Long Live Rock: Celebrate the Chaos (2019) - full transcript

-[bell chimes]
-[cheering]

[Man 1] We want our rock stars
to be unlike ordinary people.

Well, the rockstars became,
ordinary people.

Generally speaking, rock
is dead.

[bell chimes]

[Man 3] Rock is finally dead.

[Man 4] The biggest music on
earth is rap music.

[Man 5] There's so much
conversation about,

rock is dead. Is rock dead?
Is it not dead?

[Man 6] Rappers are the new
rockstars.

[bell chimes]



[Dee] When you come to the
middle of Ohio

and you've got Metallica
headlining a festival

that draws 100,000 people
every year,

pretty safe to say
rock is not dead.

[rock music]

[James] Let me hear you!

[Lars] It's a culture,
it's always been.

When everyone said rock is dead,
I was like, I don't get it.

I don't understand
what that means.

[rock music]

[Woman] Crowd surfing
is euphoria.

You're floating on the world.

It's so, like,
exhilarating and I'm gonna make

my way all the way up
to the front. Not walking,



not pushing people, nothing.

They're all gonna
take me up front.

["For Whom the Bell Tolls"
by Metallica playing]

♪ Make his fight on the hill
in the early day ♪

♪ Constant chill deep inside ♪

♪ Shouting gun, on they run
through the endless grey ♪

♪ On they fight, for the right,
yes, but who's to say ♪

[Woman 3] Sometimes the band's
gonna see me.

And sometimes they'll high-five
you,

or call you out
while you're doing it.

♪ For whom the bell tolls ♪

♪ Time marches on ♪

It is music, but it's also
a refuge, it's an escape.

It's a place of solidarity.

[Crowd] For whom the bell tolls.

[M] Hearing, you know,
"For Whom the Bell Tolls,"

sung by 70 000 people.
And it wasn't about Metallica,

as it was what Metallica was
doing to those people,

that made this energy swell
feel unbelievable.

[rock music]

[Woman 1] This total freedom.

You're on the top of the world
at that point.

♪ Take a look to the sky
just before you die ♪

♪ It's the last time
you will ♪

Nothing's like a rock show, man.

[Jonathan] The big gatherings of
like-minded people.

That's what's music's about.

All the disenfranchised feel
that they belong to something

that's much bigger
than themselves.

[Corey] I mean, when that crowd
is ready to pop,

and you can feel it
singing louder than you are,

through the PA system.

There's nothing better
than that.

[Rob] I'll be at something like
Comic Con.

And the actors are going,
"Oh my God, this is insane!"

[Rob] With all these fans
and they're freaking out having

so much interaction.

And I'm like, this is like
every fucking day on tour.

It's so much more than a career
choice, you know.

It's not something that, like,
we're not being driven by...

a pay-check, obviously.

We're not being driven
by the fame aspect of it.

[Lizzy] We're being driven by
the feeling that we get.

I don't listen to the reviews.

Anybody that says rock is dead,
is out for me.

[Rick] Metal and hard-rock
was always the outsider.

You're not featured
in mass media.

[Rick] You're...
you're really a little sub-set.

I didn't really choose to be a
guitarist, it kinda chose me.

I grew up on 7-11 parking lot
rock, in Libertyville, Illinois.

I found Kiss in a magazine
and Alice Cooper in a magazine.

And that led me to Sabbath
and ACDC.

Rock is not a genre.
Rock is a spirit.

I love the aggression of it.

It's an emotion.

[Tom] I love the escapist
element of it.

You either feel it,
or you don't.

I'm fortunate enough to play
in my favorite band.

That I was a fan of
when I was growing up.

According to the study from my
colleagues in Australia,

they talked about when you're
belonging to a community,

you're accepted.

I am planning to meet some
friends that I don't get to see,

once a year
and see some good music.

I'm glad that she gets to
go have a weekend for herself.

She does a lot around here.

Lot of responsibilities
and this is like her big event.

[Andrea] Definitely my therapy,
my mom trip.

The music my mom listens to
is loud.

It's not my favorite music.

[Andrea] Not much for hard rock?

No.

A deputy jailer here.

[Scott] Typical capacity of the
Graham County Detention Center,

we usually run with anywhere
between 115 to 130 inmates.

Currently, we're a little bit
over that.

[Scott] We have anything ranging
from people that failed to come

to court on a driving
without insurance ticket,

all the way up to murderers.

Whenever you can talk to inmates
about music,

things along those lines,
it kind of makes the stress

a lot lower, it makes it more
personal, like one on one.

Instead of deputy, inmate.
It's person to person talking.

[Scott] Guilkey was
an inmate here.

We met in booking on and off.

He would come in,
get out, come in.

I got sentenced to six years
for burglary and theft.

[Jami] We've known each other
since we were 14 and 15.

My wife now, we was together.

He started to get into trouble
when we were kids.

[Jami] Going to boy's homes,
getting sent off.

Just kind of, like,
petty things at first.

She left me
while I was in prison.

We kind of, like, split up
my junior year in high school.

Just because I was kind of,

trying to get away from
that lifestyle, yeah.

She wanted to better herself.
She went to college.

She's a nurse now,
makes good money.

We have been through a lot.

I come home from prison
and I was living in Cincinnati.

And we just got together,
started talking.

She comes to visit me
and I finally found...

I'm coming home with you.
[laughs]

[laughter and chatter]

I really like the idea of
bringing everybody together.

I had a lot of friends that
liked the same type of music.

I started a MySpace page for
Keggs and Eggs, a tailgate.

But when I pulled up,
they had a space set aside.

So I'm like, man, this is great.

Shortly after that,
Scott messaged me and said,

"We need to take this
to a whole other level."

I was like, I've got
some spare time on my hands.

I was like, so I made it up
real quick and...

added this guy that I only knew
as Mr. G at the time.

But who later became one of my
best friends, Justin Griffin.

And it exploded.

I started going to the festival
the first year,

with a couple of friends.
Ran into the party crew.

The guys were very inviting

and explained to me
what they were doing,

where they were all from,
how they all met up,

and invited me to come
back with them next year.

Or to meet up with them and go
to other music events

throughout the year.

And everybody wanted
to be a part of it.

[Justin] It really just,
out of nowhere,

thousands of people started
just chiming in.

Having chatrooms and it became
something kinda surreal to us.

[rock music]

When we were first going out,
one of the things she said was,

I had to go to sleep at night,

listening to
Metallica's Black Album.

I gotta marry her.

[Tiffany] I knew right of the
bat that music was

very important to Justin.

Instantly. that was one
of the things

that we enjoyed doing together.

[Justin] I think our second date
was going down to see Shinedown.

[cheering]

I've never liked the cliches
and stereotypes that come

with this music.

People think you can pick out
who is and isn't

into this music,
by how they look.

When we talk to people about
the music that we listen to,

and in the small community that
we live in and I'm a teacher,

and we go to church, there is an
inital feeling us versus them.

They know me on this level as,
the little church girl

with her pants on or skirts
and everything's covered.

And then they're like, "What are
you doing this weekend?

"You wanna hang out? You wanna
go fishing, go to the river?"

No, I'm going to this festival.

A what?

That's satanic music.

Doctors, lawyers, brain surgeons
love this music.

This music is way wider reaching
than I think a lot of people

give it credit for.

We both had just finished
failing marriages.

We had been in an editorial
board of a dental magazine.

[Gytis] We noticed each other
and hit it off instantly.

I had a love for rock and roll
for many, many years.

Prior to meeting Sara,
I had kind of let that go

by the wayside. And we
discovered rock and roll again.

[Gytis] Once we started seeing
each other, it was game on.

[phone ringtone]

You're here?

[car honking]

[Drew] The reason I suspect that
there is such

a tribal community
around rock music,

is that it is, has it's roots
in tribal music.

There's
something visceral and...

primitive about, you know,
what it hits in us.

So, naturally enough, it would
gather a community around

those very issues.

We're on a mission from God.

We're getting the band
back together.

[groaning]

-Hey!
-Hey!

-You guys ready to go?
-Yep.

I'm more than ready,
I've been waiting.

The tribal-ness of finding
your people and you're kind of

all against the world.

Hard rock music has the ability
to, actually save a lot

of adolescents and it's
their sense of community

that is actually empowering.

[Kevin] Because we're social
animals, we're relatively weak

on our own.
We would be seen as prey.

[Kevin] The pack of wolves,
they're seeking that one target.

Once the members of the
hard rock community

adopted this persona,

they had the protection
of other members.

[Kevin] That would
have their back.

The bullies perceive them
no longer as targets.

