Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Last Days Here




I went into Last Days Here with minimum exposure to Pentagram's music but was aware of lead singer, Bobby Liebling's drug addiction.
At the start of the movie the audience sees Bobby living in his parent's basement where he has based himself for a number of decades. Exactly why his parents haven't kicked him out years ago is baffling. Liebling is the sad rock cliche of the drug addicted musician still living on past glories.

Fan boy Sean Pelletier attempts to get Bobby off drugs and resurrect his musical career. It is revealed that Pentagram have always been their own worst enemies. In the early days Kiss turned up to watch the band and waited around for the band to turn up because two of the band members hitch hiked to their job as cleaners and when they did get home, the band jammed in front of two of the Kiss members only to have their landlord come and complain about the noise and end the session after about ten minutes. Years later Bobby is offered a contract by Phil Anselmo but opts to blow it by smoking crack.

The real change in Bobby is brought on by a relationship with a much younger fan. Eventually a restraining order leading to prison time is placed on Bobby because he has swapped his drug addiction to being obssessed by the young woman.

One of the most likeable characters in the movie is the original drummer, Greg O'keefe, who confesses that he hasn't spoken to Bobby in twenty years. Bobby's parents come across as being nice people who have been taken advantage of by their son to the tune of 1 million dollars. Sean Pellet is the heroic figure who not only manages to get Pentagram's recorded output released and the band back together but also makes a deal to take Bobby's record collection if he doesn't stop smoking crack. The documentary is bound to appeal to fans of Pentagram but for those wanting to know more about their music it will be a dissapointment as the main focus is the ugliness of a drug addict and his lengthy battle with his own demons.

3/5




Small Takeover on facebook

Beastwars - IV

After over a year off for various reasons, we have returned solely because we wanted to review the new Beastwars album. I really w...