Nutstock 3 DVD

Description

The release of this DVD is going to disappoint Quayle Smithers. He heard about the Official Souvenir DVD of Nutstock 3 with its cover, a knock-off of the Torch Marauder Live Concert DVD and since he wrote liner notes for that DVD he naturally figured he’d be cashing in and writing even more liner notes. Sadly, I have to leave him waiting by the phone. My apologies to Quayle, because I know how he misses a payday, but so much happened in the production of this DVD that I realized the hyperbole was better left to me. (Don’t worry “Q” there’s a review copy in it for ya!)

When you name your production company Problem*matic Video the video gods descend. They will do everything in their power to make the company live up to it’s name. An aging computer, beat up camera and a half baked idea about making a concert film added up to trouble and left a trail of tears, digital drop out, computer crashes, fried firewire cables, a borrowed external hard drive that fritzed out and the deaths of an assistant editor, a washed up Hollywood starlet and a computer mouse–the stuff of legend! All folly for video gods.

“Satisfy the niche market, always satisfy the niche market,” says Nut Music Chairman, Doug H. Nut. He never cares about the population of the niche market. If it’s a tiny percentage of the world population or 3 people, it makes no damn difference. In fact, I know he prefers as small a niche market as possible. I don’t know who’s paying Nut’s bills, but it can’t be coming from Nut Music profits.

It was over thirty years ago that Marty and Robby put aluminum foil on the windows and hunkered down to edit The Last Waltz, another concert movie. They turned the lights down, cranked the projector and went to work. I stumbled upstairs to a room shared with assistant editor Zoey Reimer, an old cat, who peed on the carpet as much as the litter box. Robby and Marty would break out the coke and cut a line and then cut some film and repeat the process, cutting and cutting their way to a finished movie.

For me it was cut, snap, break, cut some more, then computer crash, resuscitate, something else breaks, fry, fritz, snap, zap, cat meows, purrs, and licks as it all repeats. Zoey would stagger across the keyboard and meow when displeased with an edit. Her death made finishing the project a lonely task. And Anna Nicole Smith’s death, in the middle of editing, was another stunner despite her having absolutely nothing to do with the project. Eventually the cuts out numbered the computer flame outs. Although at this point Robby’s probably got kids driving around on ATVs and Marty doing commercials with Ellen and Tina Fey.

Sure it’s easy to highlight the misery. Believe me in the moment it was even worse than I can describe. But it was persistence and seeing great bands, people and piecing together performances that inspired me. The laughter, enthusiasm and visor of Dave Cantwell also took the drudgery out of the editing process. I agree, it took too damn long to get done. The only hope is that this falls into the better late than never category.

Huge thanks go to Tony R. Boies for his post production work. Without his heroic effort, we would have ended up with a typical limited VHS edition release with peeling labels and faded video. I knew the scale of Nutstock 3 with its historic birthday theme, Washington Post coverage, and fantastic band line-up etc … , required the best we could give it. Thanks also to Donny Haller, from Red Apple Channel 21, who generously offered suggestions and threw me a figurative life preserver that I fumbled! Thanks to early contributors Anne Gomez and Ed Gray. Your contributions made me realize you had faith in the project and valued it. And thanks to anyone or everyone else who has contributed or will in the future. We do stuff on the lowest budget possible but there are always some costs.
If you count carefully you may realize that not all 40 bands appear. Huge apologies to Tone Ghosting, Bozeman Simplex and Sisters of Morrissey unplugged! No band was left on the cutting room floor, but sadly our camera people did leave early the first night and blanked out mysteriously on the third day. At least this wasn’t as bad as the camera man who took LSD on the job when filming a Jimi Hendrix concert. And what about those spotlight stealers The Wusses. Well, even Marty and Robby would tell you that you have to build the whole movie around the dynamic and awe inspiring set of the Wusses. After all, they were the Sha Na Na of Nutstock 3.
Anyway, thanks for watching and most of all thanks for being there.

David Craig
Producer, The Official DVD Souvenir of Nutstock 3

Bands appearing:
Mike Tamburo – The Atrocity Exhibition – Kohoutek – Jakuta & Carl – Keenan Lawler -The Picture Is Dead – RDK -Ricketts 330 -TV John & The Legendary Band – Buckingham Palace: A Tribute To Lindsay Buckingham Solo – Spaceships Panic Orbit – Charlie McAlister – The Rex Morgan M.D. Trio – America’s Next Top Models – The Hope-Harveys – Alzo Boszormenyi & The Acid Achievers – The Butter Kings – Industrial Soldier – Finn McCool’s Inappropriate Comments -Cheap Heat – Soul Excursion – Cooter Scooter – The Wusses – Hotel Motel – Telefonics – The Rebel Heirs – The Groaning – Ethel Merman Overdrive – Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan – Brian: A Tribute To The Torch Marauder – Analogue -Slim McCoy – Donnie The Lion – Ed Gray – George Willard with Sweetpea Garfunkle – Jonny Cohen with Finn McCool