Search - Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo on DVD

The Spinal Tap of the Jamband World

The Delite Rancher | Phoenix, Arizona | 05/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo" is an entertaining parody of the jamband scene. Electric Apricot is depicted as an up-and-coming jamband. Any jamband fan will instantly recognize the nods. The mockumentary pokes fun at the nutty tapers and concertgoers who keep the fan in fanatic. Whether coming from the band or their listeners, the scene's 'hippy trippyness' is a running joke. In this alternate reality, the Phil Zone becomes the Apricot Zone while Bonnaroo became Festeroo. Guitar player Gordo resembles Warren Haynes (Gov't Mule) while the similarities between Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident) and the keyboardist may be more than coincidental. At times, "Quest for Festeroo" stretches out to more mainstream references. For example, a nod is given to Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster" with the inclusion of a band therapist. The Beatles' "Let It Be" is alluded to when one of the guys brings his girlfriend to a recording session. With an eerie resemblance to Yoko Ono, this outsider (played by Gabby La La) is often seen whispering into her boyfriend's ear. A police episode mimics the TV show COPS. Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) is threaded throughout the film. At one point, Jerry is even put on the same level with Sasquatch, as a video taped sighting is shown. One of the strongest scenes is a takeoff on the day job; Lapdog's glass blowing episode is hilarious. The movie earns credibility with guest appearances by Mike Gordon (Phish), Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Warren Haynes and Wavy Gravy. Les Claypool plays Lapdog, the band's drummer. Other notables include Seth Green (Dr. Evil's son in the Austin Powers films) and Matt Stone of South Park fame. In terms of the music, the ever catchy 'Burning Man' song will be burned into any viewer's head by the middle of the film. While 'Burning Man' may be the musical highlight, the soundtrack is a good accompaniment. As an inside joke, "Quest for Festeroo" will best be appreciated by those who the film lovingly mockuments. In other words, members of the non-jamband world shouldn't expect to "get it." Even compared to die-hard Primus listeners, this project will better resonate with Claypool's fans in the Oysterhead and Flying Frog Bridge camp. Already a novelist, song writer and accomplished musician, Les Claypool can proudly add actor and film maker to his resume. All in all, "Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo" is an entertaining parody of the jamband scene."

I thought that this movie sucked.

Chris Adams | 09/26/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I am a big Les Claypool fan. I am a bass player, I have seen Primus live, have many Claypool albums and appreciate him as an extremely prolific artist. I am also a big fan of dumb movies - Spinal Tap, Cheech and Chong, Back to School, Idiocracy, Three Stooges, Lancelot Link, Beerfest and so on. I assumed that I would be the target audience for this movie, and I might have been. I had reasonably good expectations for this movie.

There are some interesting cameos - Bob Weir of the Greatful Dead was a standout for me. This movie just plodded and was never funny. The band sucked (Les played drums) which is supposed to be funny. However, Spinal Tap and Tenacious D suck in a particular way - where they are earnest and have ridiculous lyrics and the music is good enough to support that in a certain over the top way. This band was just bad and was irritating to listen to.

I almost never turn off a movie before I finish watching it no matter how excruciating it is. I made it to the end of this movie for some reason. I kept waiting for a punch line that never came.

I rarely slam something in a review. It is certainly better than any movie that I have made, and it takes work to put something like this out. I was just irritated that I had wasted 2 hours and might be able to spare someone else the same."