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Meet the Stars

  •   A woman holding a drink, captioned ‘We are headed to Ocean City to party more!’
  •  Two concert-goers, captioned ‘Who are you here to see tonight?’, ‘Your mother!’
  •  A concert-goer with long hair, captioned ‘Heavy metal rules!’
  •  A man holding two tickets, captioned ‘Run back to my car, drink a few beers and puke on some “unsubspecting” victims!’
  •  Three concert-goers with arms around each other, captioned ‘Hey, I got a ticket.’
  •  Three concert-goers posing in front of a car.
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    The stars of Heavy Metal Parking Lot are the fans of heavy metal, rather than musicians.

    Instead of focusing on Judas Priest and their music, Krulik and Heyn's film showcases the people who attended the concert. Heavy Metal Parking Lot captures their expressions of enthusiasm, excitement, and anticipation for a raucous night of musical entertainment.

  •  Four concert-goers, captioned ‘Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Dokken…Ozzie, Scorpions, they all rule!’
  •  A shirtless concert-goer with long curly hair, captioned ‘But everybody else, you’re definitely dynamite. Let’s rock! Okay!! Awright!!!’
  •  Two concert-goers with long hair, captioned ‘Reston, Virginia…Mayberry USA!’
  •  A concert staff in a white baseball cap, captioned ‘I’ve never seen such a thing in all my life until I’ve been working here.’
  •  Four concert-goers in front of a car, captioned ‘I’m David Helvy. I’m twenty years old. I’m ready to rock.’
  •  Two concert-goers, one holding a microphone, captioned ‘You’ll see us. We got a great big banner. It says “Timmy Loved Judas Priest”.’

 

About

Jeff Krulik and John Heyn’s critically-acclaimed documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot captures the wild exuberance of Judas Priest fans tailgating before a concert in the Capital Centre parking lot in Landover, Maryland on May 31, 1986. In just sixteen minutes of footage, the film immortalizes the hairstyles, vibrant prints, air guitar, beer and cars—not to mention the unbridled enthusiasm for Priest—that characterized U.S. pop metal fandom in its 1980s heyday. Lauded by music fans, journalists, pop culture historians and scholars, Heavy Metal Parking Lot offers both an entertaining and fascinating glimpse of a truly unique subculture.

This exhibit, “Heavy Metal Parking Lot: The 30-year Journey of a Cult Film Sensation,” commemorates the latest milestone anniversary of the film, detailing the circumstances of its creation and describing its unexpected trajectory from tape trading to film festival favorite and ultimately to global phenomenon.

Curators: Laura Schnitker, Jeff Krulik
Project Archivists for the Exhibit: Alice Rogers, Alex Pirela
Graphic Design: Kelly Andrews

With help from: Laura Cleary, Cindy Zhao, Avery Boddie

Contact Us

Visit the exhibit at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center located at 3800 The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1625. The Jeff Krulik collection is housed in Broadcasting collections within Special Collections and University Archives at the Hornbake Library.

For general information about the library and our collections, contact us.
For questions about the exhibit and the Jeff Krulik collection, please email Laura Schnitker or call 301-405-9255.

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