In the 2028, there will be four biopics based on each member of The Beatles. This is in addition to the recently expanded Beatles Anthology doc series that’s now over 11 hours. Plus there’s Peter Jackson’s hours long series using the Get Back session films. Are we going to learn anything new about The Beatles from the biopics? Is anyone without a clue about The Beatles going to sit down for all these marathon movies? Sometimes it’s nice to learn about someone that’s new to you in a music documentary, even if the ending is tragic. I had no clue about Tim Landers and his band Transit before I put the DVD of Don’t Forget To Leave into the player. His story was as compelling as any of major label artist Behind The Music episode.
Tim Landers and his band Transit were from Stoneham, Massachusetts. They were part of the emo scene when they arrived on MySpace in 2007 with songs on their profile page. The group gained a following and even had records out that charted on Billboard’s Heatseekers and Indie album charts. They hit the road hard playing small clubs and opening up for other bands. While this sounds like the rock and roll dream, it wasn’t a supportive system. There is talk about how when Transit hit the road, Spotify had taken over the music industry. Everyone who sang along with them didn’t buy a record. The royalty checks aren’t great. Tim’s band basically existing on the road based on merch sales. Your t-shirt purchase bought them dinner that night.
Things can be a bit boring on the road. All that downtime driving between gigs in a van was time to get a bit high which Tim seemed to enjoy. This became a problem for the other members. Tim departed from the band in 2014 with what seems to be the hope of cleaning up. Although one person explains Tim was fired because he wouldn’t get stop abusing substances. The band would break up in two years so Landers wasn’t the only problem in their chemistry. Landers started Off And On, a new musical project where he was in more in control. This goes bad for Tim when he develops Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at 24. He won’t stop playing guitar and get surgery. Instead, he’s prescribed painkillers which take over his life. His time is split between opioids and music. He puts together another band called Cold Collective that seems to be a great new start until the drugs take over again. We hear from his bandmates, pals, girlfriend and dad about their struggles dealing with Tim. He goes between clean and secretly messed up until the end. They come to grip with what they did for him. This is what sets Don’t Forget To Leave apart from a Behind The Music. It is about the people Tim Landers left behind. A few of those people attempt to finish Tim’s final album. One member talks about the heaviness of working with the vocals of a departed friend.
There’s a low-fi feel to Don’t Forget To Leave which is completely appropriate. We don’t need to be dazzled by visuals and wowed by slickness in telling the story of Tim Landers. Even if you don’t know Transit, you can appreciate his life story. There are a lot of people who have been hurt by opioid addiction as painkillers have gotten more powerful. This is a documentary that celebrates the music of Tim Landers. This is also an emotionally supportive film for people who are dealing with loved ones that have become addicts. He wasn’t a rock superstar living the high life. He was a musician with a day job who became another victim of the opioid epidemic. Don’t Forget To Leave lets us know what Tim Landers accomplished in his short and troubled life.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The interviews were recorded on video with a raw feel. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. There is a bit of music, but most of the soundtrack is the interviews. No subtitles.
No bonus features.
Dreamscape presents Don’t Forget To Leave. Directed by Bill Fulkerson. Screenplay by Kyle Kuchta. Featuring Tim Landers, Frank Turner, Matty Arsenault, Will Levy, Jason Maas and Timothy Landers. Running Time: 106 minutes. Rating: Unrated.
