NOFX: Backstage Passport[DVD]

Wed 10th Jun, 2009 in Music Reviews

What happens when you are part of the world’s biggest independent punk band and you get sick of playing the same old predictable shows? You take your middle-aged ass and a camera to the countries other bands fear to tread, of course. The end result is an eight-episode documentary called NOFX: Backstage Passport.

You can’t go past the theme song, which was penned by the band themselves:

“We’re NOFX, screwing up since 1983
These days we’ve got mortgages and families
So we’re going on a sketchy tour
No country is too obscure
We’re going to drink and golf and fight and snort
We’re NOFX, this is Backstage Passport.”

Fat Mike makes it clear that they’re fed up with the same old boring shows and want the return of their early days, when punk rock shows were chaotic and fresh. So they set off to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Columbia, China, Tokyo and Israel amongst others.

It all begins quite swimmingly with Fat Mike and Eric Melvin and jack-of-all-trades Kent planning the tour from the safety of Fat Wreck Chords headquarters. After getting an insight into the band’s home lives, each member starts to pack. Fat Mike’s expedition into his medicine cabinet and El Hefe’s peculiar eating habits are showcased as each member’s pre-tour rituals (not to discount Smelly’s head-shaving ceremony). Arriving in Brazil, tour and band manager Kent is suitably intoxicated and unable to stand up outside the hotel. Is there any other way to start a punk rock tour?

While their music is featured throughout the series, it is obvious that this wasn’t created to showcase their live recordings. Some of the most interesting viewing is watching the band and crew intermingle and the activities that they partake in together. Seeing Melvin wander down the street in Bali handing out fliers for a NOFX show is something any fan could only dream of encountering on our city streets.

It is almost impossible not to feel sorry for them each time they get screwed over in these obscure countries. They come across as the most likeable gents. The first documented look into their personal lives almost changes them from just being the band you’ve known (and listened to) for decades, to the older brothers who taught you all about punk-rock and how to master it (even if that is badly).

Without an episode-by-episode synopsis or wanting to spoil the viewing pleasure, the whole series is full of hilarity. Some highlights include Kent absolutely plastered on a train to Moscow, Fat Mike cruising around Israel in a Bad Religion shirt, the comedy of errors that arise for the show in Peru, Fat Mike smashing a bass on Melvin’s head, lines of green dragon in Singapore which included a hug counter and an S&M club in Tokyo. The second disc of extra footage is quite interesting when you are not watching Kent stumble around exotic places absolutely plastered. Some interesting back-stories are also told, like how El Hefe came to be a member of NOFX.

As Fat Mike says in Singapore: “I feel photosynthesis.” The relevance of this quote to this review is non-existent, but it was extremely laugh-worthy, like a lot of the documentary. As a huge fan of the band, a mere couple of hours of footage taught me things that I would probably never have known about each individual and the NOFX organisation as a whole. This series is worth a watch for any fan of the band – no matter how big or small.

NOFX: Backstage Passport is out now on Fat Wreck Records through Shock.