This weeks “louder then the rest” tunes:
- Fishbone – Change
- House of Pain – Jump Around
- Wolfmother – California Queen
- Queens of the Stone Age – The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
- Dr. John – Jump Sturdy
Songs of the Week 17.07.2016
Reply
Tag Archives: rock’n’roll
Songs of the Week 10.07.2016
Here are five more tunes that stood out from my listening over the last week. Enjoy!
- Johnny Cash – Bigfoot
- Ramones – Psycho Therapy
- Jimi Hendrix Experience – Stone Free
- Public Enemy – 911 is a Joke
- The Presidents of the United States of America – Lump
Songs of the Week 03.07.216
Presenting a new feature at the Virtual Hot Tub, my Songs of the Week. Each week, I will pick five songs that I’ve enjoyed listening to over the last seven days, and share them here for your enjoyment.
Now I listen to probably hundreds of songs in any one week, so choosing just five won’t be easy. Each track will have stood out for some reason or other – perhaps it was poignant, perhaps relating to something going on in my life. Most likely it will just be a proper banging tune that I’ve loved.
This is intended to be a regular weekly feature, but we’ll see how that goes. It’s not easy running this Virtual Hot Tub, you know.
Here’s the five for week ending 03/07/2016:
- Devo – Gut Feeling
- The Donnas – It’s On The Rocks
- The Doors – You’re Lost Little Girl
- Alice Cooper – Generation Landslide
- Cypress Hill – Can’t Get the Best of Me
There you go – five killer tracks. No explanations necessary. Unless the multitudes of readers want to know why songs are chosen, then I’ll reconsider.
For now – keep rockin’.
Florence: the Jukebox
Forget using your super smart, internet enabled portable phone as a means of playing music. And forget iPods, too – sadly the swines at Apple have decided to sacrifice their master product, in order to concentrate on their vile mutant phone. My mate Greeny has a much better music playing machine than any of those.
Greeny has a jukebox.
The jukebox is named Florence. After Florence and the Machine, as she’s a machine, obviously. Florence stands proudly in the corner of the lounge, neither dominating the room or sitting back like a wall flower. But Florence has presence: when the lights are on and the tunes are spinning, you will be drawn magnetically to this wondrous device.
He’s been collecting 7 inch singles since he were a lad, has Greeny. Now Florence is a treasure trove packed full of delightful vinyl gems. There’s a wild variety of musical genres in Florence, spanning the decades. She’s regularly re-stocked and/or has the records switched out and replaced with others, keeping the music selection fresh and entrancing.
Florence holds around 84 records. Don’t forget that there’s a song on side A and B, so that’s a generous amount of music to enjoy.
It’s a lot of fun gathering around the jukebox in Greeny’s front room, with a few beers and spinning some records. I would love one of my own, one day – though they cost a few hundred quid, so it’s unlikely. I’m collecting a few cool 7 inch singles just in case, though…
Here’s a list of the records that are currently stocked inside Florence. Remember Greeny has to rotate the records, as he has far more than this! Which songs would you choose to play?
And if you’re interested, this jukebox is a Rowe AMI RI-3.
The tracks:
- AC/DC – a. Dirt Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/Big Balls b. The Jack
- Billy Paul – a. Me & Mrs Jones b. Your Song
- Blind Melon – a. No Rain b. No Bidness/I Wonder
- Blondie – a. Rapture b. Walk Like Me
- Blue Swede – a. Hooked On a Feeling b. Never My Love
- Bob Dylan – a. Subterranean Homesick Blues b. She Belongs To Me
- Bruce Springsteen – a. 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On) b. Part Man, Part Monkey
- Catatonia – a. Road Rage b. I’m Cured
- Chris Isaak – a. Wicked Game b. Cool Cat Walk
- Crash Test Dummies – a. Afternoons & Coffeespoons b. In the Days of the Caveman (Live)
- Creedence Clearwater Revival – a. Bad Moon Rising b. Lodi
- DNA feat. Suzanne Vega – a. Tom’s Diner b. Acapella
- Duran Duran – a. The Wild Boys b. (I’m Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement (1984)
- Echo & The Bunnymen – a. The Killing Moon b. Do It Clean
- Elton John – a. Tiny Dancer b. Daniel
- Elvis Presley – a. Suspicious Minds b. You’ll Think of Me
- Everything Everything – a. Cough Cough b. A.D.