[Kevin] Belonging to this
community can give one

a sense of armor.
You're now standing tall.

Springfield, Ohio.
We're about an hour west,

southwest of Columbus.

It's little, it's a small town.

I mean my...the high school that
I went to and that they,

my children will go to is...

legit cornfields on four sides.

All right, guys.
After I drop you off,

I won't see you again until
Monday.

[kid whines]

[Andrea] Usually, you guys get
the radio on the way to school,

but momma's gonna get the radio.

-If you don't mind.
-[Son] I do mind.

[chuckles]
You'll like it.

[loud hard rock music]

Do you feel it now?

No!

[heavy metal music]

Come on, Ryan!

And if I get a turn,
it's a lot of nasty faces.

-La,la,la,la,la,la.
-[heavy metal continues]

She does crank it up too loud.

All right, you got everything?

[rock music]

[Jake] Rock and roll,
in a sense,

it's reinterpreted by every
generation.

That has never gone away.
There's a soul about it.

["Highway Tune"
by Greta Van Fleet playing]

♪ We're stopping at the green
light, girl ♪

♪ Because I want to
get your signal ♪

♪ No going at the green light,
girl ♪

♪ Because I want to be
with you now ♪

♪ You are my special ♪

♪ You are my special ♪

♪ You are my midnight,
midnight, yeah ♪

♪ So sweet ♪

♪ So fine ♪

♪ So nice ♪

♪ All mine ♪

I go from one day doing this,
to 16-hour shifts at work

for a couple of days,
to being wild and crazy.

and letting loose
and being free.

[hard rock music]

♪ Oh sugar ♪

♪ Cause it's about
to get heavy ♪

[Devil by Shinedown playing]

♪ It's about to be on, heavy,
heavy, heavy ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm bangin', slingin'
napalm ♪

♪ So nobody move ♪

♪ Cause I was sent to warn you,
the Devil's in the next room ♪

I think I read somewhere
on MySpace,

somebody called themselves
the party crew.

[Gary] Let's build on that, make
it feel like it's their home.

It's their festival. So the
party crew started spreading.

[Gary] They have a hunger for
this genre. They believe in it.

They live it. They are hard
working family men and women.

These people, it's a family.

[Corey] And it's a family unlike
I've ever seen before.

And I'm so proud to be
a part of it.

This fan community has been
driven more than ever

off of the fact that there are
so many rock festivals now.

Festival shows bring you back
down to earth, man.

[MGK] Cause you have to
impress them.

So, that hunger that it brings
out is much different

than a headlining show.

Because, headlining shows,

every single person in there
came to sing their words.

Festivals, I'm
sorry, but...

I gotta be the best one.

Of course they wanna see bands
they like and care about.

But, they really wanna see
their friends.

You definitely get to see the
people that you haven't seen.

Like I'm seeing
one of my very good friends.

-How you doing?
-Oh, my God.

Good to see you, good to
see you. Looking good, man.

See, like that.

These festivals are awesome,
you know.

We see all our good friends.

[Jerry] I love playing
festivals.

It allows you to play to kind of
bigger audiences,

than maybe you would
play on your own.

We get a lot of
young bands, too.

They wanna get together, they
wanna camp, they wanna party.

It's that destination for them
every year.

[rock music]

On three! On three!

One, two, three!

[all cheering]

And sometimes music
and concerts,

a live concert experience

is maybe even more
important now than ever.

Because it's that place where
you just dance

shoulder to shoulder
with people.

[Ed] And you're not necessarily
on your phone the whole time.

You're watching a show, you're
getting it. The being together.

[Eddie] It's become a huge
communal experience.

It's built about that,
more than it is about

who's actually playing.

Fans of metal and hard rock,

are completely different
from fans

of any other genre.

I mean, we're just die hard
into it.

We are stronger together.

I want everyone to help me bring
on the next artist.

Ready? One, two, three.

[All] Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!

-[Jose] Keep it up! Keep it up!
-[crowd] Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!

[Jose] As a community, we came
together for a big ass tribute.

Pantera founder,
lifelong idol Vinnie Paul.

[Jose] Also from the band
Hellyeah, was supposed to play

with Hellyeah
at the Aftershock Festival.

But tragically, he passed away
a few months before

that can happen.

We were all, as a community,
deeply struck by

the loss of our friend Vinnie.

So, we put together
a supergroup tribute.

I asked a bunch of my friends
that were playing that day,

if they would jam in
Vinnie's honor.

And they all said, "Hell yeah!"

[Jose] I even shaved my head,
in Vinnie's honor.

It's just a brotherhood,
you gotta just...

respect each other.

The bottom line with any of us,
we just got each other's backs.

You're just kind of embodying
yourself

into this whole lifestyle.
It's just a matter of...

becoming a part of it,
or at least respecting it.

The festivals are always cool.

You know, you have so many
friends that you run into.

So, it's always good catching up
with people

and seeing everybody.

[Zakk] It's like summer camp,
you know what I mean?

And you're gonna go meet all
your friends.

One of the great things
about rock, I think,

is that it, in some respects,

it changes,
but it doesn't change.

You know, there's a fan
community of rock and roll,

that is there.

Like, just recently, I went to
an Iron Maiden show,

and I saw people there that were
obviously grandsons.

With their fathers and
with their grandfathers.

I remember when the manager
for Iron Maiden took me to

one of their very first shows
in London.

You know, you saw this, like,
power of this community

start to build.

When you belong into
a community, you're...

you're accepted,
you're validated, you're heard.

[Kevin] You have self-respect.

[Andy] And you're seeing like
this generational thing.

And why? Why is it generational
for this kind of music?

It's very much like sport
in a way.

If you're a Yankee fan,
probably your father was

a Yankee fan, your grandfather
was a Yankee fan.

[Brent] It goes deep into the
family roots.

From the youngest, to the great,
great grandmother

and grandfather.

[Brent] We see entire families
come to our shows.

It's part of our DNA, it's
passed on.

I see it with a lot of heavy
metal families.

[Jose] They're dads and they're
and they're bringing their kids,

and their kids are bringing
their kids.

[metal music]

Welcome to home sweet home.

[Korey] So, when we're on the
road, kids wake up, come up.

This whole front lounge here,
is school zone.

So, here usually sits the nanny.

Our son's right here
on the table.

My daughter prefers her space,
so she's over here.

She takes up that whole couch.

As soon as we'll get in from
a show, like, 11:30 at night,

or midnight, we'll come in, and
the kids will be in their bunks.

And they'll go, "Dad, dad."
They'll whisper.

"When's bus call? We can't sleep
unless the bus rolls."

Here's the kids' bunks, all the
way in the bottom,

they're hard to see.

This is my son, you can see his
Star Wars puzzles in there.

[John] There it is. Star Wars.

This is Alex's, this is
our daughter's bunk here.

I don't remember if she has
anything in there fun.

Oh yeah, she's got some.

[Korey] She's our writer.

She wants to write and inspire
people.

We're on the road,
we go out to eat or something

and we would take, we would
want to get like a to-go box.

And I remember the waitress
saying to our kids,

"Oh, you take this home?"

And they say,
"No, we take it to the bus."

And... they thought everyone
lived on a bus.

They're with us all the time.

And you see things you wouldn't
expect. Like, for instance,

I can't remember
which tour it was,

my eight-year-old
daughter, Alex,

playing barbies with Maria
from In This Moment, you know.

At catering.

Oh, my kids are wild. I've got
an eight-year-old who's my diva.

Faith. And then I have one
that will be two, Frankie.

And that one's my stepper.
I love my kids.

[Abby] She's gonna get right
along with me and the little one

will be at the festivals
and stuff with me, eventually.

But the oldest is like, "Go
away, Mom."

Like, "You're embarrassing."

-My name is Michelle Sabatate.
-Etienne Sabatate.

Originally from New Orleans,
Louisiana.

[Michelle] We met in a bar.
We retired from the army.

After 20 years of service.
And we decided to get married.

[Michelle] So I moved
to Georgia with him.

[Abby] Michelle is a riot.
I love her to death.

The first time I met her,
she was crowd surfing,

in a banana suit.

[Michelle] It was a banana,

with dreadlocks
and the rasta hat.

But she is a riot.
She'll crowd walk and she like,

surfs on her husband.

[Michelle] We decided to crowd
surf with him surfing

and me jump on top of him.
And I surfed him.

It was not really planned,
she said, "I wanna surf you."

And then, I just, I didn't
really know how to do it.

But we had to, kind of,
tell people around us

what we were doing.
To get everybody in on it.

You basically hit chest
and chest.

And then we lift both of you.

