RETROSPECTACULAR, 1992

Event information

The team that brought you alternative tribute nights There's Nothing Wrong with Covers, 1991: The Year Reading Peaked, and Our Band Could BBQ Your Life, are back with the second in their Retrospectacular series, looking back 20 years to the top albums of 1992.

An assortment of past and present members (in various different lineups) of bands including Stagecoach, Internet Forever, Yebororo, Amy Blue, 4 or 5 Magicians, Stairs To Korea, Ham Legion, Art Brut, Johnny Foreigner and Dananananaykroyd...

...are covering songs by...

...Nirvana, Abba, Rage Against The Machine, Pavement, Kyuss, Guided By Voices, Faith No More, REM, Lemonheads and an as yet undecidedupon band.

It is Bank Holiday Sunday. It will be £6 on the door. There will be a free BBQ. There will be a dog on the roof. There will be DJs playing some classic hip hop and dance (1992 was a vintage year) to go with the usual alt/indie dancefloor fillers until late. Get your global hypercolour on and get partying!

BANANIRVANA as ABBANANIRVANA as ABBA and NIRVANA - 10:30 to 11:15pm

Bananirvana are a live karaoke band that formed to play Nirvana songs and not Bananarama songs. Five shows later this is still the case, but as 1992 saw the release of both Nirvana fan favourite Incesticide AND Abba : Gold, they couldn't pass up the opportunity of extending the pun and throwing in some covers by the best Scandinavian band of all time (apart from The Rasmus). YOU are the singer. They need 11 volunteers. Email joinmyfreakinband@hotmail.co.uk if you want to sing a song!

SPECIAL GUESTS TBA as TBC - 9:45 to 10:15pm

Special flippin' guests! Who are they? Will they do Shakespear's Sister? Will they do Right Said Fred? Wait and see!

RAGE BEFORE BEAUTY as RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - 9:00 to 9:30pm

Steve (guitar) and Dan (drums) went to school together and played the entire 9 minute version of Love Is The Law by The Seahorses (with no vocals) at the school concert aged 15, to a crowd of bemused middle-class, middle-aged parents there to see their snotty kid play the trumpet. Shortly after, they formed Rage Against The Ice Cream (...no, me neither) with the intention of doing the same thing. Those damn honkies just wouldn't allow it though, the racist bigots! 12 years on Sam has agreed to play bass and they are gonna be playing a selection of massive, massive hits from the first RATM album with an assortment of very special guest rappers. This is going to be quite something, I assure you. (NB. I just came up with that new name right now, still high fiving myself as I type!).

KANNBERG 1664 as PAVEMENT (TBC) - 8:15 to 8:45pm

Kannberg 1664 is an occasional Pavement tribute band featuring members of Internet Forever, 4or5 Magicians and Johnny Foreigner. Once described as "actually better than actual Pavement" by one (admittedly quite drunk) gig attendee, they are here, diary permitting (confirmation will be forthcoming, fingers crossed!) to play songs from legendary indie debut Slanted and Enchanted. Kannberg 1664 ist rad!

HER PARENTS as KYUSS - 7:30 to 8:00pm

Her Parents, I suppose, are a punk band. Not punk like The Clash. Not punk like Green Day. Not even really punk like Avril Lavigne (though I suppose a bit more than the other two). One thing is for sure though, they are very, very loud. Comprising members of Stairs To Korea, Internet Forever and Dananananaykroyd, this is no indication of what they sound like. It has to be seen to be believed. And I certainly won't be quite believing my ears, even when they are there, on stage, playing songs from another classic alternative debut - Blues For The Red Sun by Josh Homme's stoner legends Kyuss.

BAND OF PRICKS as GUIDED BY VOICES - 6:40 to 7:15pm

The last show Band of Pricks did was attended by over 100 people and they played 109 Guided By Voices songs over the course of 8 hours. It was utterly ridiculous but one of the best days ever. Four months later, they probably still won't have recovered, but are back on stage to perform songs from GBV's brilliant quasi-breakthrough album Propeller. On early so they don't get too drunk to play properly. Well, that's the idea anyway.

HAM LEGION as FAITH NO MORE - 5:55 to 6:25pm

I've seen them three times, but I still have no idea how to describe Brighton's Ham Legion. Not sure anyone does, including the band (though they go with "prog pop"). This is what I like about them. You have no idea what's going to happen next. Could there be a more perfect album then for them to take on than Angel Dust, perhaps the most bizarre album in early 90s rock to be a commercial success? No, I don't think so. Nick from the band is a dead ringer for a 1992 Mike Patton, and I'm sure the sounds blastin' outta these oddballs' speakers will do this wonderfully unhinged album major justice.

REM PEOPLE as REM - 5:10 to 5:40pm

REM didn't really tour Automatic For The People because most of it was a bit hard to play convincingly due to the orchestral nature of a lot of the songs. But being the ever determined chaps that they are, REM People are going to give it a go, and they're gonna be damned if they don't damned well pull the damned thing off! If anyone out there wants to play piano/organ or flute or clarinet or harp or whatever the flip else they have on this album, then please get in touch!

LUKE BARHAM (of Stagecoach) as LEMONHEADS - 4:30 to 5:00pm

There are many similarities between Evan Dando and Luke Barham, principally that they are both massive heroin addicts. Not really! Though Luke is known, on occasion, to overdo it on the Bacardi Breezers. The main similarity the frontman of Lemonheads and the frontman of Stagecoach share is their inate ability to pen an infectious summery tune. Stagecoach are currently working on their long awaited debut album, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if it was up there with 1992 classic It's A Shame About Ray.