IT'S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY

Kat Corbett
Aug 6
3 min read

In theaters this weekend then streaming on HBO MAX this winter.

Last night I went to a screening of the Jeff Buckley documentary It's Never Over directed by Amy Berg. I wasn't expecting to feel so fucking heavy after it, but I did and left the after party as memories from the nineties flooded back.

I had hung out with Jeff quite a few times when he played in Boston. Nothing major, just pints and fun. I still can't believe there are no pictures from those hangs. I'm so glad I agreed to go see him, and when I say "agreed" I mean that I was answering phones for legendary concert promoter Don Law where I got to speak to many big time agents as I forwarded their calls to various producers. Don Muller is one of those people. He had sent cassettes of Jeff Live at Siné and a giant roll of Live at Siné posters to our office. I still some of that merch.

Anyway, it was February in Boston. Do you know how bloody cold it is then? Bone-breaking-make-tough-guys-cry kind of cold. Jeff was booked for three shows. The last thing I wanted to do was freeze my ass off to see some guy no one had heard of. Don Muller would never remember me, but I remember him asking me to please please please go see Jeff play. He knew as lowly as my position was as receptionist I'd see his greatness and help spread the word.

Jeff played a few shows including one at the Middle East, but the night before he was at the Plough & Stars. I dragged my roommates and some other friends out in the freezing cold promising them greatness. I don’t recall a stage at the Plough then, but I do remember Jeff playing in the three feet of space separating the women and men's bathrooms. There he was amp plugged into the wall as the bathroom doors swung open and closed near his shoulders, people scooting around Jeff to do their business while he was belting out musical magic. It seems so crazy to me now. No one was really paying attention except for those of us down that particular end of the bar. As I watched I silently thanked Don Muller for urging me to go out and see him play. After the show we took Jeff to one of our favorite hangs at a basement bar in Harvard Square called Casablanca where we had pints and got to know him. He was fun and nice and goofy and...normal. That's the thing that always stayed with me. He was passionate about music, excited and fun and a total goofball. I got right quick he wasn’t into the fame stuff. In fact, after watching the doc it triggered a memory of Jeff and I talking about my radio show on WFNX because he was weirdly into the old school radio "announcer" voices.

The very next night we showed up to his gig at the Middle East in Cambridge. We brought more people. More pints followed. I saw him in places like the Charles Playhouse and Johnny D's. Watching this documentary and seeing the people who loved him and his friends and how our family histories can create such adult chaos hit me hard. That voice. That voice. It's no wonder he and Chris Cornell became friends. It's hard watching things like this sometimes seeing someone you knew—still so young—while we get the privilege of growing older.

Watch it. Get to know Jeff and his music. With thanks to Anita Stelmasiuk for the invitation.

I also ran into some great friends and Buckley fans like Jacob Givens and Megan Holiday.