Goodnight Brooklyn: The Story of Death by Audio could be a prime exhibit in some sour asshole's “look at these fucking hipsters” essay, but if you still sneer at people trying to foster non-mainstream culture away from capitalism's clammy paws, you deserve the bland, toothless entertainment that America's biggest corporations want to spoon-feed you. For anyone who cares about the health of underground music, this documentary about the Williamsburg DIY venue Death by Audio offers an archetypal scenario of altruistic artists MacGyvering their own distinctive ecosystem in a city where it costs four figures a month to rent a closet. What makes Goodnight Brooklyn more interesting than most stories of its ilk, however, is the lethal irony at its core.

Death by Audio began in 2002 as a manufacturer of guitar pedals. Run by Oliver Ackermann (guitarist in the Jesus & Mary Chain-esque noise-rock group A Place to Bury Strangers), the company sold its handmade units to superstars like U2 and Nine Inch Nails. Ackermann moved his burgeoning business into a Brooklyn warehouse in 2007; he also lived there and set up a practice space. Needing extra sources of income to make rent, Ackermann and fellow DBA employees/tenants like Matthew Conboy (the film's director) decided to host shows in one of the warehouse's rooms. Hiring sound engineer Edan Wilber, Death by Audio became a crucial node in touring rock bands' itineraries. Some of Goodnight Brooklyn's highlights include live footage of acts like Thee Oh Sees, Lightning Bolt, and Deerhoof. DBA was a small space, but it engendered the sort of outsized loyalty and love from its punters that you've probably experienced in your favorite DIY space. Positivity, camaraderie, and smart booking instincts will do that.

Of course, the quasi-utopian scene Death by Audio sustained for over seven years couldn't last—not in a building located on prime real estate in America's third-most expensive city. What makes DBA's demise so painful is that the villain forcing them out of their digs—Vice Media—once praised DBA as “the best and weirdest venue in Brooklyn, if not all of New York.” This advocate of cutting-edge culture was now supplanting the very thing on which it had built its rep. While Conboy literally has an investment in this enterprise, he makes you really care about an increasingly common breed of injustice with sincere testimonials from musicians, employees, and fellow promoters, as well as poignant footage of DBA's final gigs.

The film's last line rings as righteously as one of Ackermann's feedback-heavy guitar solos: “Every great city has a space like Death by Audio. If yours doesn't, you should start one.”

Goodnight Brooklyn: The Story of Death by Audio screens at Northwest Film Forum on January 18 andJanuary 25.