Roky Erickson's 60th Birthday: You're Gonna Miss Me @ the Paramount

If you've seen You're Gonna Miss Me, Kevin MacAlester's unflinchingly intimate documentary about the bewildering life and times of Austin's own psychedelic-rock icon Roky Erikson, you were probably left wondering, with good reason, what direction Roky's life took when the cameras stopped rolling. Years of untreated schizophrenia, shock therapy and acid trips had taken such a toll on the erstwhile rock star that he seemed unable--or unwilling--to contemplate life beyond a spacey Grey Gardens-like existence with his mother in a junk mail-crammed apartment outside of Austin.

If you haven't seen You're Gonna Miss Me: it's fantastic, eerie and always riveting. In between gushing testimonials about Erickson's primal talent from the likes of Patti Smith, ZZ Top, and Thurston Moore, there's also amazing early-60s footage of Roky and the 13th Floor Elevators, bizarre interludes with Roky's mother Evelyn, decades' worth of schisms and misunderstandings amongst the troubled Erickson family, and many squirm-inducing moments of oversharing, like Roky's brother rolling around on the floor with his therapist or Evelyn tenderly saving Roky's giant, matted dreadlock in a paper bag. The Erickson family were unbelievably candid while being filmed, giving the filmmakers more than enough material to weave together a thoroughly fractured family portrait.

Tonight is a great night to view (or review) this film: It's Roky's 60th birthday, and he's made a dramatic recovery in the years since You're Gonna Miss Me was filmed. Following years of therapy and time spent in his brother's care in Philadelphia, Erickson is now leading a pretty much normal life. Even more improbably, he's returned as a rock god--creating a frenzy this year with triumphant performances at the Austin City Limits Festival and Coachella--when only a few years ago it was unthinkable that he might ever leave his house, let alone pick up a guitar. Tonight, in celebration of his 60th, Roky Erickson and the Explosives will take the stage at the Paramount following the screening of the film. After watching all that footage of him hovering on the brink of devstation, watching Roky getting his renewed feral yell on is sure to be an experience akin to seeing a unicorn or catching a rainbow in a jar.

You're Gonna Miss Me followed by Roky and the Explosives LIVE
Friday, July 13th
Paramount Theater
doors @ 7pm, show @ 8pm
[Tickets]