The Last Pogo DVD
Review by Jack Rabid in "The Big Takeover" issue #63:
"Wow! I’ve been hearing about this 25-minute movie for 29 years, and it’s amazing to
view it now! What a window to a time that was rarely documented: the pre-hardcore,
original punk era when it was astonishingly fresh, creative, rule-busting, and shot full
of newborn energy/excitement. It’s Toronto, December 3, 1978, a three-camera,
good-sounding film (not video) of seven bands (one song each) playing at the farewell
concert of premier punk club, The Horseshoe Tavern. The stars are Teenage Head and
The Viletones, known from collectible singles—but not footage. Lesser known
openers prove equally supercharged, fascinating, and varied. The Scenics open like a
Canadian Velvet Underground; Cardboard Brains are more The Weirdos vein; The
Secrets add a taste of R&B/Skulls/Vibrators/U.K. Subs groove; The Ugly ripsnort
through a Dead Boys/Ramones dirty shockwave; and The Mods are Jam clones to a t
(or a suit and skinny tie!), but they’re excellent, fierce, and tight; Nazi Dog’s Viletones
make magically menacing three-chord rock, and, in the one song they were allowed
before cops stopped the show and punters rioted, Teenage Head cooks a classic rock
‘n’ roll infested chaos. Beyond that, is how vivid this film is, of a scene and
underground moment it captures. It’s not just the dancing and pogoing creatively
dressed, jazzed, skinny people—no idiot slam dancing and sneers—or the notorious
sweaty buzz the crowd gets from seven wired, wiry bands, or the pleasant sight of
punk’s front row ringed with women—led by impossibly cute punkette co-host
Margarita Passion. It’s that this was an art-meets-music lightning flash the likes of
which has never been replicated. Short but absolutely essential history comes alive!"
includes a special feature of The Scenics performing 7 songs live in a tiny cable tv studio in 1978!!!
from the last pogo special feature.