[John] It kind of took
some big folks to get me up.

Basically, I go up and then she
has to, I have to pull her up

on top of me.
Which kind of takes a minute.

[John] When she surfs me, I see
her in the sky and that's it.

["Wash It All Away" by
Five Finger Death Punch playing]

♪ I've given up on the industry,
up on democracy ♪

♪ Done with all your hypocrisy ♪

♪ All of the chaos ♪

♪ And all of the lies,
I hate it ♪

♪ I'm wasting here, can anyone ♪

♪ Wash it all away ♪

♪ I'm waiting here for anyone ♪

♪ To wash it all away ♪

♪ Wash it all away! ♪

[heavy metal riff]

♪ I've given up on the media ♪

♪ Feeds my hysteria, sick of
living down on my knees ♪

♪ I've given up on morality ♪

♪ Feeds my brutality,
fuck what you think about me ♪

I don't know what compels people
to want to jump

on top of other people.

It is such a rush when I get
up there and I see the crowds.

[Andy] You're watching a human
being, surf on top of other

human beings. I mean,
there's nothing like it.

[birds chirping]

That's road rash. Mm-hm.

And I'm gonna fill it in with
red, so that you can see

where it was messed up.

It was pretty bad. I mean,
I'm pretty blessed to be here.

[Abby] In the motorcycle wreck
there was a guy that had

walked out in front of my fiancé
and I, to pick up tire tread.

And we ended up actually
running into him.

[Abby] He hit a pole and died
pretty much immediately.

I went up and kept going
in the grass and the bike went

quite a ways back out
into the main highway.

I don't really remember anything
until about a week after

I woke up in the hospital.

And they went in
and take my leg.

-Ready go!
-Ready go!

-Ready go!
-Ready go! Where're you going?

[ominous music]

[laughs]
Where are we going?

It's been kind of a battle
ever since then.

Give me kisses!

Girls are the fuel, man.

They are what drive the whole...

-Everything.
-Yes.

That's why anybody does
what they do.

The male domination is what
ruined rock music.

[Rob] With the crowd,
it became like a dude fest.

And let's face it, go back to
Beatlemania, go back to Elvis,

go back to Led Zeppelin.

The girls fucking
lead the charge.

As a female, I feel like so many
don't understand what actually

is happening here. And yes,
there are a lot of males.

You just come to these things.
And the lyrics, for rock songs,

and that genre in general,
is like... it's amazing.

It takes about your breakups, it
takes about your life

and your job. Rock itself is all
about your feelings.

You have to just be so
comfortable and open

with yourself, to be able to go
out into a world of 100 000 men,

and there's three or four of us
girls in here. Head first.

[rock music]

[Noodles] Lately, we've had
a lot of girls coming over,

crowd surfing, you know, while
their boyfriends are in a pit.

Kind of in the back now.

I literally have chills. There's
nothing more empowering

and rewarding and exciting
and exhilarating for me,

to see women crowd surfing
with confidence.

You know, nine times out of ten
everybody's cool.

Every once in a while there's
some weird groper out there.

[Jacoby] I've called duded out.
I'm like, "Yo!

"Y'all gotta respect the ladies,
if they're gonna crowd surf,

"You can't be grabbing on them."

[Allison] And for women to get
up there and crowd surf

and start the pit, it just says
a lot about your character.

It's really cool to see females
crowd surfing.

[Dorothy] I love it when they
give no fucks.

You learn to adapt,
when you're crowd surfing.

Especially as a female.

[Abby] The first time I went to
a festival in my chair was with

my best friend
and we were kind of drunk,

watching one of the bands.
He was gassing me, like,

"I bet you won't do it."
I'm like, yes I will.

[Abby] So I did it.

I see a lady in a wheelchair
fucking crowd surfing!

That's right! You ready!

And the people carried me over
and I just remember like the...

the rush. Like they
never, they didn't drop me.

They've never dropped me.

[Abby] Usually when I get...
by the time I get to the front,

like, I'll come out of my chair,
most of the time.

[Abby] I've actually carried my
chair on top of me before.

[chuckles]

[Abby] They'll, like, pass it
back to me.

They always make sure it gets
back to me.

And a security guard will hold
me and they'll send my chair,

set me in it
and I'll roll on out.

I mean, you have to...
you have to consciously be aware

of what's happening around you,
but also how you can actually

hold your body
as you crowd surf.

Like, I've learned over
the years,

it doesn't really feel good

to the people grabbing you,
but I'll cross my ankles.

It keeps my legs together and
tight, so nobody can grab a hold

of me in any inappropriate way.

[Jessie] If you're willing to
crowd surf or to get in

mosh pits, you have to know the
consequences that could happen.

First time without the chair.

And I go up and they throw me up
and I have the leg on.

And it's like, mid...
I get like mid...

halfway to the pit and I get
dropped.

And while they go to throw me up
they're like, "Are you ok?"

And I'm like, I'm good,
I'm good.

[Abby] They go to throw me back
up, they ripped this leg off.

Like, they ripped it off of me
and sent me over.

So, I get over there and the guy
is like,"What?"

He goes to pass me down, he sets
me down, I'm like hopping up.

And he's like, "What the fuck?"
And I sat down.

So he's coming over and sets me
on, like, the side stage.

And he's like,
"What, where is your leg?"

[Abby] And I sat there for
almost the whole set.

Here it comes, finally.
And I die.

Here comes a security guard.
Every time he passes somebody

they're taking a picture of him,
holding my leg.

[Abby] And then I get it and
there's a damn unopened beer

in the top of my leg when they
send it back.

[laughs]

[cheerful music]

We're actually in a wonderful
time right now in music.

There are incredible, strong,
female artists.

My mother bought me a live
Heart CD.

[Lizzy] And it blew my mind.

It encouraged me,
because unlike...

Ann Wilson and unlike Pat
Benatar and unlike Stevie Nicks,

I had that light
at the end of the tunnel.

[Lizzy] Well, they did it.
So I can too.

Rock is such a male dominated,
testosterone driven genre.

It's got a lot of angst.

I feel women are pressured
to be in other genres.

Like, when you think of
a female singer,

you probably think of a pop
star or a country star.

I did have to have
very thick skin.

And I had to pull through a lot
of adversity,

just because I was female.

[Lizzy] I remember a lot of
times when we were stringing

our own guitars, before we had
techs or anything.

And I'm stringing my guitar
and this one hand comes up.

And this guys come up,
he's like,

"Oh, my girlfriend never does
that for me before a show."

And I'm like, man.

For years, most would be like,
oh are you the merch girl,

the girlfriend or whatever.

[Lizzy] And not necessarily
in a rude way,

but just not assuming
that I'm in the band at all.

I'm obviously somebody's
girlfriend.

And then you go on stage
and you do your thing.

And then, "Oh, I'm so sorry.
I didn't know you where in."

You know, that kind of thing.

And definitely,
I feel that pat on the head.

Like, oh that's cute for a girl.

There's a lot to prove.
I'm just gonna get up there

and be as excellent as I can
up here.

I'm gonna rock harder
than the guys,

cause then it can turn from girl
in the band to respect.

Females,
they've always been there.

Now it's just more of
an equality,

rather than a separation.

There is a certain energy out
there and this certain, like,

fire that's going on and kind of
a sisterhood, you know.

And it's really beautiful,
I think.

[Lizzy] If there was any sexist
anything going on...

I kind of brush it off. Because
it's about...

whether you can walk on stage
and do something

that nobody else in the room
can do.

The mosh pits look like they're
crazy, people getting bloody.

[Kevin] It's pretty easy to get
into an ultra state,

when you're into rock music.

Particularly rock music that you
really love.

There's so many
rock and roll fans.

And they're very enthusiastic,
passionate.

It's altering. And in an altered
state, people do things that

they wouldn't otherwise do.
Like jump out on a crowd.

["Burn It" by Fever 333 playing]

♪ Sometimes you gotta burn it
down to build it up again ♪

♪ Lights go out in the town
we're living in ♪

♪ Burn it down when no-one's
innocent ♪

♪ Burn it down ♪

♪ I am a gun! ♪

Definitely the scene gets
misinterpreted as being...

dark and dirty and satanic.

[Jonathan] I mean, anyone that
comes and sees a rock show and

sees people beating the shit out
of each other in a pit, for fun.

Will definitely think it's bad,
but it's not.

It's more of a camaraderie.

People come together
and just want to

get their aggressions out.

Many have attributed
the mosh pit to...

to that of kind of like a tribal
war dance.

[Kevin] Like a rite of passage.

