Urgh! A Music War Screening
PhilaMOCA
531 N 12th St.
Philadelphia
Oct. 13, 2026
Woodstock, The Last Waltz, 1991: The Year Punk Broke. Rock music has a history of concert films that have provided a snapshot of the state of the genre at a given time. While no culture can be fully captured within the confines of a film, these documentaries have shown us the historical context in which some of our favorite music was created. Once billed as “The Punk Woodstock that never was,” Urgh! A Music War is a grossly underrated and under-seen entry into the canon of great rock concert films. Filmed at multiple venues across two months in the summer of 1980, the film features a who’s who of punk, post-punk, ska, new wave and reggae bands of the day. Devo, The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, Joan Jett, Gang of Four, Pere Ubu, The Go-Go's, Steel Pulse, Klaus Nomi, The Police, Oingo Boingo and many more all make appearances. With this lineup of established and emerging bands, the film shines a spotlight on the diversity and unbridled power of the scenes popping off in England and the U.S.
On Oct. 13, PhilaMOCA hosted a special screening hosted by musicians and podcast hosts Chaki and Chris Slusarenko. Chaki and Slusarenko’s knowledge and obsessive love for this little-known film was evident from their pre-screening talk where they riffed, cracked jokes and dropped factoids about the film and the bands that appear in it.
The film opens with The Police at the height of their powers playing an inspired version of “Driven To Tears.” In a film that is packed with highlights, Wall of Voodoo plays a ghostly version of “Back in Flesh,” Pere Ubu’s jazz-fusion-meets-art-punk jam “Birdies” and Oingo Boingo’s big, brassy rendition of “Ain’t This The Life” are all top notch. With no narration and every band (except The Police) only performing one song each, Urgh! A Music War lacks a bit of contextualization, but it makes up for this by offering an unfiltered look at these bands at a pivotal time in rock/punk’s history. Where else can you see footage of Echo & The Bunnymen a few months after their debut album or The GoGo’s before they became one of the biggest acts in music?
The backend of the film further increases the energy with Andy Gill of Gang of Four’s guitar sounding like he strung it with razor wire on the song “He’d Send In The Army.” Los Angeles punk pioneers X check in with “Beyond And Back,” and Devo’s performance of “Uncontrollable Urge” makes a strong case for the Ohio futurist punks as the best live act at the time. The film screening was followed by a conversation with longtime WPRB DJ and radio legend Jon Solomon. Solomon, Chaki and Slusarenko chatted about the bands and the stories around the film while offering the humor and insight that it deserved. While its initial theatrical run was largely ignored by audiences, there now seems to be increased interest in Urgh! A Music War. This interest around the film is important because like the best rock documentaries it reminds us of a time in our culture that couldn’t be replicated today.