- Faith No More – a. I’m Easy b. Be Aggressive
- Fleetwood Mac – a. Oh Well (Part 1) b. Oh Well (Part 2)
- Florence & The Machine – a. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) b. Are You Hurting
- Franz Ferdinand – a. Take Me Out b. Truck Stop
- Glen Campbell – a. Wichita Lineman b. Back in the Race
- Guns’n’Roses – a. Patience b. Rocket Queen
- Huey Lewis & The News – a. The Power of Love b. Do You Believe in Love?
- Ian Dury & The Blockheads – a. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick b. There Ain’t Half Been
- Iggy Pop – a. Lust For Life b. Home
- Jimi Hendrix – a. Purple Haze b. Foxy Lady
- Joan Jett – a. I Love Rock’n’Roll b. The French Song
- Johnny Cash – a. A Boy Named Sue b. Folsom Prison Blues
- Journey – a. Don’t Stop Believin’ b. Natural Thing
- Julee Cruise – a. Falling b. Twin Peaks Theme
- Kate Bush – a. Running Up That Hill b. Under The Ivy
- Katrina & The Waves – a. Walking On Sunshine b. Going Down to Liverpool
- Kiss – a. God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You II b. Junior’s Gone WIld
- Led Zeppelin – a. Rock and Roll b. Four Sticks
- Lemonheads – a. Mrs. Robinson b. Being Around
- Lenny Kravitz – a. Always On The Run b. Instrumental
- Live – a. I Alone b. Pain Lies On The Riverbed
- Lou Reed – a. Walk On The Wild Side b. Perfect Day
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – a. Freebird b. Sweet Home Alabama/Double Trouble
- Magazine – a. Shot By Both Sides b. My Mind Ain’t So Open
- Neil Young – a. My My, Hey Hey b. Hey Hey, My My
- Nena – a. 99 Red Balloons b. Ich Bleib Im Bett
- New Order – a. Blue Monday b. Beach Buggy
- Norman Greenbaum – a. Spirit in the Sky b. Milk Cow
- Otis Redding – a. (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay b. Respect/Mr. Pitiful
- Paul Simon – a. You Can Call Me Al b. Gumboots
- Powder – a. Afrodisiac b. Shave Me
- Prince – a. When Doves Cry b. 17 Days
- Propaganda – a. Duel b. Jewel
- Queen – a. Don’t Stop Me Now b. In Only Seven Days
- R.E.M. – a. Crush With Eyeliner b. Instrumental
- Regina Spektor – a. Fidelity b. Music Box
- Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock – a. It Takes Two b. Instrumental
- Rolling Stones – a. Gimme Shelter b. Sympathy for the Devil
- Roxy Music – a. Virginia Plain b. The Numberer
- Spitting Image – a. The Chicken Song b. (I’ve Never Met) A Nice South African
- Stealers Wheel – a. Stuck in the Middle b. Jose
- Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel – a. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) b. Another Journey
- Stevie Wonder – a. Superstition b. You’ve Got It Bad Girl
- Stone Temple Pilots – a. Plush b. Sin
- Super Furry Animals – a. Northern Lites b. Rabid Dog
- Supergrass – a. Richard III b. Nothing More’s Gonna Get In My Way
- Talk Talk – a. It’s My Life b. Does Caroline Know
- The Babys – a. Isn’t It Time b. Give Me Your Love
- The Beatles – a. Hey Jude b. Revolution
- The Breeders – a. Cannonball b. Divine Hammer
- The Buggles – a. Video Killed the Radio Star b. Kid Dynamo
- The Doors – a. Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) c. Take It As It Comes
- The Housemartins – a. Happy Hour b. The Mighty Ship
- The Kinks – a. You Really Got Me b. All Day and All of the Night
- The Knack – a. My Sharona b. Let Me Out
- The Mamas & The Papas – a. California Dreamin’ b. Somebody Groovy
- The Smiths – a. How Soon is Now? b. Well I Wonder
- The Trashmen – a. Surfin’ Bird b. Liar Liar
- The Undertones – a. Teenage Kicks b. Emergency Cases
- The Who – a. Who Are You b. Had Enough
- Tori Amos – a. Cornflake Girl b. Sister Janet
- T-Rex – a. Jeepster b. Life’s a Gas
- U2 – a. Stay (Far Away, So Close) b. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
- Van Halen – a. Why Can’t This Be Love b. Get Up
- Vic Reeves & Wonderstuff – a. Dizzy b. Oh Mr. Hairdresser
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – a. Maps b. Countdown/Miles Away
Another Random Skateboard Playlist
Repetitive, moi?
