TENACIOUS D + DAVE HILL – BRIGHTON CENTRE 13.5.24
The legend of the extraordinary duo Tenacious D is a remarkable one: formed by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, the D have spent 30 years reaching dazzling heights and curating their cult following through a collection of four studio albums between 2001 and 2018, the sell-out 2006 film ‘Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny’ as well as recognition and appreciation from musicians, critics and fans the world over. Following a bonding connection with Dave Grohl, the band had successfully achieved rapport from support slots with the likes of Weezer, Pearl Jam and Beck before signing to Epic Records (aptly named for a band like Tenacious D, I’m sure) in 2000, releasing their debut self-titled record the following year. The duo have kept abreast of their kaleidoscopic impact on the comedy and rock world, as they enter their fourth decade of opera-scale musical undertakings with their ‘Spicy Meatball’ tour, with their final UK date being at none other than the Brighton Centre, this past Monday night!
Opening for Tenacious D is the American comedian and musician Dave Hill (not to be confused with the Slade guitarist of the same name which I had originally anticipated…)! Several years into the game, Dave has explored various avenues including performing with the 90s group Sons of Elvis, as well as performing for several other big names such as Chuck Mosley of Faith No More, Moby and Cobra Verde. As I settled down for his performance for Tenacious D, I had absolutely no idea what I was in for as he cycled in on a bike at rapid speed, nearly crashing into an amplifier, before opening with a rendition of ‘Caveman In A Spaceship’, out of breath and out of focus. Straight away, he’s seeming like he’s sabotaging his own performance (part of the act, of course), by sweating and gasping through every word of the song, getting the audience to chant his own name, engaging in an impressive tapping guitar solo, as well as swinging a pair of red nunchucks above his head. He continues to build a rapport with the audience by detailing his experiences with Brighton, before a short cover of heavy metal band Danzig’s song ‘Mother’ is played through strong power chords that almost derail themselves mid-performance.
Following a short medley of “audience requests” that Dave plucks out of thin air, including ‘Stairway To Heaven’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Free Bird’ and ‘Eruption’, all preceded by a quote of “I’m gonna play the whole thing” (literally no more than 10/15 seconds of each song), Dave proclaims an almost poem-like diatribe of Poundland advertisement slogans he’d created after his time in Brighton, each one more destructive and perverse than the last! If that wasn’t enough, then his performance of pick-up lines that only work in Brighton certainly got the audience on his side, backed by John Spiker and Scott Seiver from Tenacious D’s live band. Now, virtually all the pick-up lines preached to the crowd are questionable for recitation on this review, but nevertheless, the arrival of Kyle Gass on a recorder solo was certainly a triumph for the set, make no mistake! Dave sees out the show with the explosive ‘I Was In A Fight’, a song that he claims surrounds his first experience of a fist fight, stating his belief that if you haven’t found yourself encountering a fist fight by your 40s, chances are it’s not going to happen… this song is proof of the opposite, it seems! The song’s very nonchalant rapid-fire lyrical delivery, within which there are mentions of Nickelback and Iron Maiden, features twists and turns at every corner; for example, a recounting of Dave owning a rescue dog, pondering whether or not he rescued her, or she rescued him, only to reveal that they are to put her down (or straight-up kill her as Dave bluntly put it). As the guitars erupt into noise and distortion, he thanks the crowd for watching before riding his bicycle off the stage for the night.
Dave Hill:
Dave Hill – vocals, electric guitar
John Spiker – bass
Scott Seiver – drums
Dave Hill setlist:
‘Caveman In A Spaceship’ (The Saucermen cover)
‘Mother’ (Danzig cover)
‘Audience Requests’
‘Pickup Lines’
‘I Was In A Fight’
Well, Dave Hill’s unique performance certainly got the Tenacious D fans writhing for the iconic duo to start, and a few seconds post-9pm, the lights go down to the sounds of a sold out Brighton Centre, whooping and cheering like mad! An opening overture of choral fanfare and orchestral soundscapes bleeds through the speakers for the band to walk on with fury and fire in their eyes. Kyle Gass kicks off the proceedings with his acoustic guitar passage that opens ‘Kickapoo’; naturally the crowd are singing their hearts out straightaway. As Jack, donning his flame-covered clothing, sings into a microphone held up by devil hands, the backing band progress into a multi-phased musical passage that acts as the perfect opening for a Tenacious D performance. Jack takes a minute after the song to praise Brighton for having solid rocks on the beach, stating that we know how to rock hard…! Speaking of which, the palette of elite harmonies and classic hard rock tones that come through on the track ‘Low Hangin’ Fruit’ get the wheels even further in motion, before Jack starts sweating and getting out of breath… he faints (this is, of course, part of the show), leading a roadie to cover for him on guitar during a quick rendition of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Jailbreak’.
