Meet Me in the Bathroom @ SIFF

NOTE: “All advance tickets for this event have been sold. A small number of standby tickets may be available the day of the event; standby tickets are not guaranteed,” writes SIFF.

You may not have heard of one of the hot films out of Sundance 2022 yet, but you’ve certainly…heard its subject. Meet Me in the Bathroom was originally a 600-page oral history by Lizzy Goldman, subtitled “Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011.” It was then an art exhibit, and now comes the documentary tracing the New York rock scene that rose from the ashes of 9/11. As the country struggled to create a new identity, bands who spent the previous decade scraping by at dive bars became the center of attention, creating a sonic revolution—not to mention jumpstarting some major fashion trends—that may remain unmatched.

The title comes from a Strokes song off their Room on Fire album, but they are just one of a few dozen bands crammed into this 105-minute film. You also get plenty of Interpol, TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and LCD Soundsystem (the subject of directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s previous documentary, Shut Up and Play the Hits). If you were the right age during this era, you’ll probably have an out-of-body experience at least once during this screening.

The one-night-only event at the SIFF Cinema Egyptian is a full evening of entertainment, with KEXP DJ Marco Collins acting as host plus a Q&A with and live performance from indie group the Moldy Peaches, who you’ll just have seen onscreen looking roughly 20 years younger. (Me, I would kill to be back at my college weight back when I was listening to Is This It on repeat, so I sympathize.)

(Full disclosure: I program for the annual Seattle International Film Festival but am not involved with SIFF’s year-round operations.)