You may have missed this the first time around, because who the hell watches Fuse? But last spring, the music video network took a break from airing badly-censored versions of shitty movies and provided a decent reason to tune in: NOFX: Backstage Passport. The eight-episode tour documentary chronicled what the band thinks may have been its last extensive world tour. Their rationale? As NOFX passes the quarter-century mark and its members approach middle age with families to support, they might not have many chances to give remote locations on planet Earth a good punking – much less document the experience.
The result: several hours of entertaining shenanigans and an interesting look into the life of a band on a world tour. Sure, we all have ideas about cramped trailers and smelly bandmates – but what happens when your band plays for several thousand people in China, but the promoter tells you the nation's widespread counterfeiting problem makes it impossible to discern how much money he owes you? How about a promoter in Peru that secures a vacant lot for an outdoor show, but no power, water, food, bathrooms, or permits? Then the police show up and practically hold your band hostage! Watch Kent, NOFX's tour manager and the absolute highlight of the series, deal with such crises while getting fifteen different kinds of drunk – all while bandmembers snort strange green drugs in Singapore and videochat with their families.
Tour documentaries and live DVDs are usually "for fans only" affairs – but you don't even have to be a punk rocker, much less a NOFX fan, to appreciate this.
NOFX: Backstage Passport hits stores on March 17. Don't tell Fuse, but you can watch pretty much the entire series on YouTube. See a clip after the jump.
This article appears in Jan 21-27, 2009.