COLOR ME OBSESSED

A long ride into the influential world of The Replacements

    How do you tell the story of a rock band without showing any pictures or videos, playing any music, or interviewing the band? By talking to the fans. That is the idea behind “Color Me Obsessed,” a documentary about the Minneapolis band The Replacements.

     Director Gorman Bechard talked to over 150 Replacements fans and friends including actors Tom Arnold, Dave Foley, and George Wendt and musicians Tommy Ramone, Dan Zanes, members of the Goo Goo Dolls, and many more. But while the documentary is stacked with people telling tales of what the band has meant to them in their lives, the film flat by showing many of these fans searching for words and ideas in long takes that probably would have been more compelling through better editing. It seemed that Bechard felt that he needed to give all of the interviewees their due in the documentary regardless of how meaningful and important their information truly was. Bechard also included statistics showing sales of each of The Replacements album compared to the highest selling record that year. The difference was thousands compared to millions. This was apparently to show that even though The Replacements have been such an influential band, at the time there greatness was not recognized in album sales. This could be said for many other influential bands of the day also when compared to the likes of Bon Jovi, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen.

     Overall, the documentary mostly suffers from very loose editing. Rolling in at just over two hours, this would have been a much more compelling film if it were thirty minutes shorter. And while the idea of not showing any images or hearing any of the music of the band and only hearing stories of the drunken escapades and bad concert experiences of the band from the fans, I believe “Color Me Obsessed” will leave the casual viewer wondering what all this obsession is about.

FEAR

Change has always been part of my life. When I was a kid I moved around a lot because my dad was an athletic trainer in the minor leagues for three different major league baseball teams. I didn’t attend the same school two years in a row until I was in high school. Moving was always an adventure. I got to see a lot of the country, and I have had great experiences and made great memories that I will always treasure.

As a young adult, I continued my wanderlust moving across the country twice – both times on a whim – and making new memories along the way. However, as I’ve gotten older my passion for travel and moving has not decreased, but my fear of the change has increased. Being mobile is great, but there is also something to be said for stability and building roots that will carry you through the rest of your life. I’ve lived in southeast Kansas now for seven years and I’m ready to move again. I know it is the right decision for me, but as I began to plan the move a growing fear of change began creeping in.

This fear was a new experience for me. When I left Arizona to move back to Kansas, my plan was to stay just long enough to finish college and then leave again. That did not happen. After graduation, I grew into the small town living environment that I started while in school. It became an easy life, if at times an unfulfilling one. Now, as I prepare to move across the country, my comfort zone has become unsettled.

Following your dreams can be exciting, but can also be a bit scary. Fear of the unknown can stop you in your tracks. It’s easy to give into fear and allow it to prevent you from doing the things in life that you truly want to do. I’ve learned through this process is that the only way to fight through the fear is to look into your heart and trust in yourself. So that’s what I’m doing.

Although I’m a bit fearful of change I’m excited too. In fact, the closer I get to my departure day, the more excited and less fearful I become. It is a great feeling to face your fears and overcome them. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” With that sentiment in mind, here’s to the future and following my dreams with the woman I love in an exciting new adventure. I’m sure fear will creep in from time to time for the rest of my life. But I won’t let it stop me. Not a chance.

SMALL TOWN MUSIC REVIVAL

Moving back to a small town has its downfalls but one thing that has been invigorated by the move is my passion for music. As I've gotten older, I've had a fear of being one of those people that live in the musical past. You know who I mean. The guy that hasn't been interested in a new band in six or seven years unless it reminds him of a band he loved in high school. About three years ago I felt myself falling into that pattern. I went with the flow occasionally picking up a new band only after everyone else seemed to already know about them. It was depressing and made me feel old and done. Just before I moved back to Arizona I came across some European bands like Hundred Reasons, The Music, South, Sigur Ros and Soundtrack of Our Lives that I really liked and no one around me had heard of at the time. It made me feel good and I slowly began to seek out bands again. When I moved back to Pittsburg, two hours away from the nearest big city, I thought I was in trouble. But to my surprise it has been the opposite. I have had to actively seek out new bands like I haven't since . . . well since I lived in a small town before. It has been fun and very instructive. This may sound like a rationalization but I discovered that it's not age that keeps someone from the discovery, it's the attention level. No matter where you live there are always outlets to finding new bands and I guess having new experiences in general. I'm not saying that living in a small town is the greatest. It does have A LOT of drawbacks but it's not as limiting as I thought either. I know if I would have stayed in my rut I would not have come across great bands like Open Hand, Dungen, Travis Morrison, Death From Above 1979, Armor For Sleep, Jeniferever, Ambulance LTD, Bloc Party, Detroit Cobras, M.I.A. and Deerhoof to just name a very few that I now love since I started looking again about a year ago. I am very excited about music and can't wait to hear what's next.