Mar 26, 2025 - Things to Do

"The Wild Wild West End Oral History" preserves Atlanta's punk scene

Thomas Wheatley

A pamphlet for a "The Wild Wild West End" documentary screening. The pamphlet includes a black-and-white photo of a skate board half-pipe ramp in a warehouse setting. — Photo: Courtesy of Emory University's Rose Library

While most of the world was fretting about the Y2K fallout that never happened, a motley crew of musicians, artists and skateboarders turned a sprawling West End warehouse complex into a punk rock hub.

Driving the news: Emory University's Rose Library on Thursday night will screen the first part of "The Wild Wild West End Oral History," Ivette Spradlin's time capsule of the DIY culture that emerged at the former Candler Warehouse in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A Q&A will follow.

Zoom in: The interview collection is a companion piece to Spradlin's book of portraits and quotes from the people involved in the scene while the culture brewed.

Fun fact: The warehouse complex is now called The Met, which was purchased last year by North Carolina-based hospital Atrium Health.

Go: The free screening begins at 7pm Thursday and will be held in the Joseph W. Jones Room of Emory's Robert W. Woodruff Library.

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"The Wild Wild West End Oral History" preserves Atlanta's punk scene

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