On this day 45 years ago — June 13, 1978 — The Cramps and The Mutants played a show at Napa State, a psychiatric hospital in the town of Napa in Northern California. Video of The Cramps’ performance has become the stuff of legend, circulating through the times from VHS bootlegs to grainy YouTube uploads. But tonight (June 13), The Brattle hosts a special premiere screening of The Cramps and The Mutants: The Napa State Tapes, a 72-minute spectacle showcasing the full tape of The Cramps’ set as well as the “long-lost” Mutants footage, both unedited and remastered from the original reel-to-reel tape, captured by ahead-of-their-time Bay Area documentarians Target Video.
“What resulted may be the most unique punk show ever, as the two bands played for the residents at the hospital, a rehabilitation facility that was skimming the danger of being shut down by former California Governor Ronald Reagan,” declares the notes from Grasshopper Films, via The Brattle.
In between the video of live performances is We Were There To Be There, a short documentary about how the Napa gig actually happened — from enlisting The Cramps, then a young punk band on tour from New York City, and The Mutants, an art-school punk collective from nearby San Francisco — and its lasting legacy nearly five decades later.
‘THE CRAMPS AND THE MUTANTS: THE NAPA STATE TAPES’ :: Tuesday, June 13 at The Brattle, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: 7 p.m., $12 to $14 :: Event page :: Advance tickets
