Various Artists - SpendAn Evening With SaddleCreek

Wed 31st Aug, 2005 in Music Reviews

Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek opens with a montage of shots around the industrial areas of Omaha, Nebraska. It’s a curious introduction.  It is signals to the viewer the origins of this story are firmly rooted in Omaha. You see within every local scene, certain bands, reviewers, music personalities take on a grave importance – one unique to that particular location, that only those that were a part of that time or place will ever truly understand. It is clear that Slowdown Virginia were an inspiration to the musicians of Omaha – filmmakers Jason Kulbel and Rob Walters stress the point, slicing together responses from numerous local musicians all stating the band’s name. Outside of Omaha, they may very well be nobodies. Founders of Saddle Creek Records, Robb Nansel and Justin Oberst ensured their friends, and the vibrant music scene they loved, extended beyond the local fame attributed to “Slowdown”. Home to the likes of Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Azure Ray and Rilo Kiley, Saddle Creek Records grew from a couple of childhood friends distributing cassette tapes of a teenage singer/songwriter, to a well respected independent music label known worldwide for the quality of the musicians on their roster. 

Following in the footsteps of many rock documentaries, Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek is a film largely driven by interview – it is left to the label’s founders and musicians to tell the story, with these scenes complimented by live footage of the likes of Bright Eyes, The Faint and Cursive (just to name a few), home videos, and a heap of still photography from label’s archive. Filmmakers Jason Kulbel and Rob Walters are no strangers to the Saddle Creek label.  Both have played a role in the organisation at some point – Jason being one of the label’s first employees, and it is clear that they share the affinity towards Saddle Creek exhibited by the owners and musicians involved. This involvement obviously has its benefits for the film – the bands and label staff appear comfortable on screen, being interviewed by one of their own, and we are given access to an archive footage and photography that otherwise may not be available.

Covering a wide variety of musical genres, the roster of Saddle Creek share a frustration with the limitations of conventional rock music. Home footage of The Faint working in the recording studio is intriguing – we see, and hear tracks from Blank Wave Arcade develop piece by piece, and witness explosive live footage of Cursive’s sonic assault on local audiences. Yet it is fans of Bright Eyes that will take most away from this film. Whilst the film focuses on the rise of Saddle Creek as a label, this ascent is entwined with the realisation of the raw talent spotted in Conor Oberst as a 13 year old. We see footage of Conor performing as a teen in rock group Norman Bailer, and hear catches of his early demos recorded. His development as a musician seems to mirror that of the label – from humble beginnings in his parent’s laundry recording on a four track, and distributing these songs on cassette, to becoming the first artist on the Saddle Creek roster to sell 100,000 records, as the reach of label extends further outside of Omaha, and eventually develops into one of the most vital independent outlets in the USA. 

Sadly, the film charts this rise with little drama. The film misses a vital opportunity to tell the story of Saddle Creek’s success in an engaging fashion to those new to the label – it should spend more time exploring the plight of D.I.Y. ethos in an industry dominated by large scale corporations, rather than briefly introducing to a number of the label’s talent in sections that are too short to provide any real insight for fans (see Rilo Kiley, Azure Ray, The Good Life).  The film ultimately lacks that outside perspective – the brutal honesty evident in Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster, that allowed those who weren’t Metallica fans to embrace the film. Granted the disc is a different beast entirely – and as a celebration of Saddle Creek Records the film is successful, working to showcase of the multitude of talent on the roster. The 72 minutes of included extras – including a live Bright Eyes performance from 1998, extended interviews and live performances from a number of the label’s stars – is comprehensive, and makes Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek a vital purchase for fans of any of the acts involved.