Sunday, July 02, 2006

Nirvana - Live! Tonight! Sold Out!

My dad used to call me a bloody anti. He meant that I was a contrary little bleeder. Nirvana's 1994 VHS release Live! Tonight! Sold Out! is a masterclass in bloody anti behaviour, from the title on down. This 83 minute film documents their discomfort at "selling out" by which they seem to mean simply becoming successful. They are repeatedly shown claiming that the music is all that matters, yet a large percentage of the video's running time is taken up with extra-musical matters, and the music itself is edited in such a way as to preclude the normal enjoyment one might find in watching a performance by a favourite group. This is fine with me. Unlike most music videos or DVDs, I was not itching to switch off after ten minutes. I was fairly gripped in fact, and when I wasn't gripped, I was transfixed by a strange squirming embarrassment. There is no doubt in my mind that here was a brilliant, brilliant group, and this video does a great job of putting them in context, without spin or gloss. Television appearances are shown with the original incongruous presenters' claptrap (Jonathan Ross is a prize twat), and the original on-screen text, all of which helps to expose the absurdity of the whole circus without allowing the film to become a morose reflection on the perils of popularity. Some of the attempts to sidestep the mechansims of fame (singing in a funny voice, miming with no attempt to suspend disbelief) presage the coming of Robbie Williams, a performer whose refusal to take himself seriously has done nothing to slow down his global ascendance. There are hardly any glimpses of "the real Kurt" (unless on stage lost-in-music counts). The best bit by far is when a bouncer tries to beat Kurt up after he takes a lunge at him with his guitar whilst crowd-surfing. One telling interview clip trots out the old "we're not interested in the business side of things" line of evasion, before Kurt pipes up with "but you have to take an interest, otherwise people will take adavantage of you". So I suppose that is the difference. In the olden days, pop stars didn't mind being taken adavantage of, until it was too late. This enabled Joe Brown and the Bruvvers to develop unhindered, whereas now we have a fight, with pop stars dissipating their energy by becoming food critics or whatever they need to assuage their falling star, or rather their star that never quite comes into being, forever reamianing a ball of gas. The glory is gone, and here you can see it being flushed down the toilet.

4 comments:

Keith said...

I was trying to think about who has actually sold out... Presuming that 'selling out' means something along the lines of ditching what you actually like in order to make money.

I'm kind of struggling. Obviously, it's a judgement call anyway, cause you don't know whether making money was part of their principles in the first place, but even with that in mind, I can't think of anyone who fits this bill.

PJ Miller said...

I do not mean to give the impression that I disapprove of "selling out", merely that said practice seems to be the theme of this film.

One of the things they talk about is doing big "arena" concerts when they much prefer smaller gigs. I suppose that is sort fo selling out, in their minds at least. And in mine, let's face it. I hate concerts with big telly screens. This minor disgruntlement will be the basis of my Wireless Festival piece, if I ever do it.

Keith said...

I didn't mean to give that impression either... Just that it's something that a lot of musicians over the years have given a lot of thought to, and it got me thinking that I couldn't think of anyone who has kind of obviously sold out, so maybe musicians ought to quit wasting brain cells on it.

Actually, I think I'm quite a fan of selling out. If, say like the Clash, that the sum total of your not selling out is not to go on Top of the Pops, then it doesn't sound like a major victory.

I've never been to a concert with big tellies, though I quite like big tellies.

LottieP said...

Aw, it's just posturing isn't it, pretending you want street credibility above all? The Sex Pistols' reunion tour tells you everything you need to know about this.

Also interesting, perhaps, is the list of people who have sold in. Kylie comes to mind, when she dropped her SAW rubbish and attempted to become trendy by recording with Nick Cave. Unfortunately it's usually just a sign that you can't sell any more records. So she put on gold hotpants and sold out again.

Can this be what Wet Wet Wet were referring to with their seminal album, and certainly contender for Worst Album Title of All Time, "Popped In, Souled Out?"