trip to New York City.

The only clunker is the inclusion of the "We Don't Exist" video that reminds us just how bad some grungey 90s videos were. It's a shame as their other 90s videos are actually pretty good! The whole thing ends with a hyper performance of "Good Golly Miss Molly" that no fan should miss.

Best rock DVD ever.

If you looking for more here's a great recent interview with the Kirkwoods documenting their whole story.