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 the 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 its upcoming premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival (this was subsequently updated with post festival material).

Live From The Astroturf Movie Poster

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).

Phoenix Film Festival Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)
Steven Gaddis, Michael Bruce, Neal Smith, Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway and Chris Penn (photo by Mark Bowman)
Michael Bruce, Neal Smith, Alice Cooper and Dennis Dunaway (photo by Mark Bowman)
Chris Penn with Alice's Road Manager Toby Mamis (photo by Mark Bowman)
Glen's seat in the theatre (photo by Ken Buxton)
Press-on 'Live From The Astroturf' tattoo (photo by Chris Penn)
World Premiere ticket (image by Mark Bowman)

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. 

Dennis Dunaway looks over his former running track at Cortez High School (photo by Patrick Brzezinski)
The Earwigs / Spiders tour takes in early Phoenix gig venue Dunes (photo by Paul Brenton)
Cindy and Dennis Dunaway outside Dennis' old Phoenix home (photo by Paul Brenton)

Premiere weekend ended in fine fashion with the movie being awarded the Phoenix Film Festival 'Best Documentary Short' award.

Chris Penn, Steven Gaddis, Dennis Dunaway and Cindy Dunaway-Smith celebrate the Phoenix Film Festival 'Best Documentary Short' award (photo by Patrick Brzezinski)

Finally, Dennis Dunaway posted a great blog about his attendance of the premiere on his website on 02nd May 2019.

Detroit and Beyond...

In advance of its debut appearance at the Freep Film Festival in Detroit on Thursday 11th April 2019, the Detroit Free Press published an article on the motion picture and how it came to be.
 
On Friday 12th April 2019 Talkin' Rock with Meltdown published a great 40-minute recorded interview with Dennis Dunaway and Steven Gaddis.
 
On Sunday 12th May 2019 Dennis Dunaway posted another blog on his website about his attendance at the Freep Film Festival.
 
On Thursday 18th April 2019 Live From The Astroturf picked up its 2nd award, scooping the Dallas Film Festival 'Documentary Audience Award'.
 
On Tuesday 11th June Dennis Dunaway posted a 3rd and final blog on his website about his attendance of the Dallas Film Festival.
Freep Film Festival Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)
Dallas Film Festival Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Northeast Mountain Film Festival Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Live From The Astroturf Awards Roll Call (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Madrid International Film Festival Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Press release for New York premiere with Cold Cold Coffin
New York City Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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)!

Dwight McCain setting up his mini Alice Cooper museum (image by Logan A. McCain)
Dwight McCain with Betty the snake! (image by Logan A. McCain)
Dwight McCain accepting the 'Favourite Film' award in style! (image by Logan A. McCain)
The 'Favourite Film' award (image by Dwight McCain)

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. 

Advert for Alice Cooper Fan Day in Cleveland, Ohio (image by Chris Penn)
Alice Cooper Fan Day Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Advert for FiCiME festival (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Advert for San Antonio Film Festival (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Advert for Albuquerque Film & Music Experience (image by Chris Penn)
Albuquerque Film & Music Experience Promotional Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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.

Advert for Golden Door International Film Festival (image by Chris Penn)
Golden Door International Film Festival Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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 Louisville's International Festival Of Film, Kentucky, between the 10th and 12th October 2019.

Advert for Louisville's International Festival Of Film (image by Chris Penn)
Louisville's International Festival Of Film Banner (image by Chris Penn)

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 debut 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.

Original Advert for London Premiere
London Premiere Promotional Banner
Original Advert for London Premiere

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 pandemic of 2020 was just beginning to break as the festival took place. Photos from the event can be found here. Furthermore, Dennis posted four great blogs about the event on his official website:

 

Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part I

Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part II

Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part III

Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part IV

Manchester Film Festival Promotional Banner

Worldwide Release

After a lengthy period of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was tentatively announced on 12th May 2022 that the film would receive its long-awaited worldwide home release on the 26th August 2022 on limited edition LP / DVD and CD / Blu-Ray bundle formats. Shortly afterwards, European mail order firms EMP and JPC began offering pre-orders (albeit without any artwork). On the 23rd June 2022 it was officially announced that the release date would be the 30th September 2022.

 

The CD / Blu-Ray version was limited to 19,000 hand-numbered copies worldwide.

 

Four colour vinyl / sleeve variants would be produced as follows:

 

> Glow In The Dark (US / Germany) - 4,000 hand-numbered copies;

> Translucent Curacao (Europe) - 5,000 hand-numbered copies;

> Opaque Apricot (Worldwide) - 9,000 hand-numbered copies; and

> Opaque Gold (Good Records 'Good As Gold' exclusive) - 1,000 hand-numbered copies featuring exclusive 12"x12" chipboard print and trading card.

 

All versions of the release would have a bonus Desperado instrumental, which was captured the night before the show when Dennis, Michael and Neal checked out the gear at Good Records.

Live From The Astroturf Film Release Variants

It was also announced that a Release Party would be held at the Kessler Theatre, Dallas on the 27th August 2022. The details provided for the night were as follows: 

 

The evening will begin with a screening of the documentary followed by a Q+A with Chris Penn, Steven Gaddis, David Wilson, Aaron Thedford, Patrick Cone, & other folks associated with the film moderated by Robert Wilonsky.

