The Bad Brains were co-headlining the second proper gig I saw, playing with Fishbone at the Glasgow Barrowlands in 1993. Sadly H.R. was not with them that night with vocals from Israel Joseph instead. It was still mind-blowing but I would have loved to see them with H.R. at their peak.
Bad Brains made amazing music but they were troubled at times. H.R. was an amazing frontman but, as this film makes clear, he had problems. His story is told by his brother, friends, bandmates, colleagues and fans. Humorous anecdotes eventually become sadder and the reality of the situation becomes clear. At times H.R. (or Joseph as he is sometimes called) is homeless and making bad decisions. He hears voices. Onstage he can be seen visibly hallucinating and interacting with voices. Eventually his wife manages to get him proper medical attention and anti-psychotic medications. He gets better after that.
I learned stuff about HR that I didn't know through this film. I heard some of his non-Bad Brains music (although I've had a few of his post-Bad Brains SST solo records for decades). It compiles some great live footage.
Enlightening and sad, it ends on a positive note.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment