Live From The Astroturf Motion Picture
NOTE: For the Live From The Astroturf 7" Single click here.
NOTE: For the Live From The Astroturf 12" Album click here.
The Path To The Silver Screen
In January 2019, Good Records partnered with Rolling Stone to announce that a Live From The Astroturf concert movie would premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival between 04th-14th April 2019. A trailer for the premiere was also produced and uploaded to the official Live From The Astroturf website.
Good Records Promotional Text:
To unleash the movie of the historic event, we’re going back to where it all started. Phoenix, Arizona, birthplace of the original Alice Cooper group, will be the first city you’ll be able to witness this concert film/documentary. There will be multiple screenings during the Phoenix Film Festival, which takes place from April 4th through the 14th at the Harkins Theatres Scottsdale 101. Special guests will be in attendance.
Eagle-eyed fans were already aware that a film was on its way, as a fairly discrete advert for it was included on the double-sided poster that came free with the 12" vinyl release that was released in November 2018.
On 27th February 2019 Chris Penn appeared on Fox 4 to promote that movie and also confirmed that it would also be shown at the Dallas International Film Festival between 11th-18th April 2019.
On 08th March 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would also be shown at the Detroit (Freep) Film Festival between 10th-14th April 2019.
On 05th April 2019 AZ Central produced a fine article about the movie and it's upcoming premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival (this was subsequently updated with post festival material).
Alice Cooper Royalty Attend The Premiere
The world premiere of the Live From The Astroturf movie took place at the Phoenix Film Festival on Friday 05th April. Those lucky enough to attend were treated to a stellar red carpet audience including Director Steven Gaddis, mastermind and Executive Producer Chris Penn, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Alice Cooper and Neal Smith. All attendees received a commemorative ticket and press-on 'Live From The Astroturf' temporary tattoo modelled on the classic School's Out dagger-through-heart design.
Attending in memory of Glen Buxton was his sister Janice and brother Ken. A lovely additional touch was a seat dedicated to Glen, which was flanked by a shirt of the Blonde Bomber himself (see image below).
Alice Cooper superfan Paul Brenton also attended and organised an Earwigs / Spiders tour at the Group's original home. This included a trip to Cortex High School, the Alice Cooper exhibit at the Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum and the former homes of Glen Buxton and Dennis Dunaway. The tour was partly attended by Dennis and Cindy Dunaway themselves and Monica Lauer and will have been a priceless experience!
A great highlights video of the tour by Shock Opera can be seen here. Shock Opera also posted this video of a post-premiere 'Questions and Answers' session featuring the key figures behind the motion figure.
Premiere weekend ended in fine fashion with the movie being awarded the Phoenix Film Festival 'Best Documentary Short' award.
Finally, Dennis Dunaway posted a great blog about his attendance of the premiere on his website on 02nd May 2019.
Detroit and Beyond...
On 01st May 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would also be shown at the Northeast Mountain Film Festival in Dillard, Georgia, between 14th-16th June 2019.
On Tuesday 07th May 2019 Live From The Astroturf picked up 2 more awards, scooping 'REMI's for 'Documentary Under 60 Minutes' and 'Editing' at the 52nd Annual Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival.
On Wednesday 05th June 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would make its European debut at the Madrid International Film Festival, between 10th-17th August 2019. The movie was also nominated for 'Best Editing of a Documentary', 'Best Director of a Feature Documentary', and 'Best Feature Documentary' awards.
On Thursday 06th June 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would make its New York City debut in conjunction with the worldwide premiere of Dennis Dunaway's rock cinema short 'Cold Cold Coffin' at Theatre 80 on Wednesday 14th August.
A great article on this event, which included live performances by a host of Alice Cooper related stars was posted by My Global Mind. Another great article was also posted by NJArts.
