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DiG! featuring: Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Genesis P-Orridge, and Greg Shaw director: Ondi Timoner 108 minutes (15) 2004 widescreen ratio 16:9 Tartan DVD Region 2 retail RATING: 8/10 reviewed by Jim Steel |
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This is the story of two bands that start out as friends and end up as enemies. The Dandy
Warhols have had hits and airplay and will be the more familiar of the two. They produce a
fine stoner drone (this is not a criticism), which is ironic as they are the more clean-cut
of the two bands. They have a reasonably stable line-up and are run by the business-minded
Courtney Taylor. The other band is the Brian Jonestown Massacre (BMJ). Here they come: there's a guy who looks like John Lennon (Matt Hollywood), here's a guy who looks like Mike Nesmith (Anton Newcombe), and there's another guy who actually looks like Brian Jones (a short-lived drummer). Then there's Joel Gion, but we'll come back to Joel in a little while. Anton is the driving force behind the BMJ and throughout the film people are always talking about his genius. We get to hear a song that sounds like the Velvet Underground's Heroin, or Dylan's The Times They Are A Changing, but what we here most often is a familiar British 1960s' sound. Oasis is mentioned, without irony, more than once. Irony, it must be said, is largely absent from this film. Anton is, without doubt, very talented as his records will bear out, but he is not a genius. Geniuses produce something new. He is driven, though, and his band has released lots of quickly recorded albums on small labels. He is an artist, and we'll soon come to think of him as a capital A. Courtney also comes across as humourless, but at least he is not bloody-minded. However, he is very manipulative and is as least as much to blame for the fallout as Anton. But, to begin with, both bands are very close. They play on the same bills and frequently jam together in the early years. There is talk of them trying to start a movement, and Anton enthuses over their plans to build a studio together. However, they start to drift apart after the Dandys are signed to Capitol. For one photo-shoot, the Dandys decide to try for a low-life look. They achieve this by arriving at the BJM's house on the morning after it had held a party. Unannounced. The BJM are nonplussed to say the least. Then the Dandys write their first single for Capitol and Courtney plays a tape of it to Anton. Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth is a great song, but Anton doesn't react at all. The implication here is that Anton is jealous. However, soon after this we learn that the BMJ are heroin abusers. Given that Anton later releases a song called Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth, it is fairly safe to assume that he took the song as a personal slight. It should also be point out that 'Junkie' was not the Dandy's first Capitol. Ondi Timoner recorded thousands of hours of footage over seven years, and there are a few internal inconsistencies in the film necessitated by the need to insert a coherent narrative structure while keeping the finished film at a manageable length. The core of the film seems to be basically accurate, though. During this, the BJM have a showcase for a major label in Los Angeles' Viper Room. This is one of several big chances but it's a train wreck. The band can barely stand and Anton starts haranguing the audience and the record executives (he also happens to have one of the most annoying accents I have ever heard). Then a fight breaks out between band members on stage. It's a jaw-dropping sight. Because of such occurrences, we get used to seeing the BJM's managers developing a trademark thousand-yard stare as the film progresses. Courtney, meanwhile, is whining about the video for 'Junkie'. He got the director (a fashion photographer) that he requested, and Capitol spent $400,000 on it, but it makes them look like a pop group. The record fails to chart in America. They start to make waves in Europe, though, but the BJM can't even make it across America in a van without falling apart. So far it sounds like a two-hour trek through the lives of some fairly unpleasant people and, as entertaining as it all is, that is a fair description of a large part of the film. But there is a hidden gem in here and its name is Joel Gion. Joel is the tambourine player in the BJM. He reckons, early on, that he's been sacked dozens of times. Not the most essential member in the line-up? Oh no-o-o. Without Joel there would surely have been suicide or murder committed within the ranks of the BJM. He is one of life's natural stream-of-consciousness comedians and has a permanent grin plastered over his face. Your heart lifts every time he is on screen. It's his face you see on the DVD cover and, while he may not be a musician or a songwriter, he's the star. Unself-conscious and refreshingly lacking in ego, he's the reason you'd pick the BJM over the Dandys. When one of the BJM managers swings a deal with TVT in New York, he flies Joel over to meet the executives. Anton, they claim, has an ear infection and can't be present. Joel charms them and the contract is signed. Meanwhile, Anton is stalking the Dandys. They have to take out a restraining order while he sends them shotgun cartridges with their names written on them. The film ends around 2003 with the Dandys riding high. Their hook-heavy Bohemian Like You has stormed Europe through its use in a telephone commercial, they are selling shed-loads of records, and they are playing festivals in front of tens of thousands of fans. They've just built a studio and performance space with their royalties. The BJM, however, having wilfully wrecked the TVT deal a long time back, finally disintegrated for good (although see the end of the review). Even Joel has had enough and the grin has slipped from his face at last. Anton is touring small clubs, still fighting with audience members and still getting arrested. Weirdly, one senses that he is, beneath it all, happy: this is what he wants from life. The only rock star to be interviewed in the documentary, outside of the two bands, is Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle (misnamed Genesis P'Orridge in the film, for some reason). One gets the feeling that Timoner seized an opportunity after bumping into him at a gig, but nowhere is it mentioned that P-Orridge is a massive Brian Jones obsessive, which explains his interest in a band that appropriated Jones' name. All of the audio for the live footage is recorded on the camera mikes instead of being taken from the soundboard, so it isn't the greatest quality, but there are a lot of studio recording overdubs on much of the film. There are 33 minutes of additional footage, but aside from Joel demonstrating how to snort a Pixy Stick through its own straw, it doesn't add much in the way of entertainment. The lengthy interview with Ondi Timoner is pretty illuminating as she goes into the history and technical background of the film, and it is worth paying attention to. There are also trailers for The Devil And Daniel Johnston, Mayor Of The Sunset Strip, Ramones: End Of The Century, and Brothers Of The Head. It's a remarkable film, and one wonders how Timoner was allowed to release it as it stands. We can only assume that massive egos are blind. However, there is no doubt that it won't harm the record sales of either group. Since the film's release, the Dandy Warhols have started making inroads into the American top 100, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre have reformed and are touring and recording again. The best news of all is that Joel rejoined them recently.
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