I love lists. These random playlists serve no purpose other than to remind me of music that’s buried away in my iTunes, waiting to be rediscovered. One song leads to another; one band creates a ripple effect leading to another needing to be heard again.
I was out on the longboard this time, on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I didn’t have long, however, before other commitments would tear me away. Here are a few songs chosen at random by my iPod as the skate soundtrack that day.
- King Crimson – “Happy With What You Have to be Happy With”
- Senseless Things – “Watching the Pictures Go”
- Neck – “The Star of the County Down”
- Soul Asylum – “String of Pearls”
- Johnny Dowd – “True Love”
- Sonic Youth – “Creme Brulee”
- Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Christine”
- Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Peek-a-Boo”
- Nuclear Assault – “Live, Suffer, Die”
- Rolling Stones – “19th Nervous Breakdown”
- Shirley Bassey – “Reach for the Stars”
- Jimmy Eat World – “Cautioners”
Well, two different Siouxsie and the Banshees tracks, from different albums, one after the other. Most strange. Great songs, though.
I remember really enjoying the Stones track; the Shirley Bassey number was a bit out of the blue. But then, random is what this game’s all about.
Till next time, groovers!
Random Skateboard Playlist
It’s been a long while since I shared a random playlist with you.
I recently went out for a skate, split between riding my Mindless longboard and spending some time on a classic old school Santa Cruz Street Creep. Whilst skating around, I switched the iPod onto shuffle and these are the tunes I heard.
- Dead Kennedys – “Moon Over Marin”
- Steppenwolf – “Live Your Life”
- Little Richard – “I Don;t Know What You’ve Got, But It’s Got Me (Parts 1 & 2)”
- Motorhead – “Back At The Funny Farm”
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Gimme Three Steps”
- Orange Goblin – “Hounds Ditch”
- Rod Stewart – “True Blue”
- Wire – “I Am The Fly”
- The Wildhearts – “In Lilly’s Garden”
- Hypnos 69 – “My Journey To The Stars”
- Monster Magnet – “Slut Machine”
- Iggy Pop – “New Values”
- The Charlie Daniels Band – “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”
- Sisters of Mercy – “More”
Not a bad selection by the iPod there.
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night #8
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night
Queen’s Head, Mold
Friday 8th April 2016
Got a record collection? Want to spin those discs on a nice turntable for an appreciative bunch of vinyl enthusiasts? The Bring Your Own Vinyl Night is for you!
Held monthly in the Queen’s Head pub in Mold, North Wales, this event goes from strength to strength. The idea is simple: each participant gets 15 minutes to play whatever records they want. That’s vinyl only; no CDs, MP3s, cassettes or whatever else. Just have a beer and enjoy the music.
My pal Adam was back on the decks tonight, and was the first of our crew to step up. He played a great set of songs from movies, that went something like this:
- Carly Simon – Nobody Does It Better
- Blue Swede – Hooked On A Feeling
- George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Bad to the Bone
- Ry Cooder – All Shook Up
- Santo & Johnny – Sleepwalk
A special prize if you can name the films these songs are from! A great set from Adam, I think one of his strongest. In particular, I thought “Sleepwalk” was an exceptional track.
Then it was my turn:
Suicidal Tendencies – Possessed to Skate
Regular readers will know the story of my Suicidal records. Here’s a quick recap. Going back to the height of my skateboarding days in 1988 (or thereabouts), my friend Kelvin Bedford gave me the album “Join the Army” by Suicidal Tendencies. A few years later, as a broke student, I sold that album and another ST record to my mate Graham. Now fast forward to the recent past, and although I had the CDs, I was kicking myself for not having the vinyl anymore. They were easy enough to buy off Discogs. However, sadly Kel had passed away a couple of years ago, so I thought it would be great to have the copy he originally gave me back. I contacted Graham, and he gave me the records for free. What a gentleman! I bought him a beer or two as a thank you.
Not so brief that recap, but now you have the background. I wanted to play a track off the classic “Join the Army” record, as it was back in my collection, and this had to be it. Many fun memories of my old skateboarding days always come flooding back with this fast paced punk rock/metal hybrid. And I still listen to it when I skate nowadays (which isn’t often enough). “Possessed to Skate”. RAD.
