The Replacements.

The Replacements.

''THE Replacements are the greatest rock'n'roll band of all time. Bar none,'' director Gorman Bechard says. ''They're gods!''

His passion for the band that formed in Minneapolis in 1978, and burnt out in 1991, led him to take over a project that had been started years before by another filmmaker but dropped due to lack of funds and resources - Colour Me Obsessed: the Potentially True Story of the Last Best Band, the Replacements.

The Replacements were a fierce and fiery rock band who mixed classic rock and punk with passionate lyrics. Vocalist-guitarist Paul Westerberg had a raw, emotive voice and the ability to turn stories of day-to-day events (talking on answering machines, kissing on buses, tonsil operations) into inspired songs.

The Replacements, Gorman Bechard.

Director Gorman Bechard.

Their shows were notoriously inconsistent. They could be the most exciting live band or an alcoholic mess. They left a handful of albums that may not have sold a lot, but they built a fanatical cult fan base and inspired a generation of musicians.

It's a critically acclaimed documentary with a twist - none of the band members are involved and none of the band's music is used. The entire story is told through interviews with fans. ''I fell in love with the crazy idea,'' Bechard says. ''People believe in God without seeing or hearing Him. Why not the Replacements?''

Why not, indeed. This was, after all, the band that bucked all conventions, whose first big-label music video, Bastards of Young, was a black-and-white, close-up single shot of a speaker. As the song ends, a foot kicks the speaker in. In an era of overblown clips it certainly stood out.

Though the Replacements never toured Australia, they still have devoted fans here. Two of them, Alistair Carr and Simon Maiden, were talking about how they could see the documentary. They contacted Bechard, who offered them a screening if they could make the night something special. Instead of looking for a cinema, they looked for a venue and a band to play after the screening. They contacted former Dallas Crane vocalist-guitarist Dave Larkin, who put together an all-star tribute band, Garry and the Boners (named after a track from the band's Let It Be album).

A Night Out With the Replacements, Thursday, March 29, at the Phoenix Public House in Brunswick is a fitting tribute to a band that did things differently.