Riot on the Dance Floor (2014)

Punk rock can trace some of its roots to Trenton, New Jersey, where a small nightclub called City Gardens opened its doors to musicians and fans for nearly 25 years. Riot on the Dance Floor is a documentary by director Steve Tozzi that chronicles the iconic club and the phenomena of the punk scene that took place within its walls and beyond.

The film traces the genesis of the story back to the 1940s and a Philadelphia music landmark, The Latin Casino, where talents such as The Temptations, The Supremes, Frank Sinatra and Richard Pryor all played. Bizarro is the theme as the tale unfolds, mixing underground bands, New Wave, disco, and The Thompson Twins in a seedy bar located in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Trenton. Even Jon Stewart, former host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show, " pops up, describing the rundown warehouse that would become a vanguard of punk rock. While New York had the famous CBGB in Manhattan's East Village, City Gardens was existentially less renowned. True to it's New Jersey culture, it attracted more than its share of Trans Ams and the type of people that embodied them. These are the kind of details the film tells through those interviewed, yet always with the affection that comes from nostalgia in purest form. For those who love punk music, the film fits like a well-worn shirt bought at a concert decades ago. Heartfelt and without ego, it preserves a movement that gave birth to myriad musical forms often considered "original, " not the least of which being the grunge scene that emerged in the early 1990s. As entertaining as the film is, it meticulously documents the many forms of the punk life, from BMX to underground radio shows, startup bands without notions of making money, and crackpot schemes of giving voice to a generation of misfit idealists.