Iggy & The Stooges – Gimme Danger
The next song is a favourite I was introduced to in my university days. I was already a fan of the early Stooges albums, but hadn’t heard “Raw Power”. It’s a superb record, full of barely restrained energy and chaos. “Gimme Danger” is a the second song on the album, lulling the listener in to a false sense of comfort after lead track “Search and Destroy” decimates your speakers. “Gimme Danger” still has an air of menace, however – a sense that anything can, and will, go wrong. Decadent and beautiful, a masterpiece.
Chris Isaak – Wicked Game
And so on to Chris Isaak. I have the “Wicked Game” album on CD, so I can regularly bask in the warmth of Isaak’s voice and imagine desert roads, truck stops, motels and neon lights. This version is on a 7″ single that Greeny gave me for Christmas, and I’m so glad I have it. Timeless Americana that always carries a hint of David Lynch, thanks to the song being included in “Wild at Heart”. I usually drunkenly sing along to this at 2am. I’ve also attempted “Wicked Game” at Karaoke a couple of times; I think I got away with it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Sexy Mexican Maid
One of my favourite RHCP songs ever, you can find this sensual little number on the fantastic “Mother’s Milk” record. It’s a slow funky groove that deserves to be heard more often, from one of their greatest albums. “Sexy Mexican Maid” shows the Chili Peppers exploring their sound and developing towards “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”, whilst still happy to languish with their sexually charged lyrics.
So last up was Ben the Swede, who recently moved house and now had access to his full vinyl collection. The theme was bass, of different types:
- Level 42 – You Can’t Blame Louis
- Duran Duran – A View to a Kill
- ELO – Shine a Little Love
And there you have it: another great night with some great songs and some very cool people.There were some killer tracks from PIL, Perrey & Kingsley, Elvis Costello and more. You can see the full playlist on the Halcyon Dreams blog here.
Thanks all – looking forward to the next Vinyl Night!
You can listen to this Bring Your Own Vinyl Night (and previous ones, too) on the Mixcloud page here.
The Halcyon Dreams Facebook page is here.
Thanks Graham!
RIP Kelvin Bedford
Sci Fi Weekender 2016 – part 2
Phoenix
Sci Fi Weekender 17th – 20th March 2016
Hafan Y Mor Holiday Park, Pwllheli
Day 2 at SFW, and again it’s all a blur. I recall it was a lazy start to the day for me, breakfast and chilling in the caravan. Kurt was feeling better, but Greeny was starting to suffer with the illness. It would be mostly be another day of watching Star Trek, Big Bang Theory and Top Gear for those two.
Adam had got up early and made it to see a showing of a new independent film called Pandorica. Classed as an action-horror, reports about the film were very enthusiastic. The Q&A with Director and cast was my first event of the day – it was interesting although I’d not seen the film! Definitely one to keep and eye out for: word of mouth was very positive.
Wheres Blessed?
Jokes
Rey and Leia
Papa Johns is just ahead of you…
Massive Wampa
Marvel gang
The highlight of the afternoon was, undoubtedly, an appearance by the incomparable Brian Blessed. Larger than life and twice as loud, Blessed’s sci-fi credentials are suitably top notch. A life long fan of science fiction, as well in starring in numerous genre pieces – you may have heard of Flash Gordon – his enthusiasm was both apparent and infectious.
Professor Elemental hosted the Q&A with Brian Blessed, who wisely let the great man get on and tell his tales! A solid job from the Professor – a daunting task well executed.
Blessed’s talk ranged from his acting work to his many explorations and mountaineering adventures. His recollections of the Flash Gordon movie, and it’s well deserved appreciation by audiences the world over, were affectionately told. An unmissable audience with a real living legend.
Judges
Dr Strange and pals
Black Cat
Vinz Clortho and pals!
Chewie with friends
In the afternoon I took some photos and looked around the stalls again. Unfortunately, this years SFW again clashed with MCM Memorabilia in Birmingham, so genre based merchandise was thin on the ground. I picked up some cool Elvira cocktail glasses though!
