Sundays – the perfect time for a little r&r. Do we mean tea, slippers, and overindulging on the chocolate Hobnobs again? Or perhaps it’s more like a few beers, popcorn, short films and rock n’ roll. It’s the latter of course.

Rock n’ Roll Cinema started out as a hidden gem in the East End and has recently gained enough of a name for itself that last month it got so packed they people had to be turned away. It’s put on by Dan and the Hair Riots crew on the first Sunday of the month at Brick Lane’s 93 Feet East, and kicks off around four in the afternoon.

The folks at 93 Feet East had initially wanted to have Rock n’ Roll Cinema on Fridays, but Dan knew that Sunday was a better day, with the Brick Lane markets in
full swing, and a more laid back crowd: 

“It’s just a more suitable day
to start off chilling out, chatting, and watching films, getting slowly
pissed and later on getting down to some live music and DJ’s. It
creates a great atmosphere.”

All that and you can still be home in time to catch up on sleep – the
perfect all-rounder of an evening. If you needed any more reason to
check it out, it’s also their second birthday bash this weekend.
We first met Dan in a conga line at one of the
last Rock n’ Roll Cinemas (the DJs were playing Lulu’s Locomotion, it just had to be
done). After a round of post conga line high fives we found out he was
one of the organisers. So where did
it all start?

“I wanted to create an event to promote my own band [Footlong Heroes]
and all of the other great stuff that I see. A night where people come
for the whole event, not just to see their mate’s band and then piss
off, or hang around only to find that the rest of the bands are shit,
[which I’m sure everyone can relate to]. I came up with the idea cause
I wanted to do something all day, and I thought it would be a good way
to spend a Sunday!”

The first Rock N’ Roll Cinema was in February 2004, with Son Of Dave, Milton Mezzrow and The Footlong Heroes. It started in true DIY fashion, with Dan
making all the signs and flyers himself to promote the event. He
searched out a good short film programmer through an old mate from art college, borrowed
vintage cinema seats from the Truman Brewery, and tracked down some
popcorn machines through the Rio Cinema in Hackney. Then a trip to
Camden to buy some rollerskates for Wednesday (aka Rollergirl) and
take some photos of people with wild hair. This was for the Hair Riots
Logo – the name of the crew being taken a Footlong Heroes song Hair
Riots 76.

They’re a multitalented bunch. Rollergirl doesn’t just deliver your
popcorn, (sweet or salty, we’d recommend half and half) she can sing
too y’know:

“At the end of the night last month, Rosco [singer from
Footlong Heroes] and I sang Everytime We Say Goodbye’ by Cole Porter,
which went down really well.” 

DJs Frankie and Johnny enjoy the fact that they can play almost
anything they like:

“especially between films when no-one can escape and
there’s no room to dance. The end of the night descends into party
chaos. Our current faves would probably include Fela Kuti, Dubliners,
Little Richard and Biggie Smalls…”

The same diversity is reflected in Rock N’ Roll Cinema’s previous band line-ups. Dan
reels off a list:

“…everything from Electro Garage Rock from the likes
of Crazy girl, to fucked up brilliance from Suitable Case For
Treatment… to The Young Knives, The Holloways, one man shows like
Son of Dave, Vincent Vincent & the Villains,.. good old get down
and boogie tunes from our new house band The Brick Lane Boogie, Boys,
and lined up we’ve got stuff from Mr Hudson & The Library who are
on Deal Real which is a hip-hop shop and label in Covent Garden …I
could go on all day…!”

But wait, before you run away cause this is sounding far too much like
a hippie love-in, let us tell you VJ Mongo’s story. VJ Mongo is the guy
in charge of providing visuals as a backdrop for the bands. The other
part of his job involves receiving people’s home videos from their
mobile phones via bluetooth, as part of an interactive short film
competition. A risky business at times, you’d agree. He is usually quite
vigilant about what he allows up on screen, but…

“One time I was being
harassed by my mother trying to give me shopping consisting of washing
up liquid and pasta… I was trying to explain to her ‘Mum, I
am busy working’ when I looked up and saw in front of me on the big
screen, a huge pair of hairy bollocks being dipped into a glass of ice
water. It looked fine at the start, someone making a drink… then a huge
laugh from the crowd diverted my attention away from my screaming
mother… and I saw up on my screen was someone putting his hairy manhood into the glass. I haven’t slept since then…” 

Mongo takes his job quite seriously, and was quite traumatised by the
incident. He swears he’ll be checking every bluetooth clip three times
now, “..so you will have to be really clever to get dirty things up
there.” You have been warned.

Rock n’ Roll Cinema will be celebrating its second birthday on Sunday March 5 (it was
really last month, but they forgot). There will be plenty of treats in
store, including an appearance from the deliciously kitsch Viva Cake, a
special Rock n’ Roll Cinema cast performance, maybe a hotdog bar to go with the
popcorn machine, and all the usual great films and music. And it’s
onward and upward from there. As we sit chatting over our pints, Dan
talks animatedly about plans for the future, such as planning events at
the Hackney Empire in July, a CD/DVD compilation of bands & films
on what will be Hair Riots record label, releases with The Footlong
Heroes, and much more in the pipeline.

What more can is there to say? This rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle can be hard work, but someone’s gotta do it.

Read more:

[story by Dedee W]