- The Guest List is a film about the lives affected and forever connected by one of the most horrific tragedies in music history. The Station nightclub fire remains America's deadliest rock concert.
- Fates of the innocent and guilty collide on the night of America's deadliest rock concert. It could fairly be said that music and rock culture drew one hundred innocent people to their deaths in the Station Fire. The Guest List explores how that same music and culture became sources of healing and comfort, at least for some, in the years thereafter.
- Young people will always be attracted to live concerts. And bands, promoters, and concert venues will always be tempted to cut corners for cheap spectacle. The Guest List remains timely, years after the Station Fire tragedy, because nightclub fires remain a hazard (witness recent club fires in Argentina, Russia, Thailand, Brazil, and even Oakland, California). Less a fire safety polemic than character study, The Guest List is largely based on John Barylick's narrative non-fiction work, Killer Show, The Station Nightclub Fire, America's Deadliest Rock Concert, (University Press of New England, 2012). Critically praised by non-fiction authors Vincent Bugliosi (Helter Skelter) and Ralph Nader (Unsafe at Any Speed), Killer Show tells the compelling stories of the Station Fire - including those on Jack Russell's "guest list."
On February 20, 2003 America's deadliest rock concert began in West Warwick, Rhode Island, when a heavy metal band, Great White, ignited pyrotechnics inside a run-down roadhouse. The resulting conflagration killed 100 persons and grievously injured many others. The Guest List looks at the aftermath of that tragedy, exploring the culture of rock music and its associated celebrity, with their potential to both harm and heal.
The target audiences for The Guest List are rock music fans and, more generally, fans of disaster non-fiction (between whom there is substantial overlap). Rock audiences will be fascinated by behind-the-scenes stories of a band, and lead singer, heading downhill on a third-rate tour where negligence and greed trumped safety. Disaster buffs will be riveted by the cruel irony of acceptance onto Jack Russell's guest list, as they'll be inspired by Joe Kinan's courage, and even humor, in the face of horrific challenges.
The Guest List addresses timeless themes of personal responsibility, acceptance, and forgiveness. Its central characters struggle to cope in the aftermath of tragedy - some gracefully, and some less so. It is an object lesson in the tragic potential of poor decisions. The Guest List is a strikingly visual story. No one who watches The Guest List will enter a concert venue again without first checking for the exits.
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