Like you're accepted into
this dance, into this...

ball of energy
that's swirling around.

And you're contributing to it
and you're being fed by it

simultaneously.

I'll tell you this. The people
in the mosh pit are probably

having more fun
than anybody at the show.

If you're wanting
to go up front,

there's gonna be a mosh pit
and they don't care your gender

at that point. You're either
gonna be thrown into it,

or you're gonna have to run
the other direction.

[Jessie] If you wanna stay
there,

you have to stand your ground.

[M] It's just a great time to
let out some energy

and get sweaty. And meet some
friends in there that you

wouldn't normally know.
Grab someone around the

shoulder and run around
a couple times with them.

You meet these new people
that are the same way as you.

[Jessie] You're as open-handed
as possible.

You're as gentle as you can be
to run in and hit somebody.

[rock music]

If someone falls down,
what do you do?

Whole place, at the same time,
pick them up.

They will always
pick each other up.

They will look out
for everyone else.

[Jonathan] No one's out there to
really get hurt.

And the people that do go out
there to purposefully hurt

people get dealt with by
everyone in the crowd.

It's a big camaraderie.

Everybody is looking out
for each other.

And it's a way that they release
whatever's going on.

[Jonathan] Other people go out
and go play golf.

Mosh pit is adrenaline.
It's like the...

the sheep. You know, the sheep
that head-but each other

on the mountain?
That's what it is.

It helps you release all your
stress that you have tensed up.

If there is a person in there
who's just being too violent,

we'll pull them aside
and we'll talk to them.

And usually they'll calm down.
No fists, no elbows. Period.

[rock music]

[Abby] I was definitely
a mosher.

I came out bloody every time.

[Abby] I'd go in and kind of
scope out the crowd and see

where the big guys are standing.

And what I'll do, is I'll go
there and I'll clear

it the hell out. And then I'll
just stand in the back

and be like, this is my baby.
I created this.

I'll get in there,
I'll push everybody on.

I'll open it up and then I'll
just stand back

and watch it go. And then
usually I'll sit down

in my chair and just kick people
back in, push them back in.

[drum beat]

I'd like to welcome to the
stage...

The Olentangy Orange!

[Jacoby] This brotherhood and
this family vibe in the pit.

I just saw my boys Beartooth.

I was in the pit. You get in
there and you're in the pit for

a while and there's couple dudes
who are like, "Yeah, dude."

Sick, rock on. Giving me hugs
and they're like,

"Oh shit. Singer from P Roach in
the pit?"

I'm like, yeah! Let's go!

♪ Sing it louder just to let
the world know ♪

♪ No we're not nameless, we're
not faceless ♪

♪ We were born for greatness ♪

[heavy metal music]

♪ We're not nameless,
we're not faceless ♪

♪ We were born for greatness ♪

My goal, was to make sure...

everybody knows that there's no
rules,

other than have the best time
that you possibly can.

[Caleb] Mosh, jump.

Get covered in sweat and sing
until your voice is gone.

I started touring
with Public Enemy.

And we would go to Europe.

[Ice-T] We figured out,
with hip-hop,

if you took it uptempo,
a mosh pit would start.

[rock music]

Now, if you're a musician,
if you ever stood in front of

a mosh pit, there's nothing more
mesmerizing than a mosh pit.

[Ice-T] Fuck a crowd waving
their hands in the air.

Motherfuckers slamming and just
that turmoil

because you're playing.

It's just a wild feeling,
you know.

To control that energy.

[Interviewer] Talk about
the wall of death.

[chuckles]
I don't like the wall of death.

You put 30 000 people, 50 000
people in an arena,

it becomes, you know,
it can be dangerous.

The wall of death was certainly
just an absolute,

crazy nightmare.

We don't encourage it.

That's, like,
the legal disclaimer.

I can't say that,
but you know what's coming.

First time I ever saw the wall
of death, we did this festival

in Antwerp, Belgium.

And we did it with this
east-coast hard core band,

Sick of It All.
And so they were like,

"Split the crowd down
the middle."

Pick a side motherfuckers!

[Seyth] They can split an entire
crowd.

Let's me or you go try and split
an entire crowd one time.

Just think about that.

-[Musician] You know what to do?
-[crowd cheering]

[Seyth] That's 30 000 people.
They're just splitting apart.

It's crazy.
They have that power.

[Musician] You guys go this way,
you guys go that way.

But remember, anybody falls,
you pick them up.

[Jacoby] The called it
the Braveheart.

I saw it and I was just like...

Oh, my God.

[music building]

Everybody in the crowd splits
and then, you know,

you got one side versus
the other side.

And as soon as the song breaks
in on the hard drop,

it's just warfare.

[heavy metal music]

♪ Yeah it's do or die, strength
in numbers ♪

♪ Unify or it's do or die,
strength in numbers! ♪

♪ Unify or it's do or die,
strength in numbers! ♪

♪ Unify or it's do or die,
strength in numbers! ♪

♪ Unify or it's do or die,
strength in numbers! ♪

♪ Strength, strength, strength,
strength in numbers ♪

♪ Strength, strength, strength,
strength in numbers ♪

♪ Strength, strength, strength,
strength in numbers ♪

♪ Strength, strength, strength,
strength ♪

[music fading out]

This kind of music brings out
a type of person that wants

to release their energy, but
they don't want to release it

in a bad way.
They wanna have fun.

They have a certain way to do
it, but it's always respectful.

It's mosh pitting
and it's crowd surfing.

[Seyth] During Five Finger Death
Punch, he wanted everybody to

come shake his hand one time.

I hated it, because he made
my life a living hell.

But it was really cool.
Because they came

and they came like crazy.

[Seyth] It's like ants. I sat
there during one song

and counted just
how many bodies came over.

And it was over 250 bodies that
came over for one song.

[Noodles] When we first started
playing at these big festivals,

it was almost, kind of an
adversarial role,

between the security up front
and the kids in the back.

And now, it's kind of like,
you know, we're all part

of the same team and those guys
are there to catch you

when you come over
the barricade.

And then you go back out
and you're back in the crowd.

And you come back over again,
you know.

They're like the guys
at Disneyland,

that get you on the ride,
you know.

They catch you,
put you on your way.

[Seyth] It is a science,
believe it or not.

There's a certain way to do
this.

Our secret is,
we get college football teams.

My name is Tyler Haines,
I'm the head football coach

of Urbana University. These are
Urbana University blue knights.

This is an opportunity for our
guys to develop teamwork

and the ability to help people

have a good time
by crowd surfing.

Making sure they get a safe
landing, so they can go back out

and enjoy the rest of the day.

Just like a football team,
there's a lot of logistics that

go into what we do. As you can
see, I got some big guys here,

that really man
the front lines for us.

[Tyler] What I look for in guys
that can help us here

in the front lines,
in the battle lines,

is guys that can be counted on,
protect their teammates

and do their job when asked.

The rule is, as they're coming
it's safety. Right?

Safety for the patron
and safety for the guard.

So as they're coming, you always
wanna look for feet.

So what we'll do is, we'll see a
crowd surfer coming.

Every surfer is different.

Different type, weight,
different speed coming at us.

And what we do is,
we have a guy step up,

just put your foot up, ok?

[Tyler] And he's the one that's
gonna collect and make sure

they come down safe.
We're gonna move their feet.

So we don't get kicked and no
one else gets kicked.

[Tyler] He's gonna move their
feet, pick them up.

Two guys, two teammates, are not
just gonna stand and watch,

we're gonna brace
as he steps down.

He's gonna put the person down,
we're gonna escort them to the

side and bring them back again.

What happens more than
anything, believe it or not,

are guards breaking ankles.

When they come down, if there's
any hazards or anything,

and they come down and they step
down hard, if they're somebody

heavy and they roll their ankle.
That happens a lot.

We're in it, we're headbanging
with them.

We're catching them,
putting them down.

They're so excited to be there
and we're so excited

to be there with them.

When you catch them, they think
they have to give you a hug,

so you catch them and not
letting them fall.

Two or three pretty amazing
security guards that I see,

like every year.

The girl in the wheelchair is
crowd surfing.

You just remember them, like,
catching me, over the crowd.

The crowd up here saw and they
started roaring.

It exhausts me just watching
them just constantly pass over,

person after person
after person.

We seen a wheelchair come up,
that was amazing to me.

And I liked the way she
conducted herself.

Fuck yeah!

[Dragula by Rob Zombie playing]

The whole reason I got into rock
music and wanted to do this,

because I didn't fucking give
a shit what everybody else

was doing and I wanted to do
what I wanted to do.

