Tour documentary captures the last days of sadly overlooked indie rockers
Though it seemed like more of a threat than a stipulation, when Beulah released 2003’s Yoko with the caveat that they’d disband if it didn’t sell at least 500,000 copies, they should’ve been taken seriously. Presenting the San Francisco five-piece at the crossroads of their dissolution, A Good Band Is Easy to Kill unsparingly catalogs Beulah’s final tour, logging 8,000 miles and 29 shows with one of indie rock’s best-kept secrets.
It’s quite possible no other film has so accurately captured the decidedly unglamorous life of a struggling underground band, as director Charles Norris centers on charismatic lead vocalist/songwriter Miles Kurosky as he haggles with promoters to book shows, loads and unloads the van every night, and fights ?at tires and customs officers, trying to keep the tour out of the red.
Despite the band members growing noticeably more haggard as the tour wears on, rallying their strength and fighting illness to give their audience the best show possible, a disarming (and, in retrospect, bittersweet) optimism runs through the proceedings, as the band seems convinced that its big break could be waiting at the next tour stop.