Chris DeLine

Punk fans without a television, cable, and specifically the Fuse channel (who also haven’t heard of torrents) have reason to rejoice as Fat Wreck Chords has now released the entire series of NOFX’s Backstage Passport on DVD. For those unfamiliar with the show, it’s a documentary capturing the band’s world tour—the catch being that the band only played locations slightly off the grid. Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, South Africa, South Korea, Peru, Israel… you get the idea.

Aside from the majestic scenery, the most appealing aspect of the series is the insight into the personal lives of the band, something that, from a fan’s perspective, is cool to see since it really hasn’t been detailed in such a way before. Accounts of Erik “Smelly” Sandin’s heroin addiction, “Fat” Mike Burkett’s separation anxiety from his young daughter, Aaron “El Hefe” Abeyta’s love for Hostess treats; you know, personal stuff.

The DVD is packaged with a bonus disc that includes a few cool moments cast amongst an excessive number of clips showing Kent, the band’s tour manager, getting drunk. One such story surrounds El Hefe’s introduction to the band, recalling his decision to jump ship from the Mark Curry Band prior to the group’s major label deal (subsequently touring with the likes of Lenny Kravitz and the Rolling Stones). That leads into a story of how then-guitarist Steve Kidwiller left the band to pursue a career with a metal group because “that’s where the money was.” They group joked about it, adding that “a few months later Nevermind was released”… and we know how things went from there.

One of the group’s attributes is the glowing character that each of the band members has. They could easily carry this as an ongoing series, even if it only captured day to day events and shenanigans at the Fat Wreck Chords’ headquarters. I’d watch it… if I had a TV… and cable… and Fuse.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]