Reviews

Band DVDs might as well be a dime a dozen, considering the general quality of what often amounts to tie-overs between albums. But atop that proverbial shit-heap is a gem courtesy of Fat Mike and company.

NOFX's Backstage Passport debuted in 2008 as a Fuse mini-series and now finds itself on a 2-disc DVD set with two and a half hours of bonus footage.

The set-up - after 25 years of performing in the United States, veteran punk act NOFX has been stricken with boredom. In an effort to battle it, the band books a tour around the world, to places both notable and obscure, all of them locations most bands don't bother traveling. Backstage Passport documents this tour.

Things go awry almost immediately in episode one of the eight-part series when NOFX arrives in South America to find its stressed tour manager absolutely shit faced. Then they face equipment problems and death threats.

The story goes like this from here on out, with its highs and lows. It works so well because it has absolutely everything. Of course there is the great music of NOFX, but also exotic locations, interesting people (to say the least), dire circumstances and a seemingly all-access look into every aspect of it, including some of the vulnerable moments members of the band experience.

The bonus material is hit and miss. Certain scenes, such as a performance Fat Mike does in a hotel lobby after the show gets canceled, are priceless. Others only serve to show that the editor was doing his job when the series was created. Still, the core material is so good and conducive to multiple viewings that the quality of these deleted scenes is hardly a concern.

NOFX's Backstage Passport is far and away one of the best "Band DVDs" I have ever seen.