Whether you remember Vancouver's heyday as a punk capital in the late 1970s and early 1980s, or whether it's a piece of music history to you, this one is sure to fascinate.
Everyone is invited to the New Westminster premiere screening of Bloodied But Unbowed, an internationally acclaimed documentary exploring the music and art of Vancouver's punk years from 1977 to 1982.
It's on at the Heritage Grill on Friday, April 6 at 8 p.m.
The film, by director Susanne Tabata, helps to illuminate the many stories of those years and includes vast amounts of archival performance footage and commentary.
It has been featured in film festivals in San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver and more and has been invited to New York, Los Angeles and Japan this coming year.
Bands like DOA, Subhumans, Young Canadians, Pointed Sticks, Modernettes, U-J3RK5 and the Dishrags helped to forge Vancouver's reputation as an alternative mecca.
"Leather, spit, beer, drugs, sex and righteously enraged music terrified the mainstream in Vancouver in the '70s," a press release says. "Bloodied But Unbowed captures the ethos of the kids who barely lived through it, as well as those who did not. Drugs wreaked havoc in the punk scene, snuffing short the lives of many luminaries."
Despite that fact, however, some of the original infamous sons - including Burnaby's Joe Keithley (aka Joey Shithead) and bad boy Randy Rampage - are still on the road and touring.
The New Westminster screening will include a panel discussion with some of the musicians featured in the film, as well as performances by New West's own Hello Polly and Victoria's Budokan. Seating is limited. Tickets are available from the Heritage Grill, at 447 Columbia St., for $10, or $15 with a DVD.
See www.thepunkmovie.com.
