"God Save the Clientele"

I am the only person who has an unhealthy addiction to watching amateur road trip video footage? You know what I am talking about. Someone goes on a road trip, they bring a camcorder, and they take snippets of footage from various places along the way. It seems to be a common activity when people are traveling. I know I have done it, I’m pretty sure you’ve done it, and indie rock bands do it every tour.

I cannot help myself from enjoying every one I have ever seen, especially when it is edited together nicely with music. You could bet your life that there will be a section of the film where the camera is left on the dashboard and the film is sped up, giving you the feeling of flying down the highway. Sure it is cliché but if you’re going to do a road trip video it has to be in there.

The cherry on top is having a great narrator. One who speaks as though they are making an entry in a diary or writing a letter always adds to any road trip film.

Andrew Kenny of The Wooden Birds

Last week Andrew Kenny, of The Wooden Birds, posted a short film about a tour his band did with The Clientele up the western coast. The film has every element you would want in a “tour” film, including some great scenes of live music being played in great venues in San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

His insights about life on the road caught most of my attention. Towards the end he mentions how hard it is to say goodbye to people you have been traveling with and how bands separate and get back together. Before the tour there was a rumor that The Clientele may be doing their last run together. Kenny offers some great advice, though he doesn’t believe that it really is all that “great”.

“If it’s gonna break your heart to leave a band, then you are already in the right band” – Andrew Kenny

Here is the video if you care to watch it:

PS
For some reason his final note stands out to me as well. I have never been in a band but it can be applied to anyone’s life if you think about it,

“I have never regretted walking away… but I wish I would have had a better reason”