Imagine it’s 1995 and you’ve been invited to accompany Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill, Beastie Boys, Pavement, Beck, The Amps, Foo Fighters, Jawbreaker and Rancid on their Australian ‘Summersault’ tour. This is what happened to director Tamra Davis, newly married to Beastie Boys drummer Mike D, and thankfully she remembered to take along a video camera.
Heaps of footage of the bands performing, relaxing backstage and in hotel rooms, and being interviewed by both Tamra and Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna resulted. Back home after the tour, the tapes were popped in a cupboard and gradually forgotten about, until January 2025’s devastating Palisades Fire brought about an evacuation order and their rediscovery.
‘The Best Summer’ is a distillation of the many hours of recordings and is an astonishing time capsule of never-before-seen footage from an incredible period in music history.
If you’re a fan of any of the aforementioned bands (with the exception of Jawbreaker who don’t appear), the film is an unmissable opportunity to see them either at the peak of their powers or on their ascent to glory.
‘The Best Summer’ screens at the ICA on Friday 6th November, as part of the 13th annual Doc’n Roll Festival, and is followed by an online Q&A with director Tamra Davis. Tickets are available here.
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Words by Mark dans l’Espace
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