Customer Reviews

You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-84

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this one on a whim while parusing through the musical docs at Newbury Comics, and having gained some interest in what Chicago was up to after reading some of the literature on the topic (Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, American Hardcore (Second Edition): A Tribal History). I had not heard about this documentary coming out and was kind of excited to see one that wasn't just reiterating the overwhelming opinion that the only good music from the period came out of NYC and LA.

Having watched it, I give it three stars. "Decent, but not great."

Why?

Let's start with the positives.

The interviews were pretty great, Albini is as usual highly quotable (albiet incredibly irritating, so the story about him getting dropped on his head is hilarious for anyone who's ever had the desire to do so themselves to the much-lauded/hated personality)and Vic Bondi of Articles of Faith was also well spoken. It was kind of funny to see that old local rivalries (i.e. between Articles of Faith and The Effigies) apparently still exist for some reason, as Bondi and his counterpart in the Effegies John Kezdy made some Bird/Johnson style jabs at each other during their respective interview segments. Old habits die hard apparently.
I was glad to see that the doc also covered a lot of the lesser known earlier era of punk rock from the city (pre-1980, therefore pre-hardcore), and spent some time on similarly lesser known groups (the pre-teen hardcore band Verboten was especially interesting to see, as usually groups of that age range didn't survive to put out records). Good times. We also get some of the early history of Touch and Go, and as with most hardcore or punk docs the live footage is pretty intense and enjoyable.

Now the bad news:
As seems to ALWAYS happen with these docs (and I especially note the Punk rock docs for this, although the 60s rock docs do it too to some extent), the story ends with a bunch of balding 50 year old men bemoaning that "no one who gets into this stuff now will ever understand it" and that "it's dead and everything new is garbage blah blah blah". It is a very uninteresting and narrow minded perspective for a scene that was supposedly about "no rules", and to quote Mike Watt from his own doc We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (worth checking out, BTW), "You can't help when you were born, and what you are into. Some people were born before, some after, some during." Needless to say, after hearing about how exciting it all was, it's a real downer at the end of the doc to hear them all talking this way and essentially discouraging anyone with an interest in the music to continue in their footsteps in any way whatsoever.
In a related problem, the doc also does end too soon in the timeline, IMO, as echoed by another reviewer. Things stop at about 1984 or so when hardcore ran out of steam (i.e. when all the actually interesting music started to pick up from the remnants, i.e. later Big Black and so on) which seems to miss a lot of the cool things musically that happened in the city later on. No good.

All of this being said, if you want a cursory overview of the Chicago underground rock scene from this period, You Weren't There is probably worth the viewing. Maybe on Netflix rather than purchasing (although the packing and included booklet is nicely put together) as I imagine mine probably won't be watched again any time soon. For those who want to learn more, the abovementioned books are great and of course, most of the records live on today on CD at your local indie record store.

Movie's great for anyone interested in punk rock history, especially if you come from the midwest. At times the people spotlighted can seem a little immature as they vent their still fuming feuds on camera but the information passed on makes up for it. Bonus features rule! And are hilarious!

This is where it all began as far as Chicago punk goes. I think that they did the best job possible. If you like punk and if you are from Chicago buy it. This is for real, the people interviewed I have seen at punk concerts. If you are not from Chicago buy it as well. It will give you a different view from a different city.

The most appealing thing about punk/hardcore to me, aside from the aggression, is its never ending supply of scenes. Seventeen years after discovering punk I still find myself saying "_____ had a scene? Get outta town!". It's interesting to see how different locations interpreted the music. Like petri dishes, no two scenes were the same after the seeds had been planted. Chicago has always seemed to have really taken the ball and run in a lot of different directions...from the Mentally Ill to Naked Raygun, there was a lot of variety. This is how a punk documentary should be done(I'm looking at you American Hardcore). Concentrating on one town makes it easier to hit all the important, and notable unimportant, bands that came up.

You Weren't There covers how the bands came to be, where they played, how '77 style punk fell into hardcore, strong personalities/egos clashed, everyone hated Albini, he still doesn't care etc. The filmmakers do a great job in picking non musicians to give even greater insight. It's a well made documentary that ties everything and everyone in that time and place together very well. Rare and early footage of all bands (only Mentally Ill footage I've ever seen) in great abundance should be a sell for most. Watch this film if you have even a passing interest in any of the bands, or punk/hardcore at all.


.....but stop the DVD when you see "Punk Rock Today" title segment pop up on your screen. I agree with previous reviewer SteveBailey here. It's obvious that none of these guys (and girl) have any idea where punk and hardcore are today. For people who seemed so open minded earlier in the film, that only applies to "their" time and place. I honestly think they get there impressions from mall punk and have no idea about underground music at all anymore. They complain about it being all fashion yada yada yada, and it's just so bitter and depressing. They sound like my father talking about the sixties. What makes me mad about most of the "You'll never get it." "Get your own scene." comments is that many of these guys here whom don't like today's kids still sell their music to them. Grumpy old punkers would make a great documentary though. It could feature a fight between Albini and Bondi. That would sell!

