Detroit Rock City is a 1999 American teen comedy film directed by Adam Rifkin and written by Carl V. Dupré. It tells of four teenage boys in a Kiss tribute band who try to see their idols in a concert in Detroit in 1978. Comparable with other rock films such as Rock 'n' Roll High School, Dazed and Confused, and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, it tells a coming-of-age story through a filter of 1970s music and culture in the United States. It took its title from the Kiss song of the same name.
The film was shot at Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Toronto and other Ontario locations including Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed approximately $6 million against a $17 million budget.
Plot
In 1978 Cleveland, Ohio, four rebellious teenage boys – Hawk, Lex, Trip Verudie, and Jeremiah "Jam" Bruce – play in a Kiss cover band called "Mystery" and prepare to see their idols in concert in Detroit, Michigan the following night. Their hopes are dashed when Jam's religiously conservative mother finds their tickets and burns them before having Jam transferred to a Catholic boarding school.
After Trip manages to win tickets and backstage passes from a radio contest in Detroit, the boys, disguised as pizza deliverymen, rescue Jam from the boarding school by drugging Father Phillip McNulty using a pizza topped with hallucinogen mushrooms before setting off for Detroit in Lex's mother's Volvo to collect the tickets. En route, they get into a road rage incident with disco fanatics Kenny and Bobby after Trip throws a slice of pizza on their windshield. They beat up the disco duo and continue their journey before picking up Kenny's girlfriend Christine, who dumped Kenny due to his behavior.
Upon arriving in Detroit, the boys discover that Trip did not stay on the phone long enough to give the radio station his information, resulting in the tickets being given to the next caller. When they exit the building they find the Volvo missing, which they deduce Christine stole. After briefly arguing amongst themselves, the four split up to find Kiss tickets and the Volvo, planning to regroup in 105 minutes. Hawk finds a scalper who suggests he enter a male stripping contest to raise money for tickets. He gets drunk and loses the contest after vomiting, but is offered payment for the company and has sex with an older woman named Amanda Finch. After being paid, he locates the scalper, only to discover that his tickets are sold out. Trip goes to a local convenience store, hoping to mug a younger child for his ticket but the boy's older brother, Chongo, and his friends, confront and threaten him for $200. He then plans to rob the store with a Stretch Armstrong doll disguised as a gun, but ends up receiving $150 after thwarting a genuine robbery attempt. Trip gives the money to Chongo's gang, but they assault him regardless and consequently steal his wallet.
Lex sneaks backstage with the concert loading crew but is caught and tossed over a fence where he tames a group of vicious dogs with a Frisbee, then saves Christine and the Volvo from two car thieves (who are responsible for stealing the car) at a nearby chop shop. Jam encounters his mother at an anti-Kiss rally, who forcibly takes his drumsticks before dragging him to a nearby church for confessional with a perverted priest who is more interested in salacious conversation, rather than an actual confession. He is then greeted by Beth Bumstein, a classmate who is moving to Ann Arbor. After admitting their feelings for each other, they have sex before parting ways, agreeing to maintain contact with each other. Jam, imbued with new confidence, returns to the rally and criticizes his mother's domineering ways and hypocrisy, telling her that her extreme religious views and controlling attitude have only caused him to despise religion and rebel. He ultimately breaks her spirit by labelling her as a lousy mother and proclaiming to her and the rally attendees that he lost his virginity in a confessional booth. He then demands his drumsticks back, one of which she broke in half. She does so and apologizes to him, remarking to the crowd, "They grow up fast, don't they?".