Texan noise-rock legends the Butthole Surfers have made a surprise return to the stage, performing three songs after a screening of the documentary The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The controversial band, who haven't played live since completing a one-off show at the LA Waterfront in San Pedro, CA, in 2017, took to the stage to play three songs: Cherub, The Colored FBI Guy and The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave.
Last year, guitarist Paul Leary told the Guardian, "We’ve been getting six-figure offers to play live, but I just don’t want to do it. We’re really lucky to not be in prison, and I don’t want to push that any more. I don’t want to be sending a bandmate home in a body bag or for a venue to burn down.
"We were some genuinely fucked up people. We’re good people, but we’re fucked up – we’re damaged."
"We’re not as good as we could be today, and that’s because I lost my shit," added frontman Gibby Haynes. "I did too many drugs. I totally screwed up the deal. It’s my bad. It’s on me."
The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt, named after the 1995 compilation of the same name, is directed by Tom Stern, who first filmed the band in 1986 at a show at GBGBs in New York City, and has collaborated with them on several projects.
"This movie, produced with the full collaboration of the band, will be the culmination of my close relationship with the Butthole Surfers - a comprehensive look at this groundbreaking band and its continuing impact on culture at large" says Stern. "It’s a story I'm uniquely capable of telling because of the trust the band and I have built over the years.
"This won’t be a hagiography. We will present the hole truth and nothing butt, warts and all: Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, the beautiful, the ugly, and the weird."
The latest trailer for The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt is below.