♪ Dead I am the sky, watching
angels cry ♪

♪ While they slowly turn,
conquering the worm ♪

♪ Dig through the ditches and
burn through the witches ♪

♪ I slam in the back of my
Dragula! ♪

Rob Zombie's been there.
He's done the movies.

Horror is the hard rock of the
movie business.

Hard rock music and horror
movies sort of live

the same path.

You're not gonna see any horror
movies win Academy Awards.

So, when people are crying about
being accepted, I go...

fucking who gives a shit.

The horror movies
and the music alike,

just bring people together.

People can connect to
them, they feel something.

[Tiffany] Whether you're
listening to the music.

You're feeling something,
when you're watching

The Devil's Rejects.

It's a complete marriage,
horror and heavy metal.

[Rob] That's what it is
and that's why I like it.

He's crossed the barriers.

One of the only people to parlay
a rock career into movies.

[Rob] To me, I'm only here
for one reason.

So that show can be perfect.

He's a showman.

Rob Zombie's really good at
making you experience his art.

[Rob] Even if it seems like
we're fucking around,

it's well orchestrated
fucking around.

It's so entertaining. Like,
you can't keep your eyes away.

The entertainment factor
is the most important thing.

I think when it comes
to rock and roll,

I would love to see more
entertainment.

When people talk about what's
happened to rock music,

that's the main thing.

I think that there was a time
period when grunge came in.

And the first bands that came
through, like the Nirvanas,

were fucking rock stars.

They may have been
wearing flannel,

but they were rock stars
under the flannel.

And then everybody took that,
like, "Oh, we can just be

"a bunch of lazy slobs on stage
and we're fucking rock stars."

As rock lost it's way and lost
it's swagger and it's cool,

and the bands started to become
these bands that look like they

just came from work
at the 7-eleven and forgot

to change their clothes
on the way to the stage.

And that was right when the rap
guys were coming up.

And everyone said, look at
those guys,

they are fucking rock stars.

DMX, Lil Wayne, Drake.
I mean, come on, dude.

The first Ice-T power record
like really spoke to me.

It's one of those records help
me get through stuff.

Met Ice-T back in like '89.

Ice-T is an amazing,
thought provoking motherfucker.

We got in trouble
for "Cop Killer".

They called it a rap record,
you know.

[Ice-T] But that was a racist
way of saying it.

Because they didn't want to
call it rock, you know.

Maybe... you know...

Hey, that is a protest record.

But you say rap...
it's made by them niggers.

We listen to Ice-T and we listen
to other people from

south central tell us how bad
the police were.

[Bob] And then all of a sudden,
Rodney King happens.

And you're like, holy shit.
They're right.

And you just felt it shift.

This is not a hobby for them.
They mean it.

Those are rock stars.

Definitely felt like a musical
outcast growing up.

We are that generation that grew
up on hard core.

We get questions all the time,
like,"Why are you guys rappers?"

Lot of the stigma comes from
within our own community.

If you're a rapper, and you're
white, than rap motherfucker.

[Ice-T] Don't play.
Show us what you can do.

If you Chinese, black,
I don't give a fuck.

You pick up that guitar, they
gonna wanna see if you got

any blitz,
if you can, you know...

[Ice-T] Can you shred?
I don't give a fuck.

You know, a lot of
African-Americans are kinda like

"Yo, this isn't...
isn't for you."

It's not for us,
that's for them.

It was white boy shit.

When reality couldn't be further
from the truth.

Black kids growing up felt
intimidated to say that some

of their favorite music was
rock and roll, was metal.

It was whatever, punk, because
it was just too different.

But what they don't realize is,
like, it's roots

are in minority people.

We're kind of a living
embodiment of the world

we'd like to one day see.
Multi-racial.

Both joyous and celebrates
resistance to injustice.

We're all here together.

This isn't a white thing.
It's for everyone.

If you go back to Chuck Berry,
you go back to early blues.

Like it just transformed into
what it is today.

If you're a girl, guy,
doesn't matter.

If you're black,
you go out there and rock shit.

That's all people
really care about.

We're on a quest, man.
We wanna bring rock back.

[Ice-T] Rock thrived in the 60s.

Rock thrived during
the stress moments.

No progressive, radical or
revolutionary social movement

has ever succeeded
without a great soundtrack.

You know, and now, you know,
with Korea and Russia

and all this shit.
That impending doom

has motherfuckers worried.

[Ice-T] There's a lot of
material there.

If you're an entertainer,
you don't show your dark side.

[Rob] Your whole life is hiding
it, essentially.

They're drinking or taking drugs
or partying.

And that person's gonna kill
themselves.

And sometimes they do and you
see it, sort of happening.

[Jeff] We discover drugs
and alcohol.

And man, they are the magic key
in the lock.

I had two different DUIs.

I tried to stop so many times.
It just...

wasn't working.

And they caught me
with some pills and a needle.

[Guilkey] I did heroin a lot.

When we grow up in a society
where it's so widely accepted

to drink and it's everywhere.

You don't really know that
you're an alcoholic.

The first thing that happens is,
the drugs and the alcohol...

they work. They treat the
addiction beautifully.

And they even us out.

[Dorothy] I would have to drink,
you know.

Whisky was my thing.
Whisky and cocaine.

Get high or die trying,
it's self-explanatory, man.

When you're out there,
you're gonna do whatever.

The second thing that happens,
is they stop working.

And then eventually that turned
into anxiety

and turned into pills.

We start to seek out more,
or different combinations.

It just was a never-ending cycle
of hell.

You're gonna do
whatever you gotta do.

[Guilkey] Got into a fight
on the street over drugs,

over drug money.

My pancreas burst.
That woke me up.

[Guilkey] I got stabbed and it
went three and a half inches

deep, it went through my heart
and into my lungs.

My lung was filling up with
blood and I was gurgling.

And I passed out.

[Duff] Triage at Northwest
hospital in Seattle.

They had to get me of the DTs.

Which is something
you can die from.

[Guilkey] When I got stabbed,
I was on Xanaxes.

If I had went into shock,
it would have gone even faster.

Doctors brought me back,

they life flighted me
to Columbus.

Librium with a button on this...
this side.

That's for your alcohol
withdrawals.

And I flatlined three times.

[beeping]

[flatlining]

And I had morphine in this arm,
with a button.

For the burns inside.

They got me going
and I was lucky to be alive.

But the morphine and the librium
together...

were keeping me breathing.

I grew up with a lot of
addiction in my family.

And there are certain drugs,
the prime one being opioids,

which are physically addicting.

My mom had a back surgery when
she was young.

And so, what started as pain
management,

became the need for a high.

[Tiffany] She was addicted to
prescription pain meds.

And she just... could never
overcome that.

[Harold] In 2017, 70 000 people
died of opioid overdose.

That's tragic.

Lost one of my brothers
to a heroin overdose.

We certainly can't help anybody
until and unless they're

ready to be helped.

And another one killed himself
because he got back on heroin.

It can be a very lonely thing to
have to deal with.

It's been...you know, tough to
see all of these people

around you, um,
self-destructing.

I'm allergic to alcohol.
If I put it in my body,

I cannot predict the outcome
of what's going to happen.

Despite how much money you have,
or despite how many kids

you have at home, despite
how many tour dates you do.

It's like, somebody who has
diabetes can't put certain

things in their body.
It'll make you sick.

We have this disease
that's killing us.

And that's repeatedly telling
us, "I'm fine.

I got it under control. I'll be
ok. I'm a lead singer

in a huge rock band, of course
I'm gonna blow off steam."

I can do lines and drink beers
with the best of them.

It's like, you know, when you
realize why you're here.

One of those moments.

The rush that you get from
performing in front of

thousands of people who are
screaming your name,

and just absolutely and pure
adulation.

[Jeff] And you get off stage
and all of a sudden that

11 goes to zero.

Guns and Roses
was like a gang.

It was us against the world.

I think if you're in a good band
and believe in yourself,

you gotta think that way.

[Duff] You start to build up,
like our band did

and you start playing
huge places.

There's easier access
to self-medicate.

You know, one of my clients,
Janis Joplin,

used to talk about that a lot.

She was like, "On stage I make
love with 10,000 people.

Then I get off stage and I'm
all alone and have no idea

what to do with myself."

[Drew] The people that seek this
out are bidding for

a solution
to some internal injury.

They have childhood trauma,
they have narcissistic injury.

And becoming a performer
was supposed to fix that.

[M] But you still have the same
problems that everyone else

has in their life. You have
emotional problems, depression.

If being a performer
doesn't fill the void,

what many will look to,
because, rock...

being a rock musician also
attracts the genetics

of addiction, they'll look to
drugs and alcohol.