On Saturday 15th June 2019 Live From The Astroturf picked up another award, scooping 'Favourite Film' at the Northeast Mountain Film Festival 2019. The award was accepted by Alice Cooper Superfan Dwight McCain, who also treated attending fans to a mini Alice Cooper museum featuring electric chair, vintage memorabilia and even a snake (called Betty)!
On Tuesday 18th June 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown during the 'Alice Cooper Fan Day' at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday 14th July 2019.
On Tuesday 25th June 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would make its South American debut at the FiCiME festival in Bogota, Colombia between the 23rd and 27th July 2019.
On Friday 29th June 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the San Antonio Film Festival, Texas between the 30th July and 04th August 2019.
On Thursday 25th July 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience, New Mexico, between the 24th and 29th September 2019.
On Monday 19th August 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Golden Door International Film Festival, New Jersey, on the 21st September 2019.
On Thursday 22nd August 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the North Texas Film Festival in Plano, Texas, between the 26th and 29th September 2019.
On Friday 23rd August 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Louiseville's International Festival Of Film, Kentucky, between the 10th and 12th October 2019.
On Thursday 29th August 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Buffalo International Film Festival, New York, between the 10th and 14th October 2019.
On Tuesday 03rd September 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Tulsa American Film Festival, Oklahoma, on Sunday 13th October 2019.
On Friday 13th September 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would make its United Kingdom dubut alongside Cold Cold Coffin at The Castle Cinema, London, on the Wednesday 09th October 2019. It was later announced that the premiere would be attended by Dennis Dunaway, Cindy Smith Dunaway, Alice Cooper guitarist Ryan Roxie, Chris Penn and Cold Cold Coffin Producers Brian Cichocki and Sean Quinn, with Classic Rock's Ian Fortnam moderating a 'Q&A' session after each of the 2 screenings.
Read my blog about the London premiere, and see lots of images from the big night, here.
On Saturday 21st September it was confirmed that the movie would make its Hollywood debut alongside Cold Cold Coffin at the W Hotel, Los Angeles, on Monday 14th October.
On Wednesday 25th September 2019 a new film trailer was uploaded to Producer Steven Gaddis' YouTube page. This was followed by a feature on the London premiere on the UK's Classic Rock magazine website.
On Wednesday 16th October 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Minneapolis Sound Unseen Festival, Minnesota, between the 13th and 17th November 2019.
On Friday 18th October 2019 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown alongside Cold Cold Coffin at the Alamo Drafthouse, South Lamar, Austin, Texas on Sunday November 10th 2019. This screening marked what would have been the 72nd birthday of Glen Buxton.
On Wednesday 22nd January 2020 it was confirmed that the movie would be shown at the Manchester Film Festival, UK on Saturday 14th March 2020. The screening was personally attended by Dennis and Cindy Dunaway, but only just took place as the COVID-19 scare of 2020 was just beginning to break as the festival took place. Photos from the event can be found here. Furthermore, Dennis posted 4 great blogs about the event on his official website:
Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part I
Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part II
Live From The Astroturf, London Premiere Silkscreen Poster
2019
This cool silkscreen poster was designed by Jennifer Wallace on behalf of Good Records and was sold at the London premiere of the Live From The Astroturf motion picture on 09th October 2019. Limited to just 50 copies (of which this is #7), it features an image of Michael Bruce, Neal Smith, Alice Cooper and Dennis Dunaway during the UK reunion shows of 2017 and was hand-signed by Dennis before the premiere.
Live From The Astroturf Playing Cards
2020
To celebrate the successful debut year of the Live From The Astroturf motion picture, Good Records offered an extremely limited run of branded playing cards to hardcore fans. Available in two designs, both of which were limited to just 18 hand-numbered decks, they featured the artwork from the 7" / 12" releases and movie poster respectively. Both designs came in a blank box with window and were adorned by the promotional press-on 'Live From The Astroturf' temporary tattoos that were given away to moviegoers at the various screenings in 2019 (see above).
I was lucky enough to score one of each (both of which are #12).
For Alice Cooper Interviews click here.