Rozz Williams Comes Home: “Romeo’s Distress” Screening and Live Performance in Pomona
On Saturday, August 29, 2026, Rozz Williams: Romeo’s Distress will be screened at Fox Theater Pomona. Presented by Cult Epics, the event brings the story and music of Rozz Williams back to the town where he grew up. After the documentary, former Christian Death members and special guest vocalists will perform an extended live set celebrating his legacy.
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A Gothic Homecoming
This is more than another stop on the documentary’s journey. Pomona is part of Rozz Williams’ personal history. Bringing the film to the city where he grew up gives the night the feeling of a homecoming—one shaped by memory, music, and the people who helped build the early Southern California deathrock scene.
Rozz left behind a body of work that still reaches outsiders across generations. His music was confrontational, poetic, theatrical, and painfully intimate. Therefore, returning his story to Pomona feels especially meaningful. The artist may be gone, but the city will hear his songs again.
The Artist Behind the Gothic Icon
Rozz Williams: Romeo’s Distress is a 102-minute documentary directed by Nico B. The film examines the life of Roger Alan Painter, known to the world as Rozz Williams: musician, poet, visual artist, and founder of Christian Death.
For decades, Rozz has often been remembered through unforgettable images: pale makeup, haunted eyes, religious symbols, and a stage presence that seemed both dangerous and fragile. However, the documentary moves beyond the icon. Through family memories, personal testimony, and rare material, it searches for the human being behind the mythology.
The result is an intimate portrait of an artist who helped shape gothic music and fashion while creating space for people who felt different, rejected, or impossible to classify. Rozz died in 1998 at only 34, yet his influence continues through deathrock, post-punk, dark art, queer underground culture, and new generations discovering his work.
Christian Death Legends Return to the Stage
Once the screening ends, the evening will move from cinema into live ritual. Original Christian Death musicians Rikk Agnew on guitar, James McGearty on bass, and David Glass on drums will reunite for an extended performance.
They will be joined by Eva O, Gitane Demone, Patrik Mata of Kommunity FK, William Faith of Shadow Project, and Kenton Holmes, who will share vocal duties. Together, they will perform songs connected to the classic Rozz Williams-era albums Only Theatre of Pain, Catastrophe Ballet, and Ashes. The set will also include music from Shadow Project.
Those records did more than define a genre. They turned spiritual conflict, alienation, surrealism, and punk energy into a new form of dark theater. Hearing this music performed by figures who lived inside that history will give the event a rare sense of authenticity.
Throughout the night, DJ Mr. Chino of Prayers and Chologothnight will play darkwave, goth, and post-punk, carrying the atmosphere from the doors opening to the final song.
My Connection to Romeo’s Distress
I am Christian Mariotti, leader of Edgar Allan Poets, and I served as cinematographer on the documentary while also contributing during its final editing stages. I witnessed the film take shape from its earliest moments.
One of the defining experiences was traveling into the desert with director Nico B to visit the Painter family home. That journey opened the door to the film’s emotional core. It also revealed how much of Rozz’s story existed beyond the stage—in family memories, private wounds, and places that still carried traces of his presence.
Working on the documentary changed the way I saw the Los Angeles underground. Behind every record, photograph, and legend, there are human relationships. There are also contradictions, losses, and memories that rarely reach the audience. This film tries to bring those fragments together without reducing Rozz to a single explanation.
A Night for Those Who Remember—and Those Just Discovering Rozz
Longtime fans will recognize the musicians, songs, and histories gathered onstage. Meanwhile, younger listeners will have the opportunity to discover why Rozz Williams still matters. His work remains alive because it never treated darkness as decoration. For Rozz, art was a place where beauty, provocation, pain, sexuality, faith, and doubt could exist together.
On August 29, the documentary and the live performance will bring those worlds together under one roof. In the town where Rozz grew up, the screen will hold his story and the stage will return his music to the night.
Do not miss this rare celebration of one of gothic music’s most singular artists.
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Event Details
Event: Rozz Williams: Romeo’s Distress Documentary Screening + Live Performance
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM–11:30 PM
Venue: Fox Theater Pomona
Address: 301 S. Garey Avenue, Pomona, CA 91766
Presented by: Cult Epics
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