The petri dish that formed New York’s punk/new wave/glam rock scenes will finally be documented with the new film Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk in NYC about Max’s Kansas City. The documentary from director Danny Garcia (The Rise and Fall of The Clash, Rolling Stone: The Life and Death of Brian Jones) will screen at select theaters around the world in July and August.
While CBGB has branded itself the “Birthplace of NYC’s Rock, Folk & Punk Music”, Max’s Kansas City was also an integral hotbed of musical pollination. It’s the place where the Velvet Underground played their final concerts, where David Bowie first met Iggy Pop (shortly before Alice Cooper drove him to the hospital after the Stooges singer cut himself onstage), where Bob Marley & The Wailers played their first U.S. concert, where Andy Warhol held court in the backroom with his superstars, and so many more flashpoints of rock music history. It’s also where Sid Vicious performed his final concert, which is the subject of the short film Sid: The Final Curtain, which will screen ahead of Nightclubbing in theaters.
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A trailer for Nightclubbing begins to scratch the surface of Max’s Kansas City’s rich history, from legendary meeting of the minds to the alleged counterfeiting operation run out of the basement. The film hosts interviews with Alice Cooper, Jayne County, Billy Idol, Steve Stevens, music journalist/Patti Smith Band guitarist Lenny Kaye, late New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, Warhol superstars Penny Arcade and Ruby Lynn Reyner, Suicide’s Alan Vega, Bad Brains’ H.R. & Dr. Know, Stimulators’ Denise Mercedes, Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French, D Generation’s Jesse Malin, Blondie’s Frank Infante, Punk Magazine founder & Ramones album cover illustrator John Holmstrom, and many more. Nightclubbing also hosts rare footage of Iggy & The Stooges, New York Dolls, Sid Vicious, and Wayne/Jayne County and classic footage from Johnny Thunders/Heartbreakers.
Watch the trailer for Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk in NYC and scroll down for a list of showings.
Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk Rock in NYC (Trailer)