[Matt] People are going to
want to party with you.

They wanna show you
their appreciation.

People come and say, "Hey, man.
Let's have a drink."

Trying to turn you onto a drug.
Buying you booze.

They don't realize that this is
my 200th day on the road.

And yesterday there were other
guys that said the same thing.

And the day before,
other guys said that.

Everyone wants to give you free
drugs when you're a rock star.

If you have an inclination
to begin with, it's easy.

[Jonathan] A lot of people in
this... in this scene,

like to drink, like to do
drugs, whatever.

That's the way they escape.

And it's fine
when you're in your 20s.

A lot of people I know
who went down that path,

were self-medicating
some other stuff.

It's just gonna lead to dark,
bad things.

When you struggle with...
addiction

and you struggle
with it in such a way where...

I've... I've relapsed once,
you know.

And it was... you know...

It lasted about three years.

If you have an artist
in trouble,

at one point, you're gonna
start losing money.

And... it's...

it's not financially reasonable.

There's such a stigma
that comes with the sober guy.

I...

Rock musicians don't wanna
go to treatment is...

the financial impact of
the touring.

[Harold] You have this machine.

And it goes from stage guys,
audio engineers, the manager,

you have the whole production
of the band.

And one person can stop
the show.

A pill... or 20.

And some alcohol.

Can take care of
that pressing issue.

[Drew] The prescription drug
epidemic is out of control

in this country.

People are becoming aware that
the opioids, the painkillers,

are a problem, but there's
a hidden epidemic within that,

which is the benzodiazepines.

You know, benzodiazepine
is a very fucking evil drug.

[Jonathan] Those are Xanax,
Ativan, Valiums.

Those drugs can make you crazy.

[Drew] The combination of opioid
and benzodiazepine.

That's a deadly combination.

And it's prescribed
all the time.

And I cannot understand why
physicians do that.

Those pills can make you do
things, that you wouldn't...

normally do.

And no to mention...

the artist might die.

[Gary] 6:13 am.
My hotel phone rang.

[phone ringing]

I picked it up before I looked
at the clock,

thinking it was my wake up call.

In my mind, I'm like, "This is,
this feels early to me."

[Gary] And I pick it up
and I heard,

"Gary, Gary, Gary,
Chris Cornell died."

And all I could say was, "What?"

[news reporter] Detroit police
confirmed to E News,

Chris Cornell was found
unresponsive

in the bathroom
of his hotel room

at the MGM Grand hotel,
at 12:05 am on May 18th.

Medics arrived on the scene

where the singer
was pronounced dead.

[shaky breath]

[hesitant sound]

[Taylor] It was the highlight of
my career...

to tour with Soundgarden.

They came to watch us
on stage in Detroit.

The entire band actually saw
our full set.

That was incredible to look
stage left

and see everyone there.

Soundgarden was to be our
headliner.

[Gary] And we went into crisis
mode.

Meet me in the lobby in five
minutes.

We have to make a statement.

Soundgarden, of course,
expected to be headlining

tomorrow evening.

Artists are now reeling.

And fans are upset and sad
and solemn.

So where do we go from here,
Gary?

What's up? What's the story?

Here's a chance to celebrate
and honor,

this amazing man's legacy.

We've been getting a ton
of calls from the bands,

who have been outstanding,
wanting to do their part.

Throughout the weekend,
you will hear bands paying

their respects to Chris Cornell.

Um, it's incredibly sad.

[Jacoby] Being a father myself,
being a frontman in a band,

having my battles in my life.

I can identify so much
with these...

these cats that are...
that are passing at...

such a young age, that it just
hits very close to home, for me.

Mind blown. I just...
it's so sad.

I mean... but it just shows you
what a god-given gift he had.

I mean, how many people
he's touched.

I think he'd be shocked.

It's just...

I'd say for me it's just unreal.

[Lars] All of us have
our issues.

Just a beautiful,
beautiful soul.

It's hard for me to believe
that he's not with us anymore.

[clears throat]

I mean, obviously I think...

Chris Cornell had an immense
impact on...

millions of artists and millions
of fans.

Me included.

[Tom] What an honor
and a blessing

to play with Chris Cornell.

I was first and foremost a fan
of his.

When we were making that first
Rage Against the Machine record,

the two albums
that were the most...

influential during that period,

were the first
Cyprus Hill record

and Soundgarden,
Badmotorfinger.

[Tom] For a person who did have,
from the time he was

a young teenager,
have a lot of serious issues.

He used those issues to make
beautiful, great, forever art.

We made a couple calls
to his peers,

um, from Seattle.

And they were like,"Hey,
thank you for thinking of us.

But I can't get on a stage
with a guitar yet.

It's to raw for me."

[Gary] Not only were we
mourning, but wow. This is big.

He was gone. And we couldn't
mourn or grieve like his family

and his brothers and sisters
in rock and his peers could.

We had to go into action.

You know, Chris Cornell was
a staple of us growing up.

He was the guy.

[Gary] Started talking about
a video tribute.

That would highlight Chris,
that would highlight his legacy.

That would be honorable
and respectful.

But show him in his glory.

And Corey Taylor, a soldier,
a warrior with us.

The lead singer of Slipknot
and Stone Sour.

Who was in town.

We called him and he agreed to
partake in the tribute with us.

-[cheering]
-[slow guitar strumming]

The rumor was that Corey Taylor
was gonna go.

To have him come out
and really...

not make it about him.
And really honor Chris.

I think, touched
a lot of people.

[Justin] To show, again,
that family aspect of hard rock.

And he had nothing to gain by
going out there.

[Justin] He wasn't there to
sell, sell anything.

He's there because one of his
brothers just died.

[slow guitar strumming]

Doing the... the Chris tribute
was heavy, you know.

It was the perfect balance of...

playing for someone who
influenced all of us.

And gave us so much joy.

And someone who I hadn't even
realized influenced me so much,

until he was gone.

[Drew] MusiCares
Man of the Year.

And he had a rock solid
recovery.

That was undermined
by one of my peers,

which happens all the time.

When I deal with MDs
and psychiatrists in treating...

guys I work with,

wherever possible, I only wanna
use psychiatrists and MDs

who are also in recovery
themselves.

[Matt] Chris Cornell
and Chester Bennington.

Perfect example of artist who's
pouring their real feelings out

in their music.

You have these artists and they
have to fight those battles

and those demons
in front of the world.

And I can't imagine
that pressure.

You have to go out and you have
to repeat that

every single night.

[Matt] At first, maybe it's
cathartic, but eventually...

it doesn't make
those things go away.

There are other things that
we have to do with ourselves,

to deal with those emotional
problems and our past histories.

[Newscaster] Fans came together
to mourn the singer

who died by suicide.

They share stories of how they
connected with his music.

Being a singer of a band, like
Soundgarden or Linkin Park,

is a lot like taming lions.

[Tim] Except the lions are in
your head. They're your demons.

And a good lion tamer
makes it look real easy.

But, at the end of the day...

they're still fucking lions
and they still have teeth.

And your demons
are still your demons.

[Tim] And Chris and Chester were
amazing lion tamers.

In the times that I was
in a dark place,

I remember how intense the pain
was. And it's very internal.

And it's something
that isn't visible.

[Sully] I would be a liar if I
told you

that I didn't stare down
the barrel

of a .45 at one time.

[Sully] It's a whole other thing
to actually be able to

pull the trigger and do it.

So in order for someone to be
able to go to that extreme,

I can't even imagine the
intensity of pain that they must

experience on a daily basis.

To be able to
just wanna relieve it.

Chester, you know, he just
brought this energy that was

pretty infectious.

As a human being, he just...

was always in the solution
of things.

[Robert] Scott and Chester were
completely different people.

The great times that we made
together,

will always be a part
of Dean, Eric and myself.

[Drew] It is common, though,
for people that have addiction,

depression and childhood trauma
to have just profound,

chronic feelings of misery.

And many people find that
intolerable.

And suicidality is part of that.

[Taylor] Music saves. I mean,
music has saved me over and over

and over again.
And, you know,

even the ones that have passed,

their music lives on.

[Uncomfortable by Halestorm
playing]

♪ I did it cause I wanna and I
did it cause I'm gonna ♪

♪ And I did it just because I
can ♪

♪ I did it cause it makes me
feel so good ♪

♪ And I did it because fuck "the
man" ♪

♪ I did it cause I'm crazy
and no one's gonna save me ♪

♪ And I did it just to cut the
noise ♪

♪ I did it cause I'm drunk and I
did it, yeah, so what? ♪

♪ Cause baby you're just one of
the boys ♪

♪ I did it all ♪

Halestorm was the band that
first introduced me

to rock music and made me
really, really love it.

