This week’s “From The Casks” video is The Bottle Rockets playing “24 Hours A Day” at Schuba’s Tavern in January 2010.
In November of 2009, Whiskey Bender Productions was hired to film a show by The Bottle Rockets at The High Dive in Champaign, Illinois. The intention was for the band to release a live concert DVD of the show. The day of the concert we shot interviews with the band members as well as “the 5th Bottle Rocket”, contributing lyricist Scott Taylor. The show itself was spectacular with The Bottle Rockets in peak form tearing through a two and a half hour set that featured songs from all across their 20+ year career. The footage captured a great American rock & roll band performing at its peak in front of a packed and adoring audience.
As we edited the concert footage and intercut the interviews with the performances, the band became interested in expanding the documentary aspect of the film. The project transformed into something more ambitious than a concert DVD. Armed with showbills, photos, newspaper and magazine clippings, and music demos from the The Bottle Rockets’ archive, we set about creating a film that would both showcase the band at the peak of its performing abilities while also telling the story of The Bottle Rockets from the beginning, through their many ups and downs to their present day acclaim as one of the seminal bands of the alt-country genre.
At a certain point in post-production we realized we needed some supplemental performance footage. Working with the band, we decided to film a second Bottle Rockets show at Schubas Tavern in Chicago - a much smaller venue that would provide a much different feel for the cameras, essentially showcasing The Bottle Rockets as a great bar band blowing the roof off a small bar on a Saturday night. Despite the frigid temperatures of a Chicago January night outside, inside, Schubas was packed to capacity with fans shoulder-to-shoulder as the band burned through another 2-hour-plus set pulling-out a number of songs that weren’t played at the High Dive show.
Ultimately, only a handful of clips from the Schubas performance were used in the final cut of the film. So when it came time to drain some Bottle Rockets from the Whiskey Bender casks, the Schubas show seemed like the highest-proof footage we could find.
Sadly, this past March Brian Henneman, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, announced his retirement. In a post on the band’s website and social media, Henneman thanked fans for the 28 years of support, saying that he no longer had the desire to write, perform and tour. While we are sorry to see The Bottle Rockets hang it up, we are thankful for all of the amazing performances we witnessed through the years and the slew of great songs they leave behind as part of their legacy. Whiskey Bender Productions is proud to have contributed a tiny piece to that legacy by capturing the band’s live prowess and telling their story on film. We think it’s the best documentary we’ve made… so far. (Note: The complete documentary, entitled “Welcome To Our Movie: The Bottle Rockets Live & In Person” is available to watch for free on the @Bloodshot Records KZitem Channel and linked on the Whiskey Bender KZitem Channel)
One of the things we will miss most about The Bottle Rockets is the dual guitar attack of Brian Henneman and John Horton that is on display in this performance of “24 Hours A Day.” Thanks for the memories (and the ringing ears) Bottle Rockets!
Негізгі бет The Bottle Rockets: "24 Hours A Day", Live at Schubas (2010)
Пікірлер: 2