Local H is an alternative rock band best known for their 1996 single “Bound for the Floor,” the hit that taught an entire generation the meaning of the word “copacetic.” And while nostalgia radio stations are mostly stuck on that song, the band had a series of other tracks bubble up the charts back in the day, including “Eddie Vedder” and “All the Kids Are Right,” which featured an all-time-great music video in which singer/guitarist Scott Lucas and then-drummer Joe Daniels played a concert where they also played every single member of the audience. Yes, that’s right: in an unusual mode for a band that thrived during the days when four-piece guitar-rock groups were de rigueur, Local H operated for most of their history as a duo, albeit a duo that could make one heckuva racket. On the strength of their eclectic, electric live shows, the band has maintained a fervent cult following, a following that Lucas has paid tribute to with a new movie, titled Lifers: A Local H Movie.
Since the band has always operated out of the Chicago, a big portion of that fervent fanbase calls St. Louis home. The band has been playing here since their very first album dropped in 1995, from early shows at lost, lamented venues like Cicero’s, the Galaxy, the Side Door, The Firehouse, Rocket Bar, and even The Way Out Club, to support sets on the big stage at Pointfest, to more recent shows at the Duck Room and the Golden Record. So it stands to reason that St. Louis would get to host a pair of early screenings of the new Local H movie.
The St. Louis premiere takes place this Wednesday, March 5th, at Arkadin Cinema & Bar (5227 Gravois Ave.) with two showings: one at 7:00pm (which is sold out) and one at 9:30pm (with tickets still remaining, which run $15). The screenings, which are hosted by the long-running Strange Brew film series, will feature both an introduction by Lucas and a 30-minute Q&A after the film. Here’s the official movie summary:
Lifers: A Local H Movie is a hybrid concert film that not only documents the performance but also the communal excitement and experience of a group of fans going to a live rock concert. Starring Chicago (by way of Zion), Illinois’ cult rock dynamic duo Local H, and opening act Radkey, performing a sold-out concert at Chicago’s premiere alternative rock club the Metro, Lifersis shot in real time and follows the experience of multiple concert goers as their lives converge at the show. The blistering live performance by Local H is juxtaposed with the amusing adventures of the attendees at the show and ultimately crafts a borderline psychedelic cinematic rock n’ roll experience. Written, directed and edited by the band’s singer/guitarist Scott Lucas, Lifers is a cross between Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same and Richard Linklater’s Slacker, or as Lucas has described it, “the Goodbye, Dragon Inn of concert films.”
Check out the trailer for the film below. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit arkadincinema.com. | Jason Green
