  A little over a week ago, I was fortunate enough to catch a screening of the powerful and fascinating documentary DiG! at the Seattle International Film Festival. Director Ondi Timoner set out to document a supposed mid-90s musical revolution, led by the Brian Jonestown Massacre and their ultra-talented, but seriously troubled leader Anton Newcombe. Why was Newcombe and his brand of garage rock going change the world? Because he said so. But Newcombe needed accomplices and he allowed Timoner to witness history in the making.
Also along for the ride was the promising Portland band The Dandy Warhols, hand-picked by Newcombe to complement his coronation as a ruler of rock. Both bands were going to make rock and roll fresh again by invoking the sounds of their musical idols. Neither band was shy about naming their influences. Hell, there influences were in their titles. The BJM wanted to hearken back to the days of the nihilism and rock and roll debauchery of the Rolling Stones (Brian Jones was the original rhythm guitarist for the Stones and the BJM named an LP Their Satanic Majesties Second Request ) and anyone who drew the conclusion that the Dandy Warhols were a poppier revivalist of the always hip Velvet Underground would not be mistaken. If anyone thinks this sounds a little too much like the White Stripes and the Strokes, keep in mind that Jack White never let heroin fuck things up. As Dandy's frontman and Dig! narrator Courtney Taylor points out during the opening that Newcombe was his one of his musical heroes and inspirations, but their friendship turned into his biggest regret.
How this becomes is exactly what makes DiG! such a fascinating study in the internal dynamics of two similar bands whose careers faced two diametrically different trajectories once they met. Taylor concedes in the beginning that Newcombe is the stronger songwriter of the two - and he probably is. But Newcombe is also a junkie. Miranda Lee Richards, an accomplished singer/songwriter and one of about fifty former members of the BJM, points out tellingly that most rock stars waited until they got famous before becoming problem drug users. At the beginning of their friendship (circa 1995 or 96), Newcombe relocates the BJM from San Francisco to Portland, but the Dandys not amused: they foresaw numerous problems. Of course they were right. Newcombe spiralled further and further out of control - at his lowest point he kicks a concert-goer in the face for saying that his ex-girlfriend (who opened the show) was a better performer than Newcombe (something to keep in mind next time a musician asks the audience to come in closer to the stage).
He is also filmed punching and berating his fellow band members. As a sort of public intervention for their friend, Taylor wrote a song titled "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" (chorus: "I never thought you'd be a junkie / because heroin is so passe"). It was supposed to be the Dandys' breakthrough hit as Capitol Records planned to promote it heavily and hired the famous celebrity photographer David LaChappelle to direct the video. Newcombe responded by releasing a single titled "Not If You Were the Last Dandy On Earth" and hands out copies to audience members outside a Warhols show, taunting Taylor and company in the process.
Newcombe is obviously jealous and resentful of the Dandys' success as it seems as though for everything negative that happened to the BJM is followed by something positive for the Dandys. After Newcombe (and Timoner) are arrested in Georgia for heroin possession, the Dandys are searched for French authorities for marijuana.
They have it, but long arm of the French law let them off by paying a fine of a few Dandy Warhols t-shirts (and even let them keep their weed). Shortly after the Warhols signed to Capitol Records, Newcombe fucked up the chance to sign with a major and was forced to sign with an indie (and their band manager sent tamborine player Joel Gion to dot the i's and cross the t's - the often volatile Newcombe was too much of a wildcard to be trusted).
Anyone who ever wondered why Pearl Jam and the Clash had longer careers in the music biz than Nirvana and the Sex Pistols (excluding the Pistol's various embarrassing reunion tours) would be have their questions answered by DiG! The Dandy Warhols were never hugely popular (although they were more successful in Europe) and always had trouble maintaining their artistic integrity after signing with Capitol. As we all know, the garage rock revolution Newcombe dreamed of did occur (albeit eight years later), but he was left on the sideline watching, as there were few people he has yet to piss off. He is probably working a song called "Not if You Were the Last Stroke on Earth.
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