First rock show?
That is awesome!

I think it's very special for
them to be my first rock band.

Boys look at rock and roll
and they look at it as this...

traditional, you know,
I wanna be Slash.

And I wanna get the girls and
the cars and everything.

And it's very important to
encourage girls to be

in rock and roll, because this
is our power.

[Lizzy] You can walk and you
feel like you are the absolute

queen of the world. It's just
so humbling to be that,

for these little girls to be
like, "Ok, she's doing it.

So I can."

I love Lizzy as a front woman,

largely because how open she is

about her sexuality and
unapologetic she is about it.

It's great to see girls
that are just like me.

That wanna go to the metal shows
and have a great time.

[Lizzy] It's become such an
amazing space.

It makes me feel...

empowered in myself and how much
I own my own sexuality.

And it makes it very relatable
in her music.

[Lizzy] I don't think we
realized how important it was,

not just for us as girls to
stand on stage and just be

so proud of each other and what
we've all kind of

had to go through the gauntlet,
to be able to say,

"No, this is my thing and this
is what I do."

[Lizzy] But you're looking out
on the audience,

and it is absolutely 60-40
female-male.

Which is something that, when
you're growing up on stage

in this genre, you don't
normally see.

So, what we're seeing first hand
is that this heavy music

is absolutely genderless.

[Bill] She not only empowers
young women, completely.

But she also empowers men.

I've been blessed to see
Halestorm when they first

started out in like, 2004, 2005.
And followed ever since.

[Lizzy] Dave has always been,
very kind of neutral.

Like, he'll come to eight meet
and greets in a row

and it's the same thing.

People feel like she's
the leader and they fit in.

There's a lot of people that are
a little disenfranchised.

That feel like, when they're at
a Halestorm show,

it's their posse.

Today will be my 84th show
seeing them.

Just the way they are. They're
so true, down to earth people.

[Lizzy] I asked Dave. I'm like,
so why do you do this?

And he's like, "Well, your music
brings me so much happiness,

that I feel like if I continue
to buy tickets,

and I continue to buy meet and
greets and buy your records,

and spread them around,
it enables you to do more."

We have fans, they're like
deadheads.

Like, they'll travel all over
the world.

[Myles] We have a fan
from Japan.

I see her 65 percent of our
shows, no matter where it is.

We have a fan from Nashville,
she's at pretty much every show.

Everybody has their own model of
what a superfan really is.

I mean, if you can do 80 plus
shows, that's great.

[Dave] If you can do five or
whatever, do what you can.

Follow your passion.

I've seen Five Finger Death
Punch probably over 30 times.

They bring an experience
to the stage.

Whenever you see them live,
they bring so much energy.

Rob Zombie can do anything
in my eyes and it's still ok.

I love him so much.

He's my idol. If there's one
rock band ever,

from when I was this big to now.
It's him. That's it.

That's the epitome of rock music
right there.

It's like a family. And they're
happy and they're smiling.

[Myles] And that what...
that smile and that joy,

or those tears that I see.
That's why I do it.

[cheering]

[Abby] Maria Brink is amazing.

Like, every song that she writes
I almost relate to everything.

Her music
always hits home for me.

[Maria] Our relationship with
our fans is so important to us.

When we do a song,
their interpretation of it.

Kind of, everybody inspires
each other.

[Abby] My favorite band ever is
In This Moment.

I have one of their lyrics on my
arms. From one of their songs.

When people get our portraits
or lyrics tattooed on them,

I feel like it's... it's an
honor, I think.

It's really special. And the
fact that they're connected,

somehow, to where it moves them.

It's a really beautiful
connection. And I love it.

["Whore" by
In This Moment playing]

♪ Let me tell you ♪

♪ You love me,
you love me, you ♪

♪ I can be your whore ♪

♪ I am the dirt you created ♪

Actually,
after this show was over,

Maria walked off
and handed it to me.

And it's pretty amazing, because
she signed it on the inside.

And then, not only that,
but her make-up is in there.

Which is pretty awesome.

[song ends]

San Francisco we are
In This Moment!

I would say I pick songs
to crowd surf,

that mean something to me.

[Maria] It's about pushing
yourself to the edge.

It's like exhilarating
and you know,

so that's probably
what she feels.

That may be the way that she's
connecting with it.

And it makes her want to feel
that... that rush.

[Abby] I've crowd surfed for her
a few times and she's given me

shout outs. She asked the
crowd to give me

a round of applause one time.

[Maria] I do remember seeing
Abby crowd surfing.

And she was so inspiring.

And I think I remember telling
the whole crowd, like,

like, look at her.
Look at her shining.

How much I died. I think I was
crying in my wheelchair

by the time I made it
to the front.

She is just like this powering
example of floating high

and crowd surfing over everyone.

[Abby] I try to get other
wheelchair people up there.

For them to be able to get that
rush and feel that they can

enjoy the festival the same way
anybody else can.

Is what I want them
to experience.

Nothing's gonna stop this girl
from her moment.

And I remember that it was
special.

I met Eddie about...

It was like the first guy I met
after my accident,

and after losing Eric.

I met him, he was at the tattoo
shop and I went up there to get

my nose pierced and he was up
there with his chopper.

And his chopper was so sexy.

And I remember I just went up
and talked to him

in front of the bike and we've
just hit it off ever since then.

[Abby] I still ride. We've had a
couple of choppers that didn't

have, like, this doesn't work to
get my leg on the peg right.

So we would take my leg and
bungee it to the back

on a sissy bar.
[chuckles]

While we rode,
so I wasn't uncomfortable.

Music basically,
for a lot of people is religion.

For me it's my religion. I mean,
I hold church every night.

[Myles] My stepfather is
a methodist minister, so.

You know, every Sunday...
he'd have his rock show

to rock and roll church.

[cheering]

Music's always been my salvation

it's that one
three and a half minute song

that makes me
forget about all,

whatever I'm going through.

[Jonathan] And I think when
people come to rock shows

it's like this big gathering,
it's like church.

And we sit there. We don't got
to think about nothing for

that hour and a half
when that band is up there.

[Jonathan]
And it gives us peace.

It's an experience to escape
from life.

[Jonathan] For me, family and my
music are everything.

The West-Virginia state motto
is, 'Wild and Wonderful'.

Which is kind of my outlook on
life and how I like to live it.

I have my crowd surfing, when I
go to these crazy concerts.

The wild part. And I have the
wonderful part where

I'm back home and experiencing
nature and living life.

Whenever she goes fishing,
she packs a gun with her.

A girl, out by herself.
Better safe than sorry.

You just look downstream and you
see nothing but trees and water.

There's nobody here
to hound you.

Here, when I'm reeling the fish
in, oh, my God,

it's so exciting. It's a part
of me I didn't realize I had.

Here, I'm at peace. It's quiet,
I can think to myself.

I can, like,
reach within myself.

Being free from the world,
being free from my job,

from the stress, from
the crowds, from everything

as simple as waking up and
working from six am to 10:30 pm.

Just, a freedom away
from every day life.

Between crowd surfing
for rock music and that

beautiful creature.

That's how I find myself,
that's how I calm down,

that's how I relieve my stress.

Both of these are polar
opposites.

But they both provide the exact
same experience.

[Instrumental "Nothing Else
Matters" by Metallica playing]

When I was around nine
or ten years old,

my real dad was killed
during desert storm.

I didn't really know what to do.

You go from having your
mom and dad there everyday,

to your mom's overseas
in the marine corps.

And your father just got killed,
so you're left with nothing.

So I took a close attraction
to the woods and nature

and outdoor life.

♪ So close, no matter how far ♪

♪ Couldn't be much more
from the heart ♪

♪ Forever trusting who we are ♪

♪ No nothing else matters ♪

I feel a little twinge of pain,
like, every holiday season,

every birthday, every time I see
other families getting together.

It really weighs on me that
I'm gonna get married one day

and I don't have my daddy
to walk me down the aisle.

Someone may think of people in
the dental profession as stuffy,

you know, that kind of thing.
We have to be.

We have to do
our professional duties.

But we can be completely free
when we're here.

[Gytis] I learned to fly
ten years ago.

I was actually afraid to fly
as a kid.

What better way to conquer
your fear than get in front

of the stick yourself.

[Sara] We can research concerts.

It's very easy to get there
for us.

[Gytis] We have a time-share.

It's a fractional ownership
of a Cirrus.

And we get a certain amount
of hours allotted a year.

