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MikeK
Since: Jan, 2001
9th Oct, 2019 08:22:56 AM
I figured this out, it's a 1994 film called Half-Cocked. I started by trying to remember what I initially looked up on Wikipedia (the band Polvo, who appeared in the film), and retraced my steps that way.
I never actually saw this, but found a synopsis on a Wiki Walk and thought the premise was interesting: A group of young people go out to a local concert because the singer is related to one of them - said singer turns out to be becoming a Small Name, Big Ego because his band is beginning to become a local draw, and treats the main characters poorly. In a fit of anger, they decide to steal his van with all the band's equipment in it and just drive off with no destination in mind. The van breaks down a few cities away, and, needing money to get it repaired and drive on, they come up with the idea of pretending to be a band and conning their way into their first show. None of the "band" members have ever played their instruments before, and they had no time to prepare any original material, and it shows, but somehow they get paid and keep getting booked; gradually they get better at playing music and actually become a respectable band. The article mentioned that the Fake Band were depicted by a real one (who had to purposely play badly, then gradually get better over the course of the movie), and several real American indie bands appeared as themselves.
Edited by MikeK