TOO TOUGH TO DIE: A tribute to Johnny Ramone

WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 7PM

Showing with Wicked World and Insects.

Country  USA  Running Time 80 mins Format 35mm  Director Mandy Stein         Producers Jonathan Del Gatto, Rick Ross, Mandy Stein
DoP John Pirozzi Featuring  Print Source  Rhino 
Email  robin.hurley@rhino.com   Website www.rhino.com

September 12, 2004 saw Los Angeles venue The Avalon host a tribute concert to Johnny Ramone, The Ramones’ guitarist, on the 30th anniversary of his band’s live debut. The Dickies, X, Rob Zombie, Eddie Vedder, Sex Pistol Steve Jones, members of Rancid and Bad Religion, together with various Ramones from all eras, assemble on stage. But there was one person missing – Johnny Ramone. Two days later he passed away, claimed by cancer. His presence at the show was limited to the moment when Rob Zombie called him on a cell phone from the stage.

Too Tough To Die captures that concert and much more. Sure, it’s a concert movie, but it’s essentially The Ramones’ story, a poignant tribute to the epoch-shaping band as a whole. Joey and Dee Dee Ramone have also passed on, so the knowledge that Johnny was in a critical condition underlined the fact that an era was coming to a close. The musical generations that The Ramones inspired talk about their debt to the band– the early NYC scene in the shape of Deborah Harry and Chris Stein, the age of hardcore with Henry Rollins, and even Sonic Youth. His friends were wide-ranging: Lisa-Marie Presley and Nicholas Cage pay testament to that.

Johnny is heard saying “I have been blessed with great friends, a great life” Too Tough To Die is a heartfelt tribute to that life.   KT

Followed by a Q&A with Marky Ramone

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