There is one band that seemingly loves touring more than any other band that I follow, and that is Kingswood. I’ve been a fan of theirs since 2012 and have seen them on tour more times than I can count. Several of those tours I have had the honour of covering for this very publication.
One such tour was their Hometowns Tour back in 2023. Kicking off early that year, and itching to get on the road after Covid, it was Kingswood’s biggest tour the band had ever embarked on. In fact, it broke the record for the largest single Australian Tour in history. A whopping 112-date tour across the country.
Well, little did I know that this would also spark Kingswood’s entrance into the cinemas with a documentary covering their most ambitious tour ever.
Titled ‘CLAPTRAP’, the documentary originally had a screening at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival in 2024. Sadly, I missed out! But thankfully, it had a cinematic return with a limited run of screenings around Australia. I was lucky to attend the Melbourne Premiere at the Astor Theatre on Friday the 4th of April.
Produced by Luca Catalan and directed not only by Darcy Newton in his directorial debut, he but filmed the entire documentary himself. Originally employed by the band to assist with their social media presence whilst on tour, the idea came about that Kingswood and Newton would film the tour and turn it into a documentary. After all, no other band has ever toured like this before.
So, how would Kingswood achieve this insane tour? By purchasing a bus, fitting it out with beds and other facilities, and quite literally drive from city to city, town to town, performing multiple shows a week over the period of 6 months. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as it turns out, plenty!
The film was originally planned to be a music style documentary, filming concert footage. However, as the tour progressed and with Newton filming at every chance he got, the documentary naturally became an observational documentary, focusing more about what goes on and off stage, plus the trials and tribulations of touring.
As a fan of Kingswood, I am thankful for this shift in creative direction. Not only does the documentary highlight how tough touring can be, but it also brings to light the emotions and struggles that the members of the band face when they’re not on stage. From relationship breakdowns, loss and heartbreak to the stress of being cooped up in a bus for so long, and how it puts stress on the relationships that they have with each other, this film leaves no stone unturned. It isn’t all doom, stress and gloom though, as it is evident in this documentary the amount of love and admiration that the band members have for one another.
There is also a villain in the story, but not one you would expect. That being, Peggy. No, not some woman that gets between them, the bus. Peggy is their tour bus, and she features as an unexpected antagonist within the documentary. From crashing into carports to a full-on breakdown on the side of a major highway, Peggy tested Kingswood more times than they’d like to admit.
CLAPTRAP is unlike any documentary I have seen before and in his directorial debut, Darcy Newton has created something very special. Being a (mostly) one-man-show, Newton’s filming managed to capture very raw and honest moments from the entire band.
There was also a clear progression in the style of cinematography as the documentary continued, showcasing how Newton grew as a cinematographer as the 6-month tour moved on. If this is what Newton was able to create and achieve in a debut, I cannot wait to see what he does next.
Some fun facts for you about this documentary: with such a long tour and Newton filming almost every moment of it, the team ended up with over 800 hours of footage that they had to edit. And to get it down to a 90-minute run time is just as impressive as the 112-date tour itself. Hats off to the editing team for cutting it down so much but somehow managing to maintain the heart of the band in this film.
Chatting to director Darcy Newtown after the screening, I had to ask, “Why ‘CLAPTRAP’? Where did this title come from?”. Being a gamer, I suspected it might have something to do with the game Borderlands and the whacky NPC named Claptrap. Well, as it turns out, Newton is also a fan of the gaming franchise and names his backup drives after characters of the game. Claptrap happened to be the one that had the most footage on it of the film and I love that. While the title itself has no connection to the band, it still just works.
CLAPTRAP is a unique, raw and unapologetically honest look into Kingswood, both on and off stage. This observational music documentary shows the audience that the rockstars we know and love are real people with real emotions and their own struggles that they deal with daily.
The documentary had a series of Q&A limited screenings around the country in Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, Byron Bay, Brisbane and Sydney throughout the first two weeks of April. Unfortunately, there are no other planned screenings coming soon, but I do hope CLAPTRAP becomes available on streaming services in the not too distant future.
And whilst we wait for news on a release of CLAPTRAP, guess what Kingswood are doing? Yes, you guessed it! They are back on the road with a new tour, a new single, and hopefully new music!
The Midnight Mavericks Tour kicks off on the 25th of April and finishes up on the 28th of August. With local shows at Sookie Lounge in Belgrave on the 2nd of May and the Northcote Social Club on the 6th of July.
For more tour information on Kingswood, ticketing, or to stream their latest single ‘You Wreck Me’, visit:
https://www.kingswoodband.com/kwtour
https://ffm.to/youwreckme