Rare Jeff Buckley Live Footage To Screen With New Doc

Jeff Buckley in January 1994 (photo: Anthony Pidgeon / Redferns).

Nearly 30 minutes of previously unreleased footage featuring the late Jeff Buckley performing solo at the Middle East in Cambridge, Ma., on Feb. 19, 1994, will be exclusively shown following theatrical screenings of the upcoming documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, which arrives on Aug. 8.

“Discovering this footage felt like a dream,” said director Amy Berg. “I was instantly transported into that room, witnessing a barely discovered virtuosic talent alongside just a handful of others. I was left speechless — and more than a few tears were shed. It’s an absolute pleasure to share this newly mastered footage and give audiences the chance to experience it on the big screen.”

Buckley came close to transcending his status as the son of British folk legend Tim Buckley during his short musical life, which ended tragically when he accidentally drowned in Memphis at the age of 30 in 1997. Most of his acclaim owes to his early solo shows in defunct downtown New York venues such as Sin-é and his lone studio full-length, Grace, which has been hailed as one of the best debut albums ever made.

The Cambridge concert took place six months before the release of Grace and included several songs from that project, such as “Lover, You Should Have Come Over,” “Mojo Pin” and “Last Goodbye.”

It’s Never Over premiered at Sundance in January after years in the making  and will be available on HBO and HBO Max in the winter under the Music Box series umbrella. Among the subjects interviewed for it are Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, bandmates Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred, ex-partners Rebecca Moore and Joan Wasser and musicians such as Mann and Ben Harper.