The Parkinsons: A Long Way to Nowhere (2016)

• 85%
• 2016
• Documentary
• Caroline Richards

London. The dawn of the new Millennium. The Britpop party is over and the UK music scene is suffering from a severe hangover. The promise that Things Can Only Get Better now seems like a distant dream. Then, as if from nowhere, The Parkinsons burst onto the scene and give the music business a shot in the arm and a kick up the arse. Singer Afonso, guitarist Victor, and bassist Pedro, met in their home town of Coimbra, Portugal - land of Madeira, Catholicism and boredom. Relocating to London, in search of adventure, they teamed up with fiery Scottish drummer Chris Low. They swiftly built a reputation for chaos, revealing their penchant for getting naked on stage and attempting to abuse anyone or anything that refused to worship at their altar of rock'n'roll damnation. In the shadows, The Libertines and Razorlight were taking notes. Having conquered London, The Parkinsons were unleashed onto the rest of the UK, receiving ecstatic responses and rave reviews wherever they went. By 2002, The Parkinsons were plastered all over the press, radio, TV, and every major UK music festival - upsetting everybody from venue staff to the Queen in the process. Undeterred, Japan welcomed them with open arms and snapped them up for the biggest ever tour undertaken there by a Western band. The Parkinsons' story is extraordinary. But was their journey just a long way to nowhere? Find out in this unique, hilarious, moving and ultimately deeply human story of maximum rock'n'roll, the likes of which we are unlikely to see again. A Long Way to Nowhere is compiled from hundreds of hours of incredible and intimate fly-on-the-wall footage along with interviews with the band and other key players.