TV Party - C
CHANNEL 3 - One More For All My True Friends {TKO} CHANNEL 3 really should need no introduction but, for anyone that is not familiar with this great band, this is the perfect place to get educated and acquainted.
The core of this is a feature length documentary chronicling the band from its formative days as a cover band in Cerritos, CA through to the present day. Right from the dramatic opening sequences of photo stills juxtaposed with the moving image, the documentary makes for totally riveting viewing. While past and present members are all involved, the documentary focuses primarily on the two mainstays: vocalist/ guitarist Mike Magrann and guitarist Kimm Gardener. Their dialogue is self-explanatory enough to warrant the exclusion of an interviewer, which certainly aids the smooth-flowing narrative of the DVD.
Both Gardener and Magrann come over as down-to-earth people, pretty much ego-free, and sincere. They don’t appear to hide anything from their dialogue - be it their liking for the likes of Kiss, Zeppelin and Skynyrd, the fact that the classic ‘I Got A Gun’ was originally written as a CLASH rip-off, the hate-mail they received when the band changed direction to something altogether more rock, or the vague animosity that occurred when Gardener left the band. They’re also wise enough to realise that life exists beyond the band - especially with the advent of parenthood. Their lack of pretension is really refreshing and one comment of Mike’s sums up the nature of the band for me: "Punk Rockers in spirit living in a rock ‘n’ roll world."
Amidst the dialogue (filmed in a number of locations) are guest appearances from the likes of ADOLESCENTS’ Steve Soto, Lars from RANCID and even their mothers! There’s also some cracking live footage.
As for extras, they don’t get much better than here! You get a full live concert filmed in November 2006 and an ultra-snotty performance from 1982 that was filmed for Target Video. If anyone doubts the band’s ferocity as a Punk band, they should be forced to watch this as Mike and the band spit and scream through a killer performance. If that wasn’t enough, you also get a CD of the 2006 live show which stands on its own as one of the best live albums you’ll hear. AND there’s a neat photo-packed booklet too.
Are there negatives? Um - not many. I was a little disappointed that the Dr. Strange released album was virtually ignored and, during the interviews, there is a rehearsal version of ‘Airborne’ which is smoking!! Unfortunately, it’s not included in the final set - that would have made the live album near perfect!
I can’t think of another package that does any single band - especially one which is still together - as much justice as this does CHANNEL 3. It’s expertly constructed and edited by director Erik Carreon, the music absolutely shreds, the story is clear and concise without being rigidly structured, and the band come over as people with whom it would be a pleasure to spend a few hours in the pub.
For the fan or the novice, this is undeniably essential. (05.01.09)
CITIZEN FISH - Underwater Overground/ Gaffer Tape {PM Press/ MVD} As with anything that involves Dick Lucas, not only is the music and politics excellent, but the whole package screams value for money. In total, this DVD lasts for way over two hours and, while it’s essentially just watching the band travel the world with its own camera, it has to be remembered that this is a band with some of the coolest personalities you’ll find in the Punk world today.
Underwater Overground opens with the band recording ‘Meltdown’ at Maida Vale studios for a BBC session before starting the footage of the band traversing the world for the best part of 18 months. It’s the UK first, with a 2007 tour that sees the band tearing through ‘Money’ in Leeds before hitting Gloucester right at the time of the July floods. The band’s original home town of Warminster gets a glimpse before we get a bit of footage of the band recording the split with LEFTOVER CRACK. Then we bail to the US for the Crackover Fest of 2006 and a three week tour that takes in visits to both the MRR and Fat Wreck offices. Before footage from an East Coast US tour with LEFTOVER CRACK, it’s back across the Atlantic to visit Dick’s House which doubles as the Bluurg storerooms. After the LOC tour, the band stays in the States and heads out with MDC that sees Dave Dictor as verbose and entertaining as ever but seriously pissed off also. Poland and Prague follow (with a SUBHUMANS performance there too!) before another US tour, this time with INTRO5PECT. Finally, there’s a performance at London’s Underworld.
Gaffer Tape was originally released in 2000 and consists mainly of a US Tour from 1999 on, if my eyes serve me correctly, AVAIL’s tour bus! There’s some real snappy editing here. Then there’s some rehearsal footage from Phil’s practice room in Warminster before the band head off to France, Yugoslavia and Poland. Somewhere in there is some cracking vintage footage too. The footage then goes Down Under and back to 1996 for shows in Australia and New Zealand including a show in Auckland. One of the highlights of the whole disc is a live take on ‘Nite Club’ by THE SPECIALS that rounds this off.
Extras are bountiful too. There are 10 full live songs recorded at the likes of Camden Underworld, Gilman Street, Tuscon, a Florida show that on about 12 people seem to be at and a raging show at Corona, CA that has another slaying version of ‘Meltdown’ and heaps of slamdiving going on. It’s then all rounded out with trailers, a BBC Radio One interview that sees Dick and Jasper make some very ordinary questions sound interesting.
It’s quite amazing that, considering this spans over ten years, the band is still as passionate about what it does as ever - and that doesn’t take into consideration SUBHUMANS shows either. This really is what Punk Rock is all about - the band does what it does without any manager or big-time booking agent. Dick’s vocal sounds better than ever on the 2007 stuff and, as a person, he remains (as does the rest of the band) as down to earth as ever. Be you a seasoned FISHer, or new to the band, this makes for a candid behind-the-scenes look at the band without being weighted down with unnecessary filler. (02.07.09)