Quicksand - The Movie

A few years back I got to see something called, "QUICKSAND - The Movie," which was a home made video filmed by Joe Nelson on the Quicksand/Rage tour in 1993. It was a really cool video with all sorts of behind the scenes inside joking and shenanigans, as well as some great live footage. Quicksand and company soundchecking, playing, driving, arguing, eating, sleeping, cracking on people, etc. Pretty cool.

I don't think this video ever circulated too much...until now. Joe Nelson has unearthed his copy, upped it to YouTube, and you are seeing it here first, along with Joe's director's cut commentary. Enjoy! -Gordo DCXX

On my second Quicksand tour I brought out my video camera, and put together a home made 90-minute tour documentary, called "Quicksand The Movie." Quicksand was touring on “Slip," and we had just come off the Anthrax/White Zombie tour. I was the “drum tech," but was only really part of the Quicksand crew because they wanted their bros to share in the fun.

The tour was with our friends Rage Against The Machine, who had just released their first CD, and for a month in the fall of 1993 we toured the U.S. together in the 1500 – 3500 capacity club circuit. It was a wild, exciting time for all of us. We all felt like the kids who got handed the keys to the candy store. All of us, Zack De La Rocha from Rage included, still felt totally out of place, and way more aligned to our hardcore roots then the rock circuit world we were now in.

Keep in mind we were a bunch of kids in their early twenties, who for the past 5 years had toured only in vans, slept in squats or some kid's house. We were dudes who more or less had been blowing around the country and Europe much like a tumbleweed, no real direction, nor purpose, but just a belief that as long as you kept on perpetually moving you would one day get some place, eventually...well MAYBE.

Looking back at this video for the first time in at least 10 years, I was in awe of how innocent we all truly were, and how special that moment in time was to be part of. It was like watching a coming of age story in some ways. I went on tour with other bands, but it was never quite the same as those early Quicksand tours. To steal from Gordie Lachance of Stand By Me, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve, (or in my case 23)...Jesus, does anyone?”

Anyway, here’s a cliff notes version of the “movie,” along with some anecdotes. - Joe Nelson



The Tour Begins.

The first show of this tour was at the infamous Iguanas club in Tijuana, Mexico. This first clip is just the opening credits, and then dudes goofing around on the bus during the drive to Texas. Being part of the Rage/Quicksand crew also meant you had to drive the equipment truck at times, so I remember Scott Lytle and I had the overnighter from Mexico, to Phoenix, therefore the movie doesn’t really start until after the first 2 shows.



Super Genius & Unfulfilled

Thorough out the documentary there’s at least part of one of Quicksand’s songs from their set. Since they were direct support the set was only about 8 songs deep. “Super Genius” was brand spanking new at the time, so they were still working it out live. Unfulfilled was off the Revelation 7”, and then was re-recorded for “Slip”



Tour Montage # 1

This is just random stuff pulled from the beginning of the movie. The first clip is from Dallas, TX where some dude does back flips for us. The second is Lytle and I sharing a cab ride in Lawrence, KS with some nutter cab driver, God bless him for letting me interview him though. The third part is outside the club in St. Louis, with some lady who called herself “The Human Cockroach” which will more or less explain itself. The last part is Sergio and I goofing around in the basement of the St. Louis club where a crazzzzzzy wind tunnel would happen whenever you opened the boiler room door.



Lie And Wait – How Soon Is Now – One Family (YOT)

Lie and Wait was how they started their set every night. There’s also a clip from the ending of How Soon Is Now, originally by The Smiths. What cracks me up is you can see Brad from Rage's “backwards” drum set, which was his gimmick on that tour. He had mirrors all over it so he could see Tom, or Zack’s cues during their set. We all thought it was sooooooo gay, BUT fuck is he a good drummer.

The last song is Charlie Gariga, the guitar tech, and later of CIV fame lip singing along to One Family by Youth Of Today. Seeing everyone goof around to YOT on the tour bus pretty much sums us all up. We were all hardcore kids, and we were all total dorks.



Tour Montage # 2

Random clips from the middle part of the movie. This stuff pretty much captures what tour really is: a bunch of dudes on a bus trying to entertain each other so you don’t die of complete boredom. In a nutshell you have Sergio talking about the injustices of the health care system. Next up is Walter playing the Gorilla Biscuits song “Slut” with me doing the “Awwwwww Awwwwwws,” and last you have Sergio as the Devil, Tom as Smurfette, and Me as the Monkey Boy. ummmm…no comment.



Head To Wall and Omission (Sound check)

The one thing that was so great about this tour is every night you watched Quicksand, and Rage Against The Machine play. Here’s two more songs from “Slip" - well Omission is off the Rev 7” too. Head To Wall was always my favorite. Because I toured with them so much I probably saw Quicksand 200+ times, and Head To Wall was always great live. Omission was most of the time the band's sound checker, and usually Charlie played Walter's guitar. I remember a couple times after this we even busted out “We Gotta Know” by the Cro-Mags, with Zack on drums, Sergio on Bass, Walter, and Charlie on guitar and me singing.



The Sergio Controversy

This clip will explain it self more or less. The thing with breaking guitars in a band the size of Quicksand is that without a sponsorship, which nobody but Alan Cage had, there’s no real money to replace stuff. This was also about the time where I first really started noticing a tension within the band that eventually would break them up. I fucking love Sergio though. He’s one of my all time favorite bass players.



Tour Montage #3

This begins with us in Chicago, where I demonstrate my shop lifting techniques. Then as we walk to a Chicago Diner Charlie does a “History Of The 40 oz” for everyone. After that you have a quick glimpse of our bus driver “Sneaky Pete." I have no idea why we gave him that nickname either, but I remember he was Skid Rows bus driver, and shared with us their sordid tales of the road. He must have thought we were all total "fags" compared to Sebastian Bach's gang.

Next is Zack and me fucking around on his bus. The one thing about Zack that was true then, and is still true today is he is one of the funniest dudes you’ll ever meet. Rounding this up is Walter telling a story about Tom Capone (ED: Note - I thought this was Tom Rock/Boiling Point) back in the day, and then us giving Sergio shit for riding with the Rage dudes. I remember we gave Sergio the nickname “Troy” because we had some fantasy scenario where he was like our Trojan Horse on the Rage bus, and when we finally attacked he would already be on the inside. I guess you probably had to be there for that one to find it funny.



Dine Alone & Baphomet

“Dine Alone” was considered the “hit” off "Slip" and “Baphomet” was how they ended their set every night. On “Slip,” “Baphomet” was an instrumental, but when the band played it live Walter sang the lyrics to the Knacks “Good Girls Don’t” over it. The footage for Dine Alone is from Roseland Ballroom in NYC, while “Baphomet” is from Halloween night at the Axis in Boston, hence the masks, and Jack 'O Lanterns. What’s funny about this is Rage’s tour manager lectured us before hand about not making a mess, with the “pumpkins." I remember I then asked Zack if it would be cool, his response “you better” and so we did, well Tom did anyway.



The Tour Ends

We were still scheduled to go another week, with the run officially ending in Atlanta. However Rage’s drummer Brad Wilk hurt his back, allegedly, so the last 4 or 5 shows were cancelled. It actually worked out great for me, because I was in NYC so just ended up staying there with all my friends for about a month and living off my $1500 tour check or whatever Quicksand was paying me at the time. This is footage of getting the “news," and then the end credits to the movie.

…and there you have in a nutshell “Quicksand - The Movie." It’s not quite “The Last Waltz," BUT I’d say it’s pretty fucking close...well in my mind anyway ;)