A good feature this year was the retro gaming section, where numerous old consoles could be played for free. This was very popular, and although I don’t play video games it meant I always knew where to find my crew if we split up. They were always playing games…
Every year at SFW, the Cosplay final is something to behold. There’s always a sense of excitement in the air, as the costumed competitors take the stage. And every year, the audience and competitors are enthusiastic and good natured. Everyone cheers for each other, and there’s a real sense of community. It’s nice to witness all the attendees rooting for each other; even though there will always be favourites, there is no bitterness.
Wolverine
Rocket and Gamora
Urban Troopers
Tank Girl and friends
Aquaman
The costumes were exceptional, as you can see (hopefully) from the photos here. Not everyone entered the competition, but there were so many great costumes whether they were entering or just dressing up for fun. Massive respect to everyone.
I find it great fun spotting and naming the characters. The variety and imagination on show is consistently astounding, not to mention the talent that goes into making the costumes. So again, thanks to all the Cosplayers for letting me take your photos. Too many of my pics didn’t work out. I also missed far too may opportunities. But I hope that the photos here capture some of the creativity I witnessed.
And I sincerely apologise for not dressing up! I lost count of the number of people who chastised me (with good humour, of course) for not dressing as Tony Stark…
Mario and friends
Dungeons and Dragons
Captain America
Edward
My Little Pony ladies
Anyway, there can only be one winner of the Cosplay final, and that was the Robot Overlord fellow. I can’t remember the character’s name, but I swear it was truly incredible!
Later on in the evening, I zoomed over to the Prog Rock area to catch some music. I was very happy to catch the Focus set; the song “Hocus Pocus” was an obvious highlight. I only saw a couple of songs by Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame) – though they were impressive – before heading back to the spaceport.
Nostromo crew
Mr Tumble!
Arrow and Canary
Zombies
Wonder Woman
For the rest of the evening, my compadre, Ste and myself had a few beers and hung around with various SFW attendees. We saw some old pals and met a few new ones. I took more photos – including the now traditional “no photos” social media-proof shades pics. And we managed to stay up partying till after 2 in the morning!
Not such a good thing going home Sunday…
Still, another great time at Sci Fi Weekender. And yes, Greeny and Kurt got better, thanks for asking.
If you were there, it was good to see you. Hopefully we’ll see you next year.
And big thanks to Adam, who organised the whole thing for us!
The Sci Fi Weekender site is here.
The HRH Prog site is here.
PS: There are photos left unpublished, so there will be Bonus Scenes in a few weeks. Be warned!
Party
Rebel pilots
Alien girl
Indy and friends
Oscar D2
Two Face
Cosplay winner!
Sci Fi Weekender 2016 – part 1
Sci Fi Weekender 17th – 20th March 2016
Hafan Y Mor Holiday Park, Pwllheli
Wow. This year’s Sci Fi Weekender was a blur – it went faster than light speed. All the usual geekery was in full swing, though I’ll be gosh darned if I can remember everything and what order it happened in. Too much blue milk?
Never mind, I have numerous photos of the weekend to share; to help report on this cosmic adventure. Except that didn’t go to plan this year. My trusty Canon was on the blink, so I resorted to a little digital snapper and my phone.
Not ideal, but sometimes you have to compromise.
Thor and Loki
Merida
Freddy
Scream
Harley and Zatanna
Cool outfit!
General Zod
So what is Sci Fi Weekender? For the unititiated, it’s a weekend of events and special guests, all held on site at the Hafan Y Mor holiday park in Pwllheli, North Wales. Think Comic Con but at a holiday camp and with a party atmosphere. All manner of interview panels, Q&As, games, and musical entertainment are part of the festivities.
Plus a prog rock festival – HRH Prog – was also being held on the same weekend. Not a massive tie in with science fiction you may think (at least not without Hawkwind playing). However it gave additional entertainment for those with musical interests.
Our weekend began with four of us – Adam, Greeny, Kurt and myself – driving from our corner of north east Wales to the north west. On the way we popped into Cob records in Porthmadog to feed our vinyl addition. Then we settled into our caravan home from home – complete with haul of supplies from the local ASDA – and planned our DVD watching schedule for the night.
Belle and Prince
Double trouble
Ant Man and She Hulk
Group pic
Amazing!
Unfortunately the DVD player wasn’t working, and without tickets for the Thursday evening SFW party, we were stuck. Rather than watch TV, we went for a pint in the onsite pub. We then popped in to see what the prog rock was all about. We didn’t think we would get in, but it was no problem. As a result we were able to see Third Quadrant (quite good) and the excellent Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Arthur is over seventy years old and jumps around on stage like a nutter. Highly entertaining and some great tunes.
