LOLMusicFans

April 26, 2008 1:22 PM

Heavy Metal Parking Lot, 1986 -- Raver Bathroom, 2001.
posted by empath (42 comments total)

I think 1986 was better, a little less forensic and questioning.
posted by parmanparman at 1:46 PM on April 26

I was at the Spectrum in Philly to see the same tour the night before Heavy Metal Parking Lot. I was 12, my dad took me, it ruled.
posted by The Straightener at 1:51 PM on April 26

I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
posted by xmutex at 2:03 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Ah ravers. Their mouths say, "Hey, we're sober and coherent." But their eyes say...
posted by mullingitover at 2:13 PM on April 26

"Heavy Metal Parking Lot" had a sequel, but this was all I could find of it.
posted by interrobang at 2:14 PM on April 26

HMPL totally cracked me up the first time I saw it. The raver movie hasn't made me laugh at all....
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 2:24 PM on April 26

Definitely would rather hang out with the metalheads. There's something fundamentally light-hearted about heavy metal, and it even filters out through the people who love it.
posted by Space Coyote at 2:56 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]

At least when you drink you retain some semblance of personality. There's just something so inherently disgusting about ravers. People on E just become babbling morons bent on rubbing against things, snorting vicks, and playing with glow sticks. They also like to kid themselves about those drugs having no long term effects.

HMPL put me in a good mood, but the second vid killed it.
posted by pedmands at 3:02 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

it seems like the ravers all seem overly self-conscious and about what they're doing, whereas the rockers are just wasted and really into Judas Priest.

As always...Advantage:Metal.
posted by billyfleetwood at 3:06 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

pedmands writes "They also like to kid themselves about those drugs having no long term effects."

You say that like there's some authoritative body of research showing that there is. Got a cite?
posted by mullingitover at 3:08 PM on April 26

I'd completely forgotten about HMPL. It's funny that metal would age into something so quaint and endearing....
posted by not_the_water at 3:25 PM on April 26

*sets up a sound system, starts dancing, gets all sweaty*

What? Sorry, can't hear you. Still dancing.
posted by loquacious at 3:32 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]

pedmands writes: "People on E just become babbling morons bent on rubbing against things, snorting vicks, and playing with glow sticks."

I wonder how many of those high school drop out, fag hatin', borderline moron, cousin f'in dope heads flipped their shit when they found out that Rob Halford was gay and, to this day, deny ever having really liked Judas Priest.

Did I do it right?
posted by Artichoke Dance Off!! at 3:37 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Interviewer: What would you say if you saw Rob Halford right now?
Poofy-Banged Metal Chick: I'd jump his bones.

I'd have loved to have seen her face when she got the memo.
posted by sourwookie at 3:53 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Oh but the fun doesn't end there. When I saw Heavy Metal Parking lot in the theatre they also showed Harry Potter parking lot and <Neil Diamond Parking Lot>
posted by vodkaboots at 4:03 PM on April 26

I was there, @ the Priest show, that is.
The guys who made HMPL definitely caught the end of the parking lot party era, as it was the last general attendance show at the Capital Centre.

I wonder how many of those high school drop out, fag hatin', borderline moron, cousin f'in dope heads flipped their shit when they found out that Rob Halford was gay and, to this day, deny ever having really liked Judas Priest.
Did I do it right?
No nearly as many as you think. And if it = showing your ignorance, then yes, you did it right.
posted by hellbient at 4:14 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]

They just don't make Glen Burnie metal chicks like that anymore.
posted by monarch75 at 4:25 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]

Hmm. To be fair, drunk people do talk more sense than tripping people.

I know. We give the ravers a case of beer and the metalheads a dose of 5-dimethyl-hydroxy-whateverthefuck, and if the metalheads are still more fun we close up shop and go back to 1978.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:33 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Brutal.
posted by stevil at 4:53 PM on April 26

At least when you drink you retain some semblance of personality. There's just something so inherently disgusting about ravers. People on E just become babbling morons bent on rubbing against things, snorting vicks, and playing with glow sticks. They also like to kid themselves about those drugs having no long term effects.

Take a pill dude.
posted by brautigan at 5:12 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

HMPL is a classic example of snark backfiring. The filmmakers intent is obviously 'hurf durf dumb headbangers,' but by the end of it most people watching arethinking "Shit, those guys are having a blast. I wanna party with them.'

Also, the metal guys are pretty up front that they're just there to rock out, get loaded and maybe get laid. The ravers feel the need to dress up the same shit in a blanket of mystical hoo-hah.

(and fwiw, none of my old headbanger associates have disavowed Priest. To this day they're pretty much considered royalty by the Metal audience).

and oh yeah: \m/!
posted by jonmc at 5:16 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]

22 years from now, will my kids be laughing at a video called "internet chat room"?
posted by kristinahoge at 5:16 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]

Actually, hellbient, I know a good number of people, with or without all of the added descriptors, that had a marvelous time overcoming the omgrobhalfordisgay bomb. Consider, what killed Disco was becoming Disco (in parlance, mind you).

I'm fairly certain that I'm not singular in remembering the early 80's metal scene in America as one of little tolerance, and much castigation, for the gay male.

As far as 'doing it right', I was poking at pedmands titanic and gross generalization about people under the influence of E. Sorry the tongue in cheek sarcasm wasn't more obvious. I'll work on that, and my ignorance.