And we make reservations
and we go.

Music... it saved my life.
I can honestly say that.

I used to just put my headphones
on as my only escape route.

You know what I mean?
For so many years, it was music.

And now that I'm home, I get to
go to the concerts and stuff.

Instead of just
dreaming about it.

[Scott] We kinda sparked
a kindred friendship of music.

Since then,
he's done a 180 on his life.

He hasn't been back here. But I
see him at every rock festival.

[Jami] Music connected us
as well.

Because it's just an escape
from reality.

Took me a few years to... to be
normal, you know what I mean?

To be clean and not seek stuff.

This woman definitely
saved my life.

I ain't had no slip ups.

My real mom died in 2008
in a house fire,

while I was in prison.

She came to see me one time out
of the whole seven years I did.

As far as the family lifestyle,
I'd be dead without it.

It keeps me focussed,
you know what I mean?

I have bills to pay now.
I can't just...

say F it. Got four kids to
take care of.

[Scott] You have concerts
to go to.

Concerts to go to,
tattoos to get.

I gotta tell you, man. You know,
crowd surfing has kinda gone

to a whole new level.

We've seen just about everything
over the years.

It's better than any jog that
you can ever possibly do.

Right now, we're at
Mapfre Stadium.

[Michelle] So, we smuggled two
hamster balls in.

[air pumps blowing]

[Etienne] Getting ready to do a
hamster ball fight to Godsmack.

[Michelle] Every year I've just
decided to kick it up a notch.

When I got in the ball,
it was insane.

It's a lot of fun for me.
It's a rush.

[cheering]

[heavy metal music]

[Michelle] See if I can dropkick
him a time or two.

And see if we can make
the crowd go crazy.

It's gonna be epic.

[Cryin like a Bitch by Godsmack
playing]

Seeing, you know, some person
inside of this plastic ball

that's rolling over the whole
entire audience,

I just thought to myself,
fuck, I wanna be in that thing.

That looks so fun!

♪ Strut on by like a king ♪

♪ Telling everybody
they know nothing ♪

♪ And long lived what
you thought you were ♪

♪ Time ain't on your side
anymore ♪

[Michelle] When I looked down,
there was, like,

so many people screaming.

[music muffled inside plastic]

♪ So you tell me
I can't take my chances ♪

♪ But I've told you one
too many times ♪

-[zipper opening]
-[music volume increases]

♪ Cryin like a bitch ♪

[Michelle] I just came down and
the security guards looked

freaked out. They just pointed
and they unzipped me.

♪ I'm tougher than nails,
I can promise you that ♪

♪ Step outta line and you get
bitch-slapped back ♪

♪ And you can run ♪

♪ Your little mouth all day ♪

[Michelle] You just go crazy and
the adrenaline is there.

And when I looked down,
the crowd went absolutely nuts.

Cause they've never seen
anything like that.

-It was insane.
-[camera shutter going off]

Everybody's got a story.

And everybody's got a reason
that they connect to the music.

To, you know, the greater good.

I was depressed and I was sad.

Mother and I don't have much
of a relationship anymore.

I went a lot of years without
getting to speak to her.

She was so busy with the marines
and being a DI.

She's not as close as she would
like to be with her family.

They haven't always been there
for her.

[Scott] When she gets with us,
it's kinda like she's found

her new family.

She's a very strong, independent
person, but at the same time,

everyone needs someone
that they can turn to.

So I've met a lot of close
friends now,

through rock festivals.

[Jessie] You can just go there,
express yourself and let loose.

You're crowd surfing
above your other family.

I feel like, if I didn't have
that, I would pretty much

be a miserable person.

Music has the ability to heal
the human soul,

like nothing else can.

Rock never died. It just stopped
being done in a way

that people cared about it,
you know.

And now Greta will be so
thrilled to have played a role

in bringing it back.

It's been really incredible to
watch Greta Van Fleet take off.

Because it's viral
like a rap record.

[announcer]
And the Grammy goes to...

Greta Van Fleet!

[applause]

I'm hoping kids are gonna start,
you know,

gravitating more towards
guitars.

And guitar music and guitar
solos.

Remember when guitar solos
were a thing?

And then one day they were,
like, outlawed.

[Jason] I think rock and roll's
coming back.

Even hip-hop is taking on more
and more elements

of rock and roll now.
It is cyclical.

We've made some great friends
through the festivals.

For twelve years we've been
together and growing.

It's like our family now.
These are all my best friends.

I'm grateful that we can get
together like this, every year.

Rock fans,
fuck, keep showing up.

[Abby] I look forward to it,
because it is the one thing...

that, that whole weekend
is just pure happiness.

[Sully] Rock is never gonna die.

I don't think there's a single
soul or an entire army

on this planet that's ever gonna
be able to take it down.

It's here, it's not going
anywhere.

[Abby] You need that release.

You can truly be,
whoever you wanna be.

If you wanna dress slutty and
wear next to nothing, you can.

It's that one time that you can
just be... free.

Whether you're a republican,
a democrat, a liberal

or a conservative,
when the music catches you...

♪ The music saved me ♪

...we're all one.

It's a community that deserves
a long life.

Whenever you're at a live show
and the music's really kicking,

you're watching your favorite
artist,

it really makes you feel like
all the work that you do

through the week, it all pays
off at that moment.

I'm actually getting chills
right now, thinking about it.

["Rock is Dead"
by Beartooth playing]

[Tom] Myself, the music
I'm making and the audience.

It's one of the most important
relationships in my life.

It's a real connection,
that's more than, like,

we're gonna go play a show,
there's an ocean of people,

there's a check
at the end of the day.

Like, don't tell anybody,
but I do this for free, ok.

Don't tell, don't tell a soul.

♪ If I make sound,
it better be loud ♪

♪ Till my voice is blowing out ♪

♪ What if one day everything
changed ♪

♪ Will these words have any use
for me ♪

♪ I didn't make it here to let
anyone drag me down ♪

♪ If I make sound,
it better be loud ♪

♪ If rock and roll's dead
you can kill me right now ♪

[song continues]

[song ends]

You know, I just think that
we're in that climate where

people are scared to say shit.

And Steel Panther
doesn't give a fuck.

-No, we don't care.
-We really don't.

What's the worst that could
happen to us?

Oh, you'll be a cover band
and have to play down

-the street from your house.
-Just did that.

What's up?

I'm Duff McKagan
and I approve this interview

for the movie Long Live Rock.

Unless there's parts
I don't like.

Unless it sucks.
Then take me out.

Hello, my name is Tom Morello
and I am fine with granting

an interview for the film
Long Live Rock.

But I warn you, I'm litigious,
so, get it right.

This is Ice-T and I...

I approve this interview
for the film Long Live Rock.

Not for any penis enhancement
commercials.

Even though I'm...
I'm valid for that too.

My name is Lizzy Hale
and I grant the utmost...

permission...
[chuckles]

to be on this documentary
for Long Live Rock.

Oh, goodness,
it's called Long Live Rock?

I'm sure the name will change,
but that's all right.

Hi, I'm Lars and...

if nothing radical happens
in the next 15 minutes,

I approve this.

What's up,
this is Machine Gun Kelly,

and I approve this video,

for Long Live Rock.

My name is Maria Brink and
I'm a singer for In This Moment.

And I grant permission
for the movie, the film,

Long Live Rock.

[laughs]
I'm horrible at these things.

You need that fucking stuff.
It's gonna be amazing.

I wish you all the fucking best.

This fucking matters.
It changes the world.

[rock music]

Hey, I'm Rob Zombie
and film away. I don't care.

Hey, I'm all good with this
interview being filmed.

Hey, I'm Gavin from Bush.
What's up?

My name is Michael Starr
and I'm ok. I grant permission,

to use my image, my voice,
anything of my likeness,

for the movie
Gone with the Wind.

Long Live Rock?
What's it called?

Long Live Rock.

Hey, I'm Don Jamieson
and I approve my likeness...

and these words that are coming
out of my mouth,

for this most excellent
documentary.

My name is Korey Cooper and I
give you permission to use this

for Rock is Dead.

John Cooper. Permission to use
for Rock is Dead.

Though it's not.

-Hey, I'm Eric.
-I, Robert DeLeo...

approve this for the use
of Long Live Rock.

Long live it.

Hi, I'm Noodles. I play guitar
in The Offspring.

And I approve being
in this documentary.

Really? I've never done this
before, this seems weird.

Never.

Have I guessed it? I'll see you.

My name is Stix Zadinia. I'm
cool with you guys

using everything, except sperm
for Long Live Rock.

[heavy metal music]