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Released by: MVD Visual
Released on: May 22, 2011.
Director: N/A
Cast: GG Allin & The Murder Junkies
Year: 1991/1993
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The Movie:
Here's the deal - if GG Allin is your thing, you're going to want this disc. If he's not, you're not going to want this disc. It's as simple as this. This is a release for the established fans, not one to earn the late Mr. Allin any new ones. The quality is rough, taken from VHS tapes shot more than twenty years ago without professional lighting or a proper audio mix and the lighting is frequently horrible. BUT… if you're a fan, you're going to dig this.
Allin's performances are nuts. He's always naked, wagging his dick around and getting close to people in the crowd with it. He pisses a lot, he poops sometimes, and he's prone to violence and instigating as much as he can with those there to see him. He does what he does well, and you've got to give the guy credit for carving out a truly fucked up niche for himself before he died from an overdose of heroin in 1993. While he was never, ever, ever going to gain mainstream acceptance, it was perfectly obvious to anyone paying attention that he didn't give a shit, he wanted to do things his way and he did.
Behind all the piss, blood, shit and insanity, however, there are some good songs in his catalogue and the three performances (and the bonus performances too) that make up the bulk of this video prove that. Yes, the track Expose Yourself To Kids is about exposing yourself to kids and therefore wrong, but it's catchy as all Hell, as is Drink, Fight, Fuck (covered somewhat recently by Hank Williams III - who has come out in support of GG as a fan many times over). GG sings about rape, he sings about hate, he sings about murder and he sings about fucking and what is apparent here, for those of us living vicariously through the magic of home video, is that he also managed to create a legitimate element of danger during his live performances.
What's as interesting, often more so, than what's happening on stage during these short sets collected here, is what's happening in the crowd. People are there to fight with him, to start shit with him and to antagonize him and he's there to give it right back. All of this is presented here on DVD without any sort of context or judgment. GG and company are simply presented 'as is' and the audience is allowed to make up their minds as to his merits completely on their own. Documentaries like Hated can put things into context and document Allin's life, while this collection simply presents Allin doing his thing, warts and all. Nothing is sugar coated, nothing is held back, and nothing is overanalyzed.
The track listing for the three shows captured on this DVD are as follows:
Antenna Club, Memphis, Tennessee, November 16th, 1991:
Drink, Fight, Fuck / Hanging Out With Jim / I Wanna Rape You / Outlaw Scumfuc / Gypsy Motherfucker / Expose Yourself To Kids / Bite It You Scum / I Wanna Fuck Myself
Fuped Duck, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 17th, 1991:
Cunt Sucking Cannibal / Bite If You Scum / I Wanna Rape You / Outlaw Scumfuc / Expose Yourself To Kids / I Wanna Rape You
Orpheus Theater, Knoxville, Tennessee, November 23rd, 1991:
Bite It You Scum / Cunt Sucking Cannibal / Gypsy Motherfucker / Hanging Out With Jim / Expose Yourself To Kids / I Wanna Rape You / Drink, Fight, Fuck
All three shows are nuts, though the first is the nuttiest. GG comes out onto stage already bloody and covered in what may or may not be shit before the band starts, at which point he cuts himself some more before grabbing a male audience member by the hair and pulling his face towards his dick. It just gets crazier from there and Allin spends as much time on the floor in front of the stage than on it. The second set shows GG in fine form, shitting on stage and then eating it and then later puking on stage and assaulting the cameraman and the third show is more of the same.
Make your own judgment call here. GG is what GG is and he's always going to be a lightning rod for controversy and opinions. This collection is not an explanation as to why he did what he did, but rather a perfect example of what he did and how he did it.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.33.1 fullframe transfer looks like the VHS tapes that were used for this transfer - image quality is soft, there are tape rolls, and detail is blah. Colors are sometimes faded and the camera jiggles around and sometimes goes out of focus. But this is a collection of GG Allin live performances from the nineties… seriously, would you expect anything else?
The only audio option is an English language Dolby Digital 2.0 mix that sounds as rough as it looks. The audio here was recorded in camera so expect distortion and bumps in the levels. Like the video it's rough around the edges, but again, this is as good as it's going to get.
As far as the extras go, there are two bonus performances included here with the following set lists:
Pengiun Pub, Youngstown, Ohio, May 12th, 1993:
Bite It You Scum / Outlaw Scumfuc / Look Into My Eyes And Hate Me / I Wanna Rape You / Expose Yourself To Kids / Cunt Sucking Cannibal
Metro, Richmond, Virginia, May 13th, 1993:
Bite It You Scum / Outlaw Scumfuc / Look Into My Eyes And Hate Me / Take Aim & Fire / Cunt Sucking Cannibal / Terror In America / Highest Power / I Wanna Rape You / I Live To Be Hated / Expose Yourself To Kids
Aside from that, you get menus that offer up performance and track selection.
The Final Word:
GG's been dead for a while now but his legacy somehow manages to live on in spite of itself. Say what you will about the man and his music - call him a talentless hack reliant on shock value or an underappreciated songwriter - but he's got his fans and he has definitely earned his place in punk rock history. If you're a fan, pick this up, if you're not, this won't change your mind.
People poop on his grave and vandalize it from time to time. He's buried two towns over from my home town.