2 minute read

Now, tribute bands are pretty hit and miss in my experience. Of the hits, the Australian Pink Floyd were pretty good. These are one of those bands that take their tribute seriously. Also very good, but at the other end of the scale there’s Bjorn Again who don’t take themselves quite as seriously and are there for a good time, but since everyone loves Abba it always ends up being a good night.

I guess Tragedy: A metal tribute to the BeeGees are like this too. Everyone knows the majority of the BeeGees hits and can sing along to them, the Tragedy can certainly put on a show, meaning there are worse ways to spend 30 mins of your life. They were the opening band last night and turned up on the stage wearing … well … it’s difficult to describe. Not exactly the classic BeeGees white suits, but rather glittery spandex with lots of luminous pink and green, accompanies by three backing singers wearing angel wings. Definitely not taking themselves seriously. But … overall very enjoyable. A metal version of Staying Alive is not something I ever thought I’d hear, never mind enjoy, but I did .. and I did. They’re on Napster if you want to check them out.

The second support band was A who I had never heard of. Apparently they were big a while back before splitting up, and (as is so common these days) then reforming and touring. They were described as a cross between a British Offspring and the Wildhearts. There was nothing offensive about them (other than the lead singers accent) but neither was there anything that stood out about them IMHO. Apparently I should have recognised at least one of their songs (sorry Gareth) and I did recognise bits of just about every one of them, but all from the original artists songs where they took took their inspiration from. They were just a bit too generic if you ask me.

And then there was the Wildhearts. I’m not going to pretend I’m some uber-fan who has been following them for years, cause I’m not. The first time I remember hearing about them was several years ago when being given a lift to Helensburgh to get some fish & chips (and see the Red Arrows) by Gareth. He had their CD playing in the car. Last Christmas I was convinced to go to their gig since it was 10 quid and “On your way home anyway”. I didn’t really know what to expect but ended up really enjoying it, even if I only recognised couple of the songs.

So when they came round again this year, I was debating whether to go or not .. but when I saw the support act I thought why not. The Wildhearts were really good this year. There’s not much else to say, but they were very entertaining, and the tunes just kept on coming. The hour and a half they were on just flew past, which was surprising as while I thought I would enjoy myself, I didn’t think I would enjoy it quite as much as I did. I suspect I shall be going back next year.