witnessing the second great Decline on the big screen

Andrew Jacobs here,

As I've mentioned a few times, I was pretty late to the rock/metal party, having not gotten into either until I was 23 years old in 1993.  However, I did go see The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years on opening night in the theater on June 17, 1988.  Of course the only reason why is because having gotten heavily into punk and hardcore music in the mid 1980s, I was a HUGE fan of the first Decline movie as well as Decline director Penelope Spheeris' 1983 punk classic Suburbia.  But I digress.

Another reason why I decided to post about this is because the thing that I remember most about Decline II is not KISS or Ozzy or any of the bands for that matter.  My most vivid memory of Decline II is of the legendary club owner Bill Gazzarri repeatedly yelling "ODIN!" just before that band's performance in the movie.  That few seconds of film has been in my subconscious for almost 25 years and has never left it.  In fact, last year, when my wife's best friend told us that her husband had decided to name their second child Odin, the very first thing that popped into my head was, you guessed it, Gazzarri repeatedly yelling "ODIN!" in Decline II.