Growing up in Green Bay, Wis., during the ‘70s and early ‘80s wasn’t idyllic for a collection of skaters, outcasts and nonconformists. This is made clear in the first few minutes of the documentary, “Green Blah: The History of Green Bay Punk Rock,” which unearths the first decade and a half of the city’s powerful punk rock scene.

“If you weren’t into football, it was pretty rough going,” one scenester says in the film.

These days, sporting fuchsia hair and checkerboard shoes is acceptable, even mainstream. But years ago, it meant something else, especially in a small town like Green Bay. It meant you were a degenerate, homosexual (the derogatory f-word), and/or a target for the jocks/normies.

But eventually, these punk kids found each other through show flyers and zines (called fanzines or phan-zines then) and created a scene that defined the genre. “Green Blah,” a film directed by Chris Pretti and James Baker, deep dives into the sweaty, boozy waters with video footage, interviews, photos and animation from the era.

“We were looking for punk and we didn’t know it,” says Karl Kirschling, a member of Green Bay punk band, The Tyrants.

In the late ‘70s and into the ‘80s, Green Bay had almost nothing to offer hopeful punk rockers who saw The Ramones, Devo and The New York Dolls on music programs or in the pages of Creem magazine and wanted more. 

After buying up the small section of punk music at record shops, kids were inspired to start bands – often in their parents’ basements – regardless whether they knew how to play an instrument or sing. Kids who thought their post-graduation options were marriage, the military, a job at the paper mill  – or maaaaybe college – suddenly saw another way. And they went for it.

Bands like The Tyrants – featuring Bret Starr, the late son of Packers head coach, Bart Starr – along with The Minors, No Response, Suburban Mutilation and others, started drawing large crowds to their live shows in bowling alleys, party houses and banquet halls. The small-town scene attracted big-time touring acts to Green Bay like Black Flag, Husker Du, Fugazi, Social Distortion, 7 Seconds, Loud Fast Rules (later Soul Asylum) and The Dead Kennedys.

Numerous musicians from these bands appear in the film and speak fondly of Green Bay's authentic and rowdy punk culture.

“Green Blah," which was almost 15 years in the making, is well-documented and truly captures the feel of the slamming scene. It also has a great deal of heart, which especially shines through during parts about the venues and venue owners that supported the bands and their fans such as ABC Boxing, Bob Kutska’s Kutska’s Hall – referred to as “The Lambeau Field of the Green Bay punk scene” – and Concert Cafe where we finally see females rocking the stage.

The documentary is all show and no tell, which always makes the best storytelling. Viewers, whether they were a part of the scene or like punk music, will get wrapped up in a place in time when a bunch of misfit kids were smart and brave enough to bust beyond the status quo and put Green Bay on the map for something other than football.

“Green Blah The History of Green Bay Punk Rock” will screen Wednesday, April 30, at The Oriental Theater as part of The Milwaukee Film Festival. The show starts at 8:45 p.m. For tickets, go here.