I purchased this DVD after viewing this on the Documentary Channel.This is a wonderful companion to American Hardcore-The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986,The Filth And The Fury,and The Decline Of Western Civilization,and provides the missing link to complete the punk rock puzzle. I highly recommend this to anyone who lived during that time,historians of music and pop culture,younger music fans that want to learn about what went on in the 1970s and early 80s other than disco.These are some of the groups featured:Naked Raygun,the Effigies,Strike Under,Big Black,Articles Of Faith,Silver Abuse,Mentally Ill, Subverts,Negative Element,Tutu & the Pirates,DA,Rights of the Accused,Savage Beliefs,End Result,and more.The bonus features are must viewing! All in all,an excellent feature on a forgotten punk scene,and I give it 5 stars.

Growing up in rural Illinois about 50 miles south of Chicago, this was a neat expose of a scene I barely knew. I was 14 in 1984 and Naked Raygun was really the only band whose music had come my way through badly dubbed mixtapes that included better known bands from the coasts like Black Flag and Ramones, until I took a trip to Wax Trax in Chicago to pick up some vinyl. But trips to Chicago was rare to me. By the time I had left IL for AZ in 1988 I had heard a few names like The Effigies and Big Black, but it would be years later until I had heard of Articles of Faith. Naked Raygun continued to be one of my favorite bands of all times, so it was nice to know about all these bands that came before and during the NR era. The video footage of punk performances vary in quality, so it's best to bet that there wasnt much to choose from. The quality is good enough to allow many songs to be shown in their entirity. Some of the OZ footage appeared to be overdubbed by the actual mastered recordings from the Busted at Oz album, which was smart as it still displayed a raw live quality that was very audible.
The interviews of the various "where are they now?" participants in the early scene are entertaining and compelling. I am not sure when the filmmakers actually conducted these interviews, but may actually look too young to had been there, so I guess most Chicago punks keep their age well. The interview segments of the Rights of the Accused singer are priceless and you can tell he is a sincerely funny guy and a riot to hang out with. In fact, all interview segments come off sincere and comfortable, even behind some of the aforementioned attitudes and moaning of current fads and past rivalries.
Some things that were missing. 1. Although they talked alot of La Mere Vipere, I found it interesting that they left out the fact that in 1977 it was the only 7 night a week punk club in the U.S. Which makes for a very interesting dynamic that I was left to conclude myself knowing that tidbit of info, which is while they had the only 100% punk club, they only had 2-3 bands in the whole scene at the time. Chicago in 1977 was more of a punk dance/club scene rather than a concert scene like New York. 2. Knowing somewhat about punk history, I went into watching this knowing that the first two Chicago Punk bands were The Crucified and TuTu and The Pirates. There is absoltely no mention of The Crucified. I wonder if there is a back story why because they DID record and their first EP goes for megabucks on eBay. 3. The amount of good studio quality music is lacking here, leaving most of teh soundtrack to recordings found from old video footage. This could be due to budget and licensing issues. 4. Alot of families were involved in the chicago punk scene (The Pezzattis, the Kezdys, the Haggertys, the Bjorklunds, the Steppes). Again, another interesting dynamic that could be explored deeper.
Yes, the movie stops at 1984. I actually dig that as it makes the film more focused than most other scene documenatries. In fact, the music doesnt even mention that Steve Albini is world reknowned and sought after music producer, as well as, during the sub-titles of those inetrviews, the sub-titles only mentioned the bands they played for during that period (So it doesnt say anything about Pegboy under the names of Haggerty and Kezdy.
Recommended for anyone looking for a deep look into a big city scene from the past)

I was glued to the set for this one, Yet still to me THIS like all the other PUNK docs seems to miss the point. Or maybe it gets it, it's either a documentary can NEVER be punk or to get capitalist funding for a punk doc you must take ALL THE PUNK OUT OF IT. I want folks to see this film and I dug it, I watched it all and all the extra's and learned a lot. Also folks who know nothing about the Chicago really get a treat as well as those who are drawn to this, and to me THAT is what makes a great doc. However though YES I was not there, I did grow up in Wheaton il, and did start bein punk and going to shows since 1985 in the burbs and Chicago. I of course felt it LAME for the filmmakers to stop where they did and leave out so many bands like, the plague-later naked raygun, life sentence, screeching weasel, I.d. under, political justice, the leeches, Bhopal stiffs, and so on. Even bigger on my poo list is that they like all the other punk documentary filmmakers yet again leave out the heart of scene, the politics! The music as stated by Ian mackaye was just a vehicle to express what they were thinking and feeling about, I could of used more perspective on the time- Reagan, the threat of nuclear war the end of the nuclear family. There was no mention of capitalism or imperialism or even how hard it was to think and ask questions and just be yourself back then, sure we got beat up but why, what was going on politically and socially the great communicator Reagan turning the WE generation into the me generation the climate of FEAR the strength thru superior fire power, so much of the reason for the movement was left out, the ideology was gutted, and Vic Bondi was made fun of. Anyway I think another one should be made, but I loved all the rights of the accused interviews they were one of my first shows and were AMAZING live I still have the set list from that show at dirty nellies!