Director James R. Petix will be on hand Saturday to present his lovingly rendered doc about his hometown’s storied garage-rock culture. Before Eminem started repping 8 Mile and Kid Rock made Michigan look trashier by coming from there, Detroit boasted a rich musical past as the home of Motown Records and rock royalty including Suzi Quatro, the MC5, and Iggy and the Stooges. It Came From Detroit argues that despite the city’s current woes (population loss, manufacturing decline, etc.), the vein of quality rock still runs deep. (And, as one interviewee notes, living among all those vacant buildings means no neighbors to complain about your noisy rehearsals.) Petix follows the career of Detroit musicians who’ve striven to revive the ’60s garage-rock style—like Dan Kroha, who formed cult favorites the Gories in the ’80s, then donned wig, fishnets, and lipstick to play in the all-girl Demolition Doll Rods. Then there was The Go, “the hottest shit band ever,” which signed to Sub Pop Records in the late ’90s and fired their guitarist for not fitting in. Oops. That guitarist, Jack White, was then free to focus on his other band, the White Stripes, which became Detroit’s biggest rock success story. Petix also reveals that not everyone’s so proud of their native son: The Von Bondies’ Jason Stollsteimer speaks bitterly about his infamous fistfight with White. Tom Potter, of the punk duo Bantam Rooster, says somewhat huffily, “We did predate the White Stripes as a two-piece.” Note: A performance by Hausfrau follows the Saturday screening.
It Came From Detroit: Rock History From Iggy Pop to Jack White
![Petix has filmed a love letter to the Motor City.](https://www.seattleweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/1186487.jpg)