Movie Details
| Title: | The Decline of Western Civilization | |
| Director: | Penelope Spheeris | |
| Year: | 1981 | |
| Genre: | Documentary | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 04.06.24 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (3)
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part III
- Suburbia
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 04.06.24 | Internet | I'm reading through John Doe's books documenting LA's punk history and it's got me listening to a lot of music and queue-ing up some docs on the subject to watch. Might as well start with the best. My first concert was Lollapalooza 1992. It was almost too good to be true. I was a massive Red Hot Chili Peppers fan at the time, along with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and Ministry, mostly thanks to being friends with my neighbor Camron. I can't be sure but I think a lot of his musical tastes came from his stepdad Lionel who seemed to be plugged into the DC music scene since forever. So we all went as a group and it was great. There's even footage on youtube of Pearl Jam's set. I remember they made us all scream "Eddie where the fuck are you?" or something like that because he was nowhere to be found but when he finally came on, Chris Cornell came out and they played a Temple of the Dog song. Later on I was watching an episode of Headbanger's Ball and Lonn Friend had a segment where he said Vedder was actually stuck in traffic or something and had to ditch his car and run to the venue and that was why he was late. And he was so winded that they played that Temple of the Dog song to give him a breather, which apparently was not part of the usual setlist for that tour. So that was cool! You can watch it here (although I don't see myself anywhere in the crowd... except like a 1% chance that's my head blocking frame at 40:55) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKYMeZh0FM0 ). I digress. While we were waiting for the Chili Peppers to take the stage - that excruciating time in the show where the crew is changing the stage but you can't really move or you'll give up your spot for the headliner - Lionel took note of one of the songs that they played while we waited. It was Beef Bologna by a band called FEAR . He seemed very impressed that they should play such a song (The only other time I remember him being so energized after a show was when Helmet played a cover of Killing Joke's Primitive off their first album. Helmet actually recorded that and it's on a b-side of one of their singles. Very close to the original, another digression). So later on I went looking for this band FEAR and this song Beef Bologna. All I could find is a live album called "Live... for The Record" so I bought it and then I liked FEAR. I was always looking for "The Record" like those were the official versons of the songs but now, looking back, I'm so glad I got the live album instead. The studio recordings are alright (now that everything in the history of music is readily available things like going to the record store and living with what they have is less of an issue) but the true energy and vibe of that band (and all of their peers) lives with live performances. Sometime around then, Camron and I rented this movie. I think it was to watch FEAR play but I remember another selling point (Camron had seen it before) was when the movie puts lyrics on the screen and how funny it was that some of the singers barely sang anything. The movie didn't mention that the guy who was too loaded to sing died of an overdose months after the footage was shot. In any case, watching the movie made some indelible mark as plenty of other stuff did during that period. Movies I watched on cable around then, music I listened to... all of it is burned pretty vibrantly on my psyche, to the point where even though it's been 30-ish years since I've last seen this, I remembered it pretty well. At least the interview snippets and general vibe; I did not remember who many of the other, non-FEAR, bands were because I hadn't heard of them then. the quiet guitar player saying he's punched a lot of women had yet to resurface as Nirvana's second guitar player, much less join the Foo Fighters. I had not yet seen Roadside Prophets or Boogie Nights or any of the other movies that John Doe's appeared in to recognize him here. I had definitely seen Clue but I'm not sure I'd connected the dots on Lee Ving yet. Well, now that I've read Doe's first book, I recognize EVERYONE. It's like the book is an unofficial companion for this film (or vice versa). All the clubs, the bands, pre-Rollins Black Flag, Claude Bessy, Alice Bag, Brendan Mullin, Chris D. They all pop up here. It's not a complete catalog (the book mentions a ton of bands) but all the people in this movie are also in the book. So in that regard it's a perfect companion. Have my feelings changed on the movie watching it again after so many years and with Doe's book fresh on my mind? Definitely. For one, I liked the music more. It feels much less like a gag or judgement on the scene (something I'd always thought was the title digging at the subjects which I think proves more true of part 2. Aside from The Germs' on-screen lyrics I feel this is a pretty straight-forward and judgement-free document, and now knowing the full context of Spheris' career with Suburbia and Dudes and the third Decline movie, this feels much more sympathetic). Mostly this felt like a great documentary. If you like the music then it's great and if you don't like the music then the crowd and performers are interesting to study and scratch your head at. It doesn't 100% rely on performances like Urgh! so you get some down time with most of the bands... more than a Wattstax or Woodstock, but the performances are also well captured. it's good i liked it a lot! |
