Against Me!-We're Never Going Home
Fat
2004

These are the types of band DVDs that I like. Its not just a live set with camera angles. There's a story to go along with the music, which makes for one interesting watch. Jake Burghart really did a wonderful job with this film documenting Against Me!'s tour with Planes Mistaken for Stars and No Choice.

It didn't hurt that major labels were showing interest in Against Me! at the time of this DVD. I didn't get as much of the story as I was hoping, but it was still some pretty good stuff that showed the suits buying them drinks and tickets to a Cubs game (I might have signed just cause of that, as I am a die hard Cubs fan and drooled at the sight of Wrigley Field). In the end, as you know, they decided to stay with Fat, but it was really interesting to see the domino system of major labels touting them (one gets interested and others follow) as well as the opinions of both fans, some of the Fat Staff as well as other indie labels and a former band member on the topic.

Against Me! has a great and energetic live show, and this documents that. The crowds are all relatively the same: a bunch of kids watching them in awe, some singing along with their fists pumped. There wasn't much crowd movement in the form of moshing or circle pitting, which is something that took place when they played Providence. If you've never had the chance to see Against Me! live, pick this up and see what you've been missing out on.

The extras are okay, though not as long as I was hoping for. The tour of the Fat office is really brief and wasn't all that in depth, but it was still pretty cool. The extra live songs that they added were also really good, including a new song that I loved (they played that in Providence too).

As much as I like this, I ask myself if I'm ever going to watch this again. I thought that the Bouncing Souls documentary was incredible, but I've only watched it once. I've seen it and, unlike a movie, I don't think that there's anything that I'm going to all of a sudden noticed something that I skipped over the first time. Time will tell, though I highly suggest this to any fan of Against Me! or documentary filmmaking, as this really should raise the bar.

Written by: RF

BACK