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On tour with the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and Foo Fighters: raw music documentary captures Australia’s ‘best summer’

In 1995, US film-maker Tamra Davis travelled to Australia to capture the one-off Summersault tour on her camcorder. Thirty years on she has made The Best Summer, an intimate snapshot of an era that can never be repeated There are only a few shots in Tamra Davis’ documentary The Best Summer that were filmed this century. They’re the very first ones: shaky footage of a clattering box of videotapes being loaded hurriedly into a car boot as Davis evacuated her home in Malibu during the Palisades fires last year. Almost everything else in the film was in that box, forgotten for nearly three decades, a time capsule of a one-off tour of Australia and Asia featuring some of the most influential musicians of the 80s and 90s. Summersault, pulled together by twentysomething promoter and future Modular Records founder Steve “Pav” Pavlovic, brought Sonic Youth, Pavement, the Beastie Boys, Bikini Kill

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In 1995, US film-maker Tamra Davis travelled to Australia to capture the one-off Summersault tour on her camcorder. Thirty years on she has made The Best Summer, an intimate snapshot of an era that can never be repeated There are only a few shots in Tamra Davis’ documentary The Best Summer that were filmed this century. They’re the very first ones: shaky footage of a clattering box of videotapes being loaded hurriedly into a car boot as Davis evacuated her home in Malibu during the Palisades fires last year. Almost everything else in the film was in that box, forgotten for nearly three decades, a time capsule of a one-off tour of Australia and Asia featuring some of the most influential musicians of the 80s and 90s. Summersault, pulled together by twentysomething promoter and future Modular Records founder Steve “Pav” Pavlovic, brought Sonic Youth, Pavement, the Beastie Boys, Bikini Kill

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According to The Guardian’s linked report, On tour with the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and Foo Fighters: raw music documentary captures Australia’s ‘best summer’, In 1995, US film-maker Tamra Davis travelled to Australia to capture the one-off Summersault tour on her camcorder. Thirty years on she has made The Best Summer, an intimate snapshot of an era that can never be repeated There are only a few shots in Tamra Davis’ documentary The Best Summer that were filmed this century. They’re the very first ones: shaky footage of a clattering box of videotapes being loaded hurriedly into a car boot as Davis evacuated her home in Malibu during the Palisades fires last year. Almost everything else in the film was in that box, forgotten for nearly three decades, a time capsule of a one-off tour of Australia and Asia featuring some of the most influential musicians of the 80s and 90s. Summersault, pulled together by twentysomething promoter and future Modular Records founder Steve “Pav” Pavlovic, brought Sonic Youth, Pavement, the Beastie Boys, Bikini Kill

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The development sits in VINI’s Culture coverage for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The linked report is dated 2026-07-31T15:00:17+00:00.

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Primary source: On tour with the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and Foo Fighters: raw music documentary captures Australia’s ‘best summer’ via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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