Redd Kross is one of the most fascinating bands in rock history and we’re proud to present the first Phoenix showing of Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story. Directed by Andrew Reich, this documentary makes the case that Jeff and Steve McDonald’s Redd Kross is the seminal West Coast band of the last half century, a “secret handshake” exchanged between punk, college rock, grunge, glam, power pop, metal, and indie rock fans.
Join us Friday, December 6 at 7 PM for a screening of his compelling new doc along with some super special guests…
Fresh off releasing an incredible new self-titled record and Now You’re One of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross, written with Dan Epstein, Redd Kross remains an active force. Their 45-year career is a testament to the power of following your own artistic impulses into the wild. Packed with archival footage and thoughts from fans and members of Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, The Bangles, Dinosaur Jr, The Go-Go’s, Soundgarden, Black Flag and many more, it’s the most important rock and roll film of 2024.
More on Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story:
Formed in 1978 by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald, and still actively playing and recording today, Redd Kross are the ultimate rock and roll lifers. They have influenced independent music in ways that beg to be acknowledged. From inventing “beach punk” to influencing the grunge and hair metal movements, Redd Kross have maintained the highest level of musical integrity, originality and quality for over forty years. They are the underappreciated link between countless threads of Los Angeles rock. The band that connects Black Flag to The Partridge Family, The Runaways to The Cowsills, The Go-Go’s to The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Born Innocent will introduce a wider audience to two of the coolest people alive. The McDonald Brothers embody Southern California, rock and roll, and what it means to be an artist. Telling the story of Jeff and Steve McDonald is a way of telling the story of Los Angeles from the late ’70s onwards. As the band was beginning in their garage, their neighborhood was being razed all around them to make way for one of the freeways that accompanied Los Angeles’s expanding population. That was just the first of the transformations they lived through. They have seen many versions of Los Angeles come and go, and they have incredible stories to tell from each one, with their Zelig-like ability to always be at the cutting edge of where the action was. Unlike other famous, feuding brother teams like Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks, or Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Jeff and Steve have kept their collaboration going for four decades.
That doesn’t mean it’s all been smooth sailing. Early on, Jeff saw a selling point in having his pre-teen brother as bass player in the band. But his success at breaking into the burgeoning punk scene inadvertently led to Steve being abducted at age 12 by a 24 year old woman he was sexually involved with. The interviews with Jeff and Steve in Born Innocent have them examine their past in a way they haven’t previously. Jeff has always been the creative visionary, pulling Steve along wherever that vision has led. Steve, the younger brother, has had to be the responsible one, keeping the band on course through countless lineup changes. The film tracks how the band has managed and made use of those tensions
Andrew Reich’s director’s statement:
I made Born Innocent to bring joy to music fans. Redd Kross has one of the most enjoyable catalogs and incredible stories in all of rock and roll, yet they are far too little known. The story of Jeff and Steve McDonald, the brothers who formed Redd Kross at ages 11 and 15 and who keep the band going strong to this day, is a story of unyielding creative vision and persistence. I believe getting to know the brothers over the course of the film can provide inspiration to creative people in any field.
They believed in themselves, they didn’t follow trends, and they were willing to be in opposition to the counterculture they were a part of when they felt it was becoming too hidebound and reactionary. I made a point of telling the story without any directorial narration or text or other interventions. I wanted the story to be told by the people who lived it as well as through archival materials. And I wanted the film to entertain and delight an audience. This is a band who never made it big, and the dominant cultural narrative would label that a failure. The film provides a counterpoint to that narrative. Redd Kross never had a hit or a gold record, and they are still one of the greatest success stories in rock and roll history.
