The Gonzo Gang
Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC
Screening 9/13/06//CB’s Gallery
One punk, one concert fanatic, one filmmaker, one goal—a music festival 9 days before the RNC.
I saw the card laying around on my way out of the Lounge and the George Tabb benefit. Wot’s this, then, free movie screening for a possibly cool movie? I’m there. And, of course, I hope they have one of these cards that isn’t folded. Wonder who the punk is. Doesn’t look familiar. Turns out the concert fanatic is none other than Concert Joe, who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for seeing the most concerts in one year. He calls me Upfront Heather. Sometimes he can be found outside venues passing out cards for his website. (He told me he listed Britney Spears and Johnny Rotten at CBGB for September 31 on his site and his phone was ringing off the hook with people looking for more info/tix.) His ex brother-in-law is the film’s director/producer Roy Szuper and Tony Petrozza is the lead singer for Status Quo No Show.
The political becomes personal and the three amigos have the idea of putting on a concert to protest the RNC and they decide to hold it in McCarren Park, since it’s not being used. The 1st Annual Williamsburg Music Festival laid the groundwork for the McCarren Park Concert Series and the film documents their dream, from scouting the location to scouting talent. As the documentary unfolds, we’re taken on a trip through New York City’s music scene circa 2004. But Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC isn’t just a film about music—it’s also about politics and history, and how it impacts music and the city, and how that, in turn, impacts music. Our teachers and tour guides are Joe (“You can’t compare Bush to Hitler because Hitler was a decorated war veteran and he won the election by popular vote”), Tony, who tells us how he got into punk rock while in the Army and what punk means to him and how it helped him through tough times in his life, (“Marriage isn’t an institution, CBGB is”), NYC characters David Peel and Yippies leader Dana Beal, Hilly Kristal, who considers selling CBGB because the rents have skyrocketed since they first opened and Television lived around the corner. Rent was like $70 or $80 a month and only one of them had to work, Punk magazine founder John Holmstrom, (though Trigger didn’t want to be in it), and subway performers (such as Shakerleg) galore provide a first-hand look at the diverse musical genres and dreamers that call NYC home.
The theaters are full of all these feel-good, spirit-of-independence and DIY-wins-in-the-end bullshit movies. They’re all the same—a group of underdogs tries to put on a concert to raise money and at the last minute huge crowds show up and the producers succeed in the end. This is not one of those movies. This is real life. Thinking globally and acting locally, the 3 Musketeers put an unutilized park to use with groups such as Develop—Don’t Destroy Brooklyn tabling, but the 1st Annual Williamsburg Music Festival was also the last annual Williamsburg music festival. Now Delsener and the McCarren Park Pool parties took the idea and got Brooklyn Lager to sponsor it. No, trying really hard and doing a lot of work didn’t change the world, and many of the performers who were supposed to be at the Bands Against Bush showcase at Siberia on Sept. 1 were arrested at the protest. History, good intentions, music, and feeling strongly about getting Bush out of the White House were not enough. Like Fahrenheit 9/11 but funny and with a better soundtrack, Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC asks the right questions—whether they be about the state of the union, the state of music, the state of NYC today, or the state of music in NYC—and asks them of the right people that by the time the concert scene arrived, you can’t help but wish that good intentions were enough. But Roy, Tony, and Joe tried, and that’s what does make you feel good in the end.
(Wow, you can tell I’m no J. Hoberman, but I tried. No, seriously, the movie is really good. I've just never written a movie review before, so forgive me.)
Screening 9/13/06//CB’s Gallery
One punk, one concert fanatic, one filmmaker, one goal—a music festival 9 days before the RNC.
I saw the card laying around on my way out of the Lounge and the George Tabb benefit. Wot’s this, then, free movie screening for a possibly cool movie? I’m there. And, of course, I hope they have one of these cards that isn’t folded. Wonder who the punk is. Doesn’t look familiar. Turns out the concert fanatic is none other than Concert Joe, who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for seeing the most concerts in one year. He calls me Upfront Heather. Sometimes he can be found outside venues passing out cards for his website. (He told me he listed Britney Spears and Johnny Rotten at CBGB for September 31 on his site and his phone was ringing off the hook with people looking for more info/tix.) His ex brother-in-law is the film’s director/producer Roy Szuper and Tony Petrozza is the lead singer for Status Quo No Show.
The political becomes personal and the three amigos have the idea of putting on a concert to protest the RNC and they decide to hold it in McCarren Park, since it’s not being used. The 1st Annual Williamsburg Music Festival laid the groundwork for the McCarren Park Concert Series and the film documents their dream, from scouting the location to scouting talent. As the documentary unfolds, we’re taken on a trip through New York City’s music scene circa 2004. But Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC isn’t just a film about music—it’s also about politics and history, and how it impacts music and the city, and how that, in turn, impacts music. Our teachers and tour guides are Joe (“You can’t compare Bush to Hitler because Hitler was a decorated war veteran and he won the election by popular vote”), Tony, who tells us how he got into punk rock while in the Army and what punk means to him and how it helped him through tough times in his life, (“Marriage isn’t an institution, CBGB is”), NYC characters David Peel and Yippies leader Dana Beal, Hilly Kristal, who considers selling CBGB because the rents have skyrocketed since they first opened and Television lived around the corner. Rent was like $70 or $80 a month and only one of them had to work, Punk magazine founder John Holmstrom, (though Trigger didn’t want to be in it), and subway performers (such as Shakerleg) galore provide a first-hand look at the diverse musical genres and dreamers that call NYC home.
The theaters are full of all these feel-good, spirit-of-independence and DIY-wins-in-the-end bullshit movies. They’re all the same—a group of underdogs tries to put on a concert to raise money and at the last minute huge crowds show up and the producers succeed in the end. This is not one of those movies. This is real life. Thinking globally and acting locally, the 3 Musketeers put an unutilized park to use with groups such as Develop—Don’t Destroy Brooklyn tabling, but the 1st Annual Williamsburg Music Festival was also the last annual Williamsburg music festival. Now Delsener and the McCarren Park Pool parties took the idea and got Brooklyn Lager to sponsor it. No, trying really hard and doing a lot of work didn’t change the world, and many of the performers who were supposed to be at the Bands Against Bush showcase at Siberia on Sept. 1 were arrested at the protest. History, good intentions, music, and feeling strongly about getting Bush out of the White House were not enough. Like Fahrenheit 9/11 but funny and with a better soundtrack, Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC asks the right questions—whether they be about the state of the union, the state of music, the state of NYC today, or the state of music in NYC—and asks them of the right people that by the time the concert scene arrived, you can’t help but wish that good intentions were enough. But Roy, Tony, and Joe tried, and that’s what does make you feel good in the end.
(Wow, you can tell I’m no J. Hoberman, but I tried. No, seriously, the movie is really good. I've just never written a movie review before, so forgive me.)
posted by heather @ 9:41 PM
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