antimusic.com: Quick Flicks: '83 US Festival, Days 1-3- Punk in Africa Review

'83 US Festival, Days 1-3- Punk in Africa

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In this edition of Quick Flicks, Kevin Wierzbicki tells us about the new DVD releases '83 US Festival, Days 1-3 which features performances from the iconic music festival featuring U2, Judas Priest, The Clash and more and he tells us about Punk in Africa, which looks at the punks legacy on the continent.

'83 US Festival, Days 1-3
Various Artists
MVD
3 � Stars

This more than two-hour film presents a real blast from the past as it captures some of the hottest acts that played at the US Festival in 1983, a great time for music fans but a bust for sponsor Steve Wozniak; the '83 festival, the second, would also be the last, and that makes this snapshot of a different era all the more precious. The Day 1 cuts begin with one of the best clips on the entire film, a gritty run-through of "Boys in Town" by the Divinyls; fans who'd only heard the band's "I Touch Myself" were no doubt left speechless by the performance. The rest of the first segment is rounded out by New Wave era bands like INXS, Stray Cats, the English Beat, Men at Work and the Clash who play "Should I Stay or Should I Go." Day 2 is the hard rock day with Judas Priest ripping through "Breakin' the Law" and "You Got Another Thing Comin';" Triumph and Scorpions also play a couple songs each. Day 3 features pop-rockers including U2 playing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" but it is also kind of a ladies day as Stevie Nicks performs as do female-fronted acts Quarterflash, Berlin and Missing Persons.

Punk in Africa
Various Artists
MVD
3 Stars

When you think of punk the last place on earth you would expect to have a vibrant scene would be Africa. This film looks primarily at the punk scene in South Africa in the '90s but it also chronicles the scene's earlier days with bands being inspired not only by the Clash and the Sex Pistols but also by their own living situations with the pall of segregation hanging over the nation. But like punk bands anywhere groups like Suck, Wild Youth, Safari Suits, Hog Hoggidy Hog, Fuzigish and Kalahari Surfers, all featured here, were also out just to let off steam and have a good time. And when their shows weren't being shut down by the cops, they did just that. A combination of vintage footage and new interview segments tell the story and it's a fun view even if you've never heard of the bands or the places they're from. Some acts from Zimbabwe and Mozambique also feature.

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