Like points on a map or compass points, the Juniper Tar documentary, "Points of Interest," uses drops flags on a tour by the Milwaukee band and lets viewers connect the dots.
"Points of Interest" screens as part of the Milwaukee Film Festival on Friday, Sept. 30 at 9:30 p.m. at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Brew City filmmakers Jon Salimes and Anthony Lopez – and cameraman Erik Ljung – use Juniper Tar footage rather sparingly in this film that is less rockumentary than meditation about life on the road.
They followed the band out east with Philly pals Strand of Oaks, shooting footage that captures all the aspects of the tour.
Fittingly, "Points of Interest" opens on the road, passing varied landscapes, paying tolls and band members dozing in the van. Then there is arrival, load-in and sound check.
And, still, nary a word has been spoken. "Points on Interest" isn't overflowing with dialogue, either.
The directors instead let the visuals and the music do the talking.
There is a lot of downtime on the road. A lot of time spent getting from one place to another and as much time setting up and tearing down as performing on stage.
So, it seems, the balance of gig footage here seems perfect.
The rest is a rumination on the road, from the interesting people a band meets at venues, at roadside restaurants and other places, to the scenery, the boredom and the camaraderie.
Footage of Juniper Tar sitting around a campfire as Jason Mohr and Chris DeMay trade acoustic performances and, later, of the band taking a dip in a river together capture the kind of "brotherhood/sisterhood" of a rock and roll band.
There are also lengthy pensive shots of reflections in a puddle, silent save for the chirping of birds that is an artful visual and aural expression of the solitude that being in the rarefied atmosphere of a tour can bring.
If you're hoping to see Aaron Schleicher and Ryan Schleicher hurling television sets out the windows of towering hotels or seeing Tuc Krueger racing through the English countryside in a sportster, "Points of Interest" will let you down.
If you really want to see Juniper Tar at work and really want to get the feel for life on the road for a band at its level, then this is the picture for you.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
