“Last Night at The Mill” features memories of “an Iowa City institution”

On Friday, September 23, filmmaker Dave Olive premiered the up to date, remastered model of his movie “Final Night time at The Mill” on the Englert Theatre in Iowa Metropolis. The movie contains a native star-studded efficiency from Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, Rick Cicalo, Steve Hayes, Dave Zollo and others, recorded in 2003 on the esteemed former Mill Restaurant in Iowa Metropolis.

“Anyone who’s conversant in Iowa musicians and significantly people musicians that these guys are gold. They’re all great, great gamers, so the chance to see them at any time, at any venue could be nice,” Olive mentioned. “Greg [Brown] known as me up and mentioned ‘Hey, this is happening, Keith is gonna retire. You wanna attempt to do a video?”

The efficiency featured on this movie celebrated the late Keith Dempster, then retiring after forty years of proudly owning and working The Mill. Olive recalled fond reminiscences of the venue, which closed in 2020.

“That was a spot that artists and musicians of any ilk may come and work out their stuff. They’d previous time music. Greg [Brown] labored out plenty of his songs there; I’m positive Bo [Ramsey] did. And the lineup was oriented in direction of fostering music and fostering an environment that music and actions may gestate themselves into new issues,” Olive mentioned.

The September 23 screening of “Final Night time at The Mill” started with College of Iowa college students Daniel McGregor Huyer and Grace Kreber’s “Remembering The Mill” quick movie. McGregor Huyer described the contents of the movie: “After a downtown Iowa Metropolis music venue and restaurant, The Mill, closed in 2020 and was subsequently demolished in 2022, Iowa Metropolis artists Pieta Brown, Sam Rae, Dave Zollo, and historian Mary Bennett mirror on the restaurant’s historical past and impression on the humanities and tradition in Iowa Metropolis.”

In an outline of the music featured in “Final Night time on the Mill,” Olive wrote, “The movie captures nice renditions of Greg [Brown]’s unique songs together with: ‘Down on the Mill,’ ‘Small Darkish Film,’ ‘If I Had Identified,’ ‘Poor Again Slider,’ ‘Fooled Me As soon as,’ ‘One Incorrect Flip,’ ‘China,’ ‘That is Sufficient,’ ‘Your City Now,’ ‘Hacklebarney Tune’, and ‘Virtually Outa Gasoline.’ The band additionally covers Joe Worth’s ‘Suitcase Boogie,’ and the well-known Jimmy Reed tune: ‘You Bought Me Dizzy.’”

With this movie, Olive aimed to seize “the precise pleasure and enthusiasm about being there,” he mentioned. “It was a spot the place you may go in for a Jack, a joke and a chunk, I’d say. It’s an Iowa Metropolis establishment.”

Olive has created a number of different movie initiatives, his newest being a documentary about Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. His YouTube channel, Dave Olive, options examples of his different music and documentary work, in addition to unique model of “Final Night time on the Mill.”