| Heavy Metal Parking Lot | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Heyn and Jeff Krulik |
| Release date(s) | 1986 |
| Running time | 17 minutes |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a video documentary short produced by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn in 1986.
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Heavy Metal Parking Lot documents heavy metal music fans tailgating in the parking lot outside the Capital Centre (since demolished) in Landover, Maryland, on May 31, 1986, before a Judas Priest concert (with opening act Dokken).
By the early 1990s, Heavy Metal Parking Lot had become an underground cult-classic, usually traded on bootleg VHS videotapes. It was reportedly a favorite on the Nirvana tour bus, among many other bands. Due to growing popular demand for the film, music-rights issues were finally sorted out with Judas Priest and in 2006 an official, features-packed 20th-anniversary DVD was released.
Less Than Jake and American Hi-Fi parodied Heavy Metal Parking Lot in their music videos for the songs "All My Best Friends are Metalheads" and "Flavor of the Weak". The Backstreet Boys also lampooned it in their music video for "Just Want You To Know". Film distributor Cowboy Pictures gave it a limited 35mm theatrical release in 2003, paired with Chris Smith's documentary Home Movie. Lady GaGa's original partner and DJ Lady Starlight has created a homage to Heavy Metal Parking Lot with her series of YouTube videos, Lady GaGa's Pop Culture Parking Lot, documenting fans outside venues on the pop stars 2009 Fame Ball Tour.
In 2004, Trio broadcast the TV series Parking Lot, which expanded on the 1986 documentary. Created and co-produced by the original filmmakers, John Heyn and Jeff Krulik (in association with Radical Media), eight episodes were broadcast before Trio TV went off the air in 2006.
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