After a decade and a half, the hardcore punk supergroup Off! is wrapping up their wild journey by bringing “Free LSD” to the masses, including the band’s last appearance in Philadelphia at the Landmark Ritz Five for a film screening Monday.
“Free LSD” is not only a “midnight movie” starring the band about a sex shop owner who hopes to cure his erectile dysfunction with an experimental drug, but also an album pushing the boundaries of what Off! can do with distortion, four chords and lyrics on the crumbling society surrounding them.
Off! swung for the fences to bring their joint album and film pieces to life. Co-founder and guitarist Dimitri Coats said it took about eight years to bring “Free LSD” to completion.
“I think we might have underestimated how difficult it was going to be to have those things land at the same time,” Coats said. “We had to deal with our original lineup falling apart. At one point, Keith [Morris, the lead vocalist] and I had conversations about should we even bother trying to do this. But you know, he and I are the best of friends and it meant a lot to us. It was worth fighting for.”
Coats is no stranger to the Philadelphia music scene. Back in 1999, he moved to the City of Brotherly Love with his then partner, Melanie, to start Burning Brides, his first band.
“The whole point of us going to Philly was to move into a spot that had a basement where we could live and rehearse inexpensively and find a drummer … and it happened very, very quickly,” Coats said. “I think we played our first show on May 11, 1999, at the Khyber.”
“We didn’t really know anybody when we first moved there and I had made flyers for the first Burning Brides show,” Coats said. “Anybody that looked like they were remotely into rock music, I would just go up to them … It was incredible, 171 people paid to see the show and I’m hoping the same thing works now in 2024.”
Some of the best times of his life were spent in Philadelphia, including watching films at the Landmark Ritz Five, where dozens sat in Screen 1 to witness the band’s last hurrah. One of the notable stars of the film is Jack Black, who has appeared in music videos for the band over the years.
“He’s just always been such a generous and supportive guy,” Coats said. “He just says yes to almost everything we asked him to do and doesn’t want anything. The first time he agreed to be in our music video, he was like, ‘I have one demand. I want Zankou Chicken for catering,’ and we said, ‘OK, we’ll make that happen.’ ”
The film’s production almost came to a halt when the band’s drummer at the time, Justin Brown, had his tour extended with his other band, which conflicted with the shooting.
“There’s like hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line here and I’ve written this film about the band and suddenly we don’t have a drummer,” Coats said. “Luckily somebody thought to talk to D.H. [Peligro].”
Peligro played in the legendary punk band the Dead Kennedys and even had a short stint with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“What was interesting to me is that he was really, really interested in acting to the point where I believe he had an agent and he was auditioning for things and he really, really wanted to do it,” Coats said. “When I watched the movie, I can’t imagine anybody else in that role and it meant so much to him to be in the film. It was a big deal.”
Peligro passed away in 2022, making this his final film performance. The movie has since been dedicated to his memory.
“I didn’t realize that he was battling cancer,” Coats said. “I went to hug him after we rehearsed the first time and he’s like, ‘Watch out, I have this plug here from chemo and it’s really sensitive.’ It was just amazing that as much as he was struggling, he showed up and just brought such joy and such an amazing performance to everything he did.”
“It’s a real honor to have him on the screen and I guess, for a lot of people it will be their last glimpse at him and how great he was,” Coats said. “I’m glad he went out doing something that he really loved.”
During a Q&A session, Morris said Peligro would rehearse with the Dead Kennedys before shoots because the band knew how much he wanted to be a part of this film.
“The day that we were shooting in the hospital, that scene with him lying in the bed in the hospital, he’s actually sleeping through the majority of the scene because he rehearsed early in the day and he was so dedicated to making this film with us,” Morris said. “He showed up like a trooper. All we can say is that we love D.H.”
Morris’s career will forever be defined by his vocal work with legendary punk groups such as Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. As the dozens were leaving the theater, he made sure to let them know how much it all meant to him.
“Out of all of the things that I’ve been a part of, and I’ve been a part of some really cool things, this is my proudest moment,” Morris said.
The band’s final show will take place July 26 in Los Angeles. “Free LSD” will be available on Apple TV starting August 9. Preorders are available now.
Fans participated in a Q&A session with the band moderated by Joseph Gervasi, which you can listen to below.