Friday began with the bad news that Kurt was ill. He’s only 16 so booze wasn’t the issue. As a result, Kurt and his dad Greeny were pretty much out of the running for the day. They watched TV and chilled. Plus Ste, our remaining member, had burst the inflatable camp bed by leaving it too close to the fire. He suffered a bad night’s sleep on the sofa as a result.
The rest of us headed over to the arena and started checking things out. I took a few photos and looked round the stalls. We caught a Cosplay panel with Tabitha from Artyfakes that was very interesting, with extremely impressive Space Marine costumes and hints and tips about the hobby. I bottled asking my question though, which was “How do you go for a wee?”.
Star Trek
She Hulk
This pic should be gloomier
Belle
Doctor
I also watched an interview panel of comic book artists. The panel consisted of 2000AD greats such as Glenn Fabry, William Simpson, Clint Langley and Simon Davis. Hosted by Dez Skinn, the panel was informative and also amusing; it seems some of the assembled masters had been on the pop? Either way, these guys were like rock stars to me when I was a young 2000AD fan, so it was pretty cool.
The vibe around the arena was good natured as always. I took some cool photos (thanks everyone) and despite our numbers being depleted, we had a good afternoon.
After a delightful pizza from the onsite Papa John’s (it was great!); we were ready for the evening’s entertainment. I’m afraid to say that the Imaginarium and magicians weren’t really my thing this year. It’s difficult to dig the magic when you can’t see it up close.
Orc
Morticia and Gomez
Mario and pals
Jedi and Ewok
Welcome!
The highlight was the one and only Professor Elemental, steam punk hip hop pioneer. His smooth raps mixed with groovy beats like a well tuned gin and tonic. A pleasure to witness, as always.
At the end of the night, I teleported across the site to see the end of the set by Caravan. Not only a very apt band to be playing, they were actually pretty good. The Soft Machine were on last with a more jazz orientated approach. All very impressive and I’m glad I got to see something different.
I’m ashamed to say that we all ended up crashing out early on Friday night. Illness and lack of sleep took it’s toll. I was last man standing, going to bed at 11.30pm. Pathetic, I know.
In Part 2: Brian Blessed, the Cosplay final, more Prog Rock…
PLUS: will we be able to stay up late?
Stay tuned to this frequency…
The Sci Fi Weekender site is here.
You really should check out Professor Elemental. His website is here, plus he’s on that Twitter and stuff too.
Tragedy – Gig Review
Tragedy
Wednesday 9th March 2016
The Live Rooms, Chester
It’s my first gig of the year, and another visit to the ever reliable Live Rooms in Chester for some rock’n’roll. I’ve had a few rockin’ parties at this venue, but this night was destined for greatness. The exquisite Disco Metal of the one and only Tragedy was scheduled to set the sky on fire with dazzling party anthems.
Finding common ground between the opposing world of heavy metal and disco was never going to be an easy task. They’re two genres of music that repel like the same sides of a magnet. But with Tragedy, the water and oil can, and do, mix. It’s a hard rockin’ combination of guitar and high pitched disco vocals in a totally crazy metal tribute to the Bee Gees (and beyond).
A heavy metal tribute to the Bee Gees is only the beginning, you see. As well as Brothers Gibb classics like “Staying Alive” and “Night Fever”, their set is expanded to take in other disco and pop classics. The mutated songs feature glimpses of riffs from Van Halen, Pantera and more. One of my highlights was the ridiculously fun idea of warping the intro from Slayer’s “Raining Blood” into “It’s Raining Men”!
Part of the fun of this Tragedy gig was spotting chunks of recognisable metal riffs, and then being dumbfounded by how the band weave them into a late 70’s disco style. The mash up is suitably gory too – these gruesome Frankensteins have no qualms when it comes to hacking limbs from one sweet pop track and stitching them maniacally to a heavy metal corpse.
With a light show and numerous skits introducing the songs (not to mention Lance the towel boy bumbling across the stage) it’s all very entertaining. And professional, without being soulless.
For any metal fan with a sense of humour, Tragedy are well worth seeing. You’ll have a hard time finding a more bonkers night out anywhere. Great fun!
The Tragedy website is here.
The Live Rooms website is here. 
Platinum Al's Virtual Hot Tub 