NOFX: Backstage Passport

NOFX: Backstage Passport is a documentary series that was shown on the music network Fuse about NOFX's 2008 world tour.[1] The show documents the stops on the tour and the band's reaction to various events. The creation of the show was noteworthy due to the band's often noted disdain for the media, including music television. The show was originally to be titled NOFX: Punk Rock Passport, but the band had issues with Fuse who claimed "the title would scare people away." Along with the show's title being changed, the band had numerous other issues including the company attempting to fabricate story lines that were non-existent or completely untrue. Fat Mike in an interview with Studio Q on CBC stated that the three months editing the show were the worst three months of his life.[2]

NOFX Backstage Passport
StarringFat Mike
Eric Melvin
El Hefe
Erik Sandin
Opening theme"Backstage Passport"
by NOFX
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes8
Production
Running time30 minutes
(with commercials)
Release
Original networkFuse
Original releaseApril 15, 2008 (2008-04-15) –
2008 (2008)
External links
Website

NOFX: Backstage Passport was released on DVD on March 17, 2009.[3]

In August 2012 in an interview with El Hefe at SRH Festival, it was announced that there would be a season two of NOFX: Backstage Passport.[4] Fat Mike had previously announced it via his Twitter account.[5] NOFX: Backstage Passport 2 was released on August 21, 2015. The 2-disk DVD will not be in the same series-like episode format as initial announcements hinted towards, however, it will feature a full-length documentary of shows performed in Mexico, Peru and Colombia, filmed over a 4-year period. The second disk will feature bonus material including outtakes and deleted scenes from the first series in Australia and Eastern Europe [6]

Episodes

Episode 1

The episode begins with the band planning to play in countries where punk rock bands usually don't play. They explain that their manager, Kent, has had a horrible time booking the tour and that they're hoping not to get "killed or kidnapped." Each band member makes preparations to leave: Fat Mike says goodbye to his wife and daughter, Eric Melvin practices the accordion, Smelly shaves his head with his wife, and El Hefe packs junk food to take on the trip.

The band's first stop on the tour, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, goes horribly when Kent shows up at their hotel drunk. In Porto Alegre, Melvin's guitar broke half way through the band's set. Instead of fixing his guitar, however, he spends 10 minutes fixing his tuner, and the crowd turns on the band. The next stop, Medellín, Colombia, goes even worse. The venue the band was set to perform at had no idea of the show, so the show was canceled. In response, their Colombian promoter, Santiago, began receiving death threats, forcing the band to leave the country as soon as possible.

However, things improve when the band plays a "crazy, punk show" in Santiago, Chile. Wild fans jump off the second level balcony and jump on stage. One fan even grabs El Hefe in a headlock during the middle of a song. The band was pleased and their spirits were rekindled.

Episode 2

The tour continues to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where the band plays on tennis courts that were rented out by "rich kids who basically wanted NOFX to play at their country club." At the next stop, Buenos Aires, Argentina, the band plays a great show and wants to do an encore, but the manager of the club they are playing at won't let them, irritating the band immensely.

One of the band's crew members, Carlos, attempts to contact their Peruvian promoter, Yolanda, about their upcoming show in Peru, but fails. He informs the band that Yolanda believes that NOFX plays shows in low-quality venues like they did in the 1980s, and El Hefe muses that he thinks "they're gonna get screwed in Peru." The band arrives in Peru and they meet Yolanda for the first time. She proves to be an incompetent promoter when she fails to honor the band's requests or follow their directions. As the band departs for the hotel, Fat Mike warns the crew, who are headed to the venue, to "be nice."

When the crew arrives at the venue, they find that it is a 6-acre (24,000 m2) plot of dirt and gravel with a fence around it. The venue lacks food, water, a backstage, or even electricity. As the crew set up and wonder "how [this could] get any worse", Peruvian police show up and inform them that they don't have the permits to perform at the venue. Kent and the crew attempt to contact Yolanda, but she doesn't pick up her phone or leave any clues as to where she is.

While the band is out to dinner, the fans start to show up at the venue. Riot police arrive and place the site on lock-down: The crew can't leave, and the fans can't get in. Carlos texts Kent and explains the situation, so Kent heads to the venue to attempt to rescue the crew. Jay, the band's drum technician, finds a man with a flatbed truck at the site, and bribes him to "smuggle the crew out of the venue." The crew load up their equipment and lay down flat in the back of the truck. As the truck driver begins to drive away, one of the riot police jumps on the side of the truck and sees the crew, but falls off, and the crew manages to escape.

The crew is checking into the hotel when Yolanda shows up. Jay, who is extremely irritated, exclaims that "if [she] had shown up earlier, I would've strangled [her]." The band calls Yolanda a liar and labels the whole trip as a flop. The next day, as they begin to depart for their next location, a few hundred fans show up at the hotel cheering for NOFX. Looking to appease the fans, Fat Mike finds an acoustic guitar and plays an acoustic version of "Franco Un-American." The fans are delighted and Mike says that he has never done anything like this before.

Episode 3

The band continues their world tour and heads to Japan where they hold a press conference and play their biggest headlining show ever. Afterwards, the crew and the band split up to enjoy themselves. The crew members (with the exception of Jay) are walking around when they come to a street corner with a woman who is vomiting, an intoxicated businessman, and two businessman fighting in a flower bed while one chats on his cell phone. The crew declares that "Japan is just like America now!" The band and Jay claim they're going to see the "real dark side of Japan" and head to an S&M bar called Osaka Jail. They watch the S&M show between two women and are enjoying a drink when the head mistress asks Fat Mike if he'd like to participate. He turns down the offer, but points to Jay and says "He'll do it." While the band members wince in horror as Jay is whipped and beaten, Jay simply smiles, laughs, and calls it "a good time."

Later, while the band is partying in one of the dressing rooms, Kent heads out to get work visas to travel to Singapore. He explains that he feels that the band doesn't understand what he has to go through for them, but they do appreciate him. When he distributes the work visas to the band and crew, they find a stamp inside declaring that illegal drug trafficking is punishable by death, which worries the band members.

After arriving in Singapore, there a miscommunication about having dinner, and El Hefe has gone missing. Kent explains wandering through Singapore to find him would be a bad idea, and Jay has to attempt to soothe the restless crowd at the venue. Finally, 5 minutes after the band is supposed to be on stage, El Hefe shows up, completely oblivious to the fact that he's extremely late. The band rushes to the venue as fast they can and make it to the show 15 minutes late.

That night, Fat Mike buys a green powdery substance from a drug dealer, and he snorts a line with Limo and Kent in their hotel room. All of them begin to experience hallucinations, and Fat Mike declares he's "never been so fucked up in his entire life." He calls Melvin's hotel room and asks Melvin for help, but Melvin ignores him. Fat Mike goes up to Melvin's room and begins knocking on the door, but Melvin continues to ignore him. Finally, feeling guilty, Melvin heads down to Fat Mike's room, and Mike explains to him that his current situation is similar to when Melvin smoked PCP in 1985. Limo encourages Melvin to try the powdery substance, much to Mike's chagrin, and Melvin does half a line while Mike declares "you just made the worst decision of your life."

See also

References
  1. "NOFX: Backstage Passport". Fuse TV. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  2. "Fat Mike on 25 years of Fat Wreck Chords". www.cbc.ca/. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  3. "Q & A | Read Answers". NOFX. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  4. "NOFX — SRH Fest 2012 Exclusive Interview". Action Recon. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  5. "NOFX Backstage Passport 2". Punknews.org. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  6. "NOFX – BACKSTAGE PASSPORT 2! Out August 21!". Fat Wreck Chords. 5 August 2015.
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