Now, excuse me while I go favorite loquacious' comment for a second time.
posted by Artichoke Dance Off!! at 5:17 PM on April 26

I'm in a metal band that will trot out a Priest cover once in a while. I don't know of any metalhead personally that forsake Halford or disavowed their fandom.

As I know them, metalheads are generally the most laid-back pacifist people I know and are incredibly tolerant, perhaps due to their misunderstood-underdog-victim-status self image.

I never see any trouble at the local metal shows. In fact its those Jack Johnson and Dave Matthew fans frequenting the frat bars that always seem to be starting shit with themselves and others.
posted by sourwookie at 5:33 PM on April 26

This was on the Blue earlier... I think someone said that there was a follow-up done, and most of the people in that video were working professionals with seamingly healthy families.
posted by spiderskull at 7:14 PM on April 26

As I know them, metalheads are generally the most laid-back pacifist people I know and are incredibly tolerant, perhaps due to their misunderstood-underdog-victim-status self image.

Well, also, metalheads are basically music nerds. Engineering departments have much higher-than-average metalhead populations; witness the fantasy themes in some of the death metal variants.
posted by spiderskull at 7:19 PM on April 26

Fuckin' Madonna. Fuckin' dick.
posted by jonp72 at 7:20 PM on April 26

I'm in a metal band that will trot out a Priest cover once in a while. I don't know of any metalhead personally that forsake Halford or disavowed their fandom.

A lot insisted they knew all along. I know one person who said, "How could you not know he was gay? He wears more leather than the cow."
posted by jonp72 at 7:22 PM on April 26

Born Disco, Died Heavy Metal (mp3 - Cornershop, would have linked to the lyrics, but they don't appear to be online)
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:31 PM on April 26

pedmands writes

"They also like to kid themselves about those drugs having no long term effects."

mullingitover responds

You say that like there's some authoritative body of research showing that there is. Got a cite?

Here's a secondary reference with primaries, if you really want 'em. Shit definitely rots your brain. Consider the subjective evidence - if E didn't cause permanent changes in your brain, then why is the first experience so much more special?
posted by gregor-e at 8:02 PM on April 26

So... in alcohol terms, they did the equivalent of forcing someone with no previous drinking experience to down a bottle of whiskey, and strangely enough found that it causes brain damage... Is anyone surprised? (those dosages are rather high for an animal with no previous tolerance to the drug)

I'm not going to pretend that ecstasy is good for you, it probably isn't. But neither is binge drinking, or smoking cigarettes. And like the latter two, lots of people do it when they're young, then go on to live perfectly normal respectable lives. From the perspective of 2008, looking at all the people I used to party with, most of them turned out just fine, with the same ratio of failure to success as anyone else's friends.

Also, I'd like to point out that doing stupid things when you're young is a hell of a lot of fun.
posted by mock at 8:32 PM on April 26

Finally Glen Burnie gets the chance to shine. Represent Burnouts!
posted by LeeJay at 9:42 PM on April 26

I always thought Rob might be gay. There was just a lot of innuendo in the lyrics, and it wasn't like "giver her inches and feed her well" kind of thing that the Scorpions did.

Maybe it was just all the leather queen regalia, but I didn't know what that was about then.

There was a time when everyone thought the Village People were straight and Prince was gay.

We didn't have a clue back then.
posted by nyxxxx at 9:55 PM on April 26

if E didn't cause permanent changes in your brain, then why is the first experience so much more special?

If visiting Paris didn't cause permanent changes in your brain, why is the first visit so much more special?
posted by meta_eli at 10:10 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Shit, those guys are having a blast. I wanna party with them.

I am so offended by people that use 'party' as a verb that I will never drink again.

*puts down beer and gives Paddington Bear-worthy hard stare*
posted by Sparx at 10:18 PM on April 26

I just played "Painkiller" at neighbor-pounding-the-wall volume. Christ, that was a falsetto to make King Diamond jealous. Damn, Rob's got pipes.

Sorry, neighbor.
posted by sourwookie at 2:11 AM on April 27

Didn't Ricaute 'fess up to some kind of error when doing the primary study referenced in gregor-e's link above?

Ah yes. Here it is.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:55 AM on April 27 [1 favorite]

Trio did a whole series of "parking lot" docs, including Cher, Motorhead, and a Sci Fi Convention starting in 2004. I seem to remember a Celine Dion one, but I tend to get her confused with Cher quite a bit. Although it seems like the original directors only did the aforementioned (twice, even) Neil Diamond Parking Lot and Harry Potter Parking Lot. They tried a Monster Truck one I think, but I don't know if it ever came out.

Here's an interview with Jeff Krulik, one of the directors. And from looking at Jeff's site and reading the interview, it doesn't seem there was a lot of hurf durfing going on, it seems he's just a documentary filmmaker who worked in public access television.

I was going to say more, but E left holes in my brain, so now I can't remember what I was doing... where am i?
posted by sleepy pete at 3:07 AM on April 27

John Mayer Parking Lot. John Mayer in the Borat one-piece.
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:01 AM on April 27

If you watch this and think the ravers sound like hippy-dippy mystical fairy elves...well, I'm here to tell you that taking some really good E is more than worth the risk of looking/sounding like a bit of an idiot while you're under the influence.

It's that fucking good.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:36 PM on April 27

heavy or raver - sunglasses remain essential.
posted by yoHighness at 5:33 PM on April 27

I remember a rumor that now-Chief Justice John Roberts was in Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Evidence is slim, at best, but there are comparison pictures here ,a few paragraphs down the post.
posted by msbrauer at 3:15 AM on April 28