Suitably, Jack rises from the stage before the track ‘Rise Of The Fenix’, where a techie scrunches up his hair into a ponytail and kicks off the slow knocking groove that opens the song. Like many Tenacious D tracks, ‘Rise Of The Fenix’ gets quite meta, lyrically insinuating that if Tenacious D dies, the fans will have to remove their D tattoos! “This is the Spicy Meatball Tour!”, says Jack, “Where we rock a little bit harder and a little bit spicier. We’ve even got pyro!”... cue the heartbreaking news that there is no pyro. Jack, infuriated, brings on roadie Biff (also known as Biffy Pyro), and slanders him for the lack of such technical ablazement (this is, of course, part of the show). ‘Wonderboy’s Spanish classical guitar techniques and surprisingly emotional chord progression reminds me of a track from Moondog’s ‘H’art Songs’, albeit made via a hard rock avenue, while ‘Tribute’, one of my favourites from the set, sees the cult-ish audience even following the iconic spoken word that Jack opens with (let’s also not forget the crowd chanting “D! D! D!” after almost every song). Following the bluegrass and folk-flavoured ‘Video Games’, which Jack dedicates to any gamers in the crowd, he and Kyle stand in horror and disbelief as a giant, metal robot slowly tramples his way onto the stage (yet again, this is part of the show)! The said robot shows off his moves for the track ‘The Metal’, which takes a heavier tinge of strong guitar riffs and thunderous drum grooves.
Jack even has a spell on the iconic ‘Sax-A-Boom’ a toy saxophone that is a staple of Tenacious D performances, before being humbled by Kyle’s ‘Max-A-Boom’ that serenades us with a rendition of the Gerry Rafferty classic ‘Baker Street’. The duo dedicate the following song ‘Roadie’, to the handful of technicians who have helped contribute to the tour’s progress, before Jack brings Kyle aside, to shout at him, aggressively, by the drum kit (again, this is part of… ah, forget it at this rate)! As they return to the front of the stage, Kyle quits in front of the 5,000 capacity crowd… leading to the emotional and melancholic number ‘Dude (I Totally Miss You)’. At this point, a lot of Tenacious D’s songs remind me of Ween if they had a more theatrical bent, none more so than this track, which balances heartfelt sincerity with an off-beat and operatic humour perfectly. Kyle’s on-stage hiatus is halted as he returns to end the song with a hug from Jack, heading straight into a cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’, interspersed with images of the duo running across the beach in next to nothing. Suddenly, guitarist John Konesky is seemingly possessed by Satan himself, prompting the band to head into the final showdown, ‘Beelzeboss’. A heavy metal track, the Devil is singing via John’s vocals (part of the show, blah blah, keep up!); however, underneath a fast array of lights, Kyle and Jack retaliate, curing the troubled guitarist as the song closes.
The final song of the main set, ‘Double Team’ is described mid-lyric as a funky groove to f*ck to… never has a sentence been more apt to sum up Tenacious D! The entire band take turns to demonstrate their impressive musical talents through solos, including a double recorder solo from Kyle and a cover of Oasis’ ‘Champagne Supernova’ from Jack (oh, and the lighting engineer has a solo, during which they mess around with every switch on the control board and the sound technician takes his solo through variations of “check, check”, and “one, two, one, two”). It doesn’t take long for the D to return as they power through a quick rendition of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time’ before calling out Biffy Pyro for not activating the pyrotechnics a single time during the show. “You’re my favourite band, I’m just nervous” cries Biff, to which Jack replies “the whole band are nervous, Biff!”. As Biff leaves and the D run through a quick mutation of the Indiana Jones theme with witty lyricism atop, we reach the final song of the night, the crudely-titled, but well-meaning ‘F*ck Her Gently’. Subliminally, a very romantic song, but naturally, a very sexual one, this track sees the biggest crowd singalong of the night, with one final explosion of pyrotechnics draping the back of the stage! The platform, now empty, Biff returns alone to a big applause from the crowd… his work here is done.
I must say, considering that hard rock and all its various musical offshoots are not 100% my thing, I was won over by the incredible theatricality that Jack Black and Kyle Gass had to offer; and I feel proud to have witnessed the D for myself, and the exciting volume of adoring fans that still continue to flock and give their love for the band, even after 30 years!
Tenacious D:
Jack Black – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, Sax-a-Boom
Kyle Gass – acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals, Max-a-Boom
John Konesky – electric guitar, backing vocals
John Spiker – bass, backing vocals
Scott Seiver – drums, percussion
Tenacious D setlist:
‘Intro’ (from Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny’s opening credits)
‘Kickapoo’
‘Low Hangin’ Fruit’
‘Jailbreak’ (Thin Lizzy cover)
‘Rize Of The Fenix’
‘Wonderboy’
‘Tribute’
‘Video Games’
‘The Metal’
‘Sax-a-Boom’
‘Baker Street’ (Gerry Rafferty song) (Kyle’s ‘Max-a-Boom’ solo)
‘Roadie’
‘Dude (I Totally Miss You)’
‘Wicked Game’ (Chris Isaak cover)
‘Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)’
‘Double Team’ (with ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis snippet (featuring full band) for Jack’s solo)
(encore)
‘…Baby One More Time’ (Britney Spears cover)
‘Master Exploder’
‘The Spicy Meatball Song’
‘F*ck Her Gently’
I saw tenacious D up in glasgow and they were fantastic, but Dave Hill was horrific. It sounds as if he done the same sketch in Brighton and I’m amazed he wasn’t boo’d off.
Thought the same; saw them in Leeds.
Dave Hill started badly, and just got worse. That fight song seemed to go on forever. I was losing the will to live.
Really, really, really awful.
The D were amazing.