The Holy Modal Rounders documentary screens tonight at the Hollywood (check out the preview above). Here’s the write-up from this week’s paper:

The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose

Emerging from the West Village folk scene of the early ’60s, the Holy Modal Rounders took a shitload of drugs, landed a tune on the Easy Rider soundtrack, and made generally awful music for years and years. This documentary brings us up to date with the burned-out hippie-comedian-folksinger-pranksters. Sounds unbearable, right? It’s actually fascinating. The Rounders’ two primary members diverged in the ’70s: Peter Stampfel redeemed himself with work and family, while Steve Weber persisted with drugs and booze. (His grizzly, beer-bloated carcass becomes a remarkably compelling screen presence.) The film builds to their 40-year reunion show at the Crystal Ballroom, at which point Weber literally vanishes into the ether. It’s a story of how so many things can stay the same over the years, and how some things absolutely need to change. NED LANNAMANN Hollywood Theatre.

There are lots of colorful characters in the film, including a guy named Lonesome Wayne, who is like an R. Crumb drawing come to life. The film will be followed by a live performance by the Freak Mountain Ramblers, which contains some members of the Rounders. From watching the film, I learned there actually IS a Freak Mountain; it’s located not too far outside of Portland, and a bunch of hippies apparently still live there on property they don’t own or pay rent for. Far out, man.