Texas: 30 Odd Foot of Grunts

Buena Vista Home Video, $29.99

It’s fitting that Russell Crowe’s band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (the name comes from a sound effects notation in Crowe’s 1995 film Virtuosity) should have recorded this exhaustive document of their time in Austin recording new material and playing out at Stubb’s in the summer of 2000. A town with so many bars and bar bands couldn’t help but welcome what might be the most famous pub rockers from down under, and while this meaty doc uncovers everything from the actual session jamming to the estrogen vs. testosterone madhouse that was TOFOG’s live set (at least half the audience seems to arrived from out of state, with a disproportionate number of Crowe-crazed female fans among them), there’s also miles of hidden extras — a featurette on the band’s sojourn to Italy, videos, photos, set lists, and, of course, the requisite “Aussie-to-English” translations. Perfect for TOFOG fanatics, although newcomers may wonder what all the fuss is about.

This article appears in March 28 • 2003.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US