 

The Mumbles will then perform the 1971 magnum opus "Love It To Death" in its entirety. The evening will close with DFW music scene stalwarts performing their takes on Alice Cooper classics and deep cuts. [DARYL], American Werewolf Academy, Baboon, Clifffs, Corner Suns, Nate Fowler’s Elixir, Motorcade, Tripping Daisy with more acts & surprises to come.

Worldwide Release Party Promotional Flyer

With the worldwide release rapidly approaching, promotional activity ramped up in September 2022. This included an article in The Dallas Observer, social media videos (see herehere and here), an official music video for I'm Eighteen (see below), a feature in the Record Store Day Podcast (which also included a really good interview with Alice that is principally about the original Group) and an article in The Dallas Morning News.  

Record Store Day Podcast promotional image

On the 30th September 2022 Live From The Astroturf hit record stores around the world, allowing many fans their first chance to savour the film. I was delighted to find the release in my own local record store (in Exeter, UK) and couldn't resist snapping up all the copies (even though I already had them on pre-order elsewhere!). 

Live From The Astroturf performed strongly with it debuting at #1 in the USA and German Album Charts and #1 in the UK music video charts. 

Live From The Astroturf 12" Vinyl Album / DVD

2022, Ear Music, 0217872EMU

This US / Germany Glow In The Dark 12" vinyl variant of Live From The Astroturf features a superb colour-coded gatefold sleeve. As with the original 12" release it includes a pink astroturf motif in the two slots where the goodies go in.

 

Inside is a heavyweight translucent glow in the dark disc with matching colour-coded labels and the DVD of the film in a separate card sleeve (which also now features Ryan Roxie, who took the place of Glen Buxton during the performance in Dallas).

 

Also provided is a large eight-page booklet featuring images, photos and excellent written pieces by Dennis Dunaway and Chris Penn. On the rear of the sleeve are further photos, track listings, a short note from Alice and the hand-numbered copy number (of which this is #2738 of 4,000). 

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf 12" Vinyl Album / DVD

2022, Ear Music, 0217873EMU

This European Curacao 12" vinyl variant of Live From The Astroturf (#707 of 5,000) is exactly the same as the Glow In The Dark version (above) only that it features alternative colour-coded sleeve and a striking translucent blue heavyweight disc.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf 12" Vinyl Album / DVD

2022, Ear Music, 0217874EMU

This worldwide Apricot 12" vinyl variant of Live From The Astroturf (#878 of 8,000) is exactly the same as the above versions only that it features alternative colour-coded sleeve and opaque apricot heavyweight disc.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf 12" Vinyl Album / DVD

2022, Ear Music, 0217919EMU

This USA 'Good As Gold' 12" vinyl variant of Live From The Astroturf (#453 of 1,000) is the same as the above versions only that it features alternative colour-coded sleeve and opaque gold heavyweight disc.

 

Additionally, it features an extra hype sticker, exclusive 12"x12" chipboard print and Alice Cooper trading card. The psych-style prints were produced in three colours, black (like this one), pink and white (see below). Both the print and outer plastic wallet are provided with stickers that were stamped with the same unique number provided on the rear of the record sleeve.

 

The additional goodies provided with this version meant that this was definitely the best of all four vinyl variants.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf 12" Vinyl Album / DVD

2022, Ear Music, 0217919EMU

 

This USA 'Good As Gold' 12" vinyl variant of Live From The Astroturf (#40 of 1,000) is the same as the above version only that it features alternative pink-themed 12"x12" chipboard print.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf 12" Vinyl Album / DVD

2022, Ear Music, 0217919EMU

 

This USA 'Good As Gold' 12" vinyl variant of Live From The Astroturf (#918 of 1,000) is the same as the above version only that it features alternative white-themed 12"x12" chipboard print.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf CD Album / Blu-Ray

2022, Ear Music, 0217875EMU

This worldwide CD / Blu-Ray variant of Live From The Astroturf (#6189 of 17,000) features a deluxe 'Digipak' and includes a 20-page booklet featuring abridged artwork compared to the vinyl versions (above).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Live From The Astroturf CD Album

2023, Ear Music, 0218549EMU

 

This worldwide CD only re-issue of Live From The Astroturf features a standard 'Digipak' and includes a slightly smaller 16-page booklet with abridged artwork compared to the original CD / Blu-Ray version (see images below for details of the altered pages).

 

Given that this doesn't include a DVD or Blu-Ray of the film, this is an unessential purchase unless you can't find the original release or genuinely only want the audio.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

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.

London premiere silkscreen poster (by Jennifer Wallace) signed by Dennis

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).     

Live From The Astroturf T-Shirt

2022

 

These excellent T-shirts were produced to coincide with the worldwide release of the movie, but weren't made widely available.

Live From The Astroturf Pin Badges

2022

 

These cool pin badges were also produced to coincide with the worldwide release of the movie and were limited to 150 pieces in each design.

For Alice Cooper interviews Click Here.