Stillwater Runs Deep

I felt an itch to see "Almost Famous". Maybe it was because of Kate Hudson's photo on the video sleeve. Or, maybe because - as I've mentioned a bazillion times before - I'm such a huge sucker for movies about bands (fictional or otherwise).

Anyway, Cameron Crowe's opus about a rock band called Stillwater had a similar feel as Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do". Both movies were about fictional bands: Crowe's was Stillwater, Hanks' was The Wonders. Both fictional bands were representative of the predominant sound of their period: The Wonders with their dance-party-combo sound, Stillwater with their sludge/hard rock that was later to be labelled "Classic Rock". Both movies focused on a member of the band who was not the lead singer: "That Thing You Do" consistently showed deference to the importance of its drummer, Guy Patterson (played by Tom Everet Scott); "Almost Famous" put most of its focus on Stillwater's guitar player, Russel (played by Billy Crudup).

Anyway, back to Crowe's movie. I loved the scenes when the band would be onstage in front of an adoring crowd. I also enjoyed the scenes inside Doris, Stillwater's tour bus and - according to lead singer Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee) - the band's heart and soul. Of course, I also majorly crushed on Kate Hudson throughout the whole film.

I found a small clip from the movie featuring Stillwater doing their thing onstage. Sorry I don't know what the song's called. But who the fuck cares? It's only rock n roll.