26 | March 20, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

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How would you describe whatyou guys do?

We like to think of ourselvesas taking the New Orleans brassband aesthetic and filtering itthrough our British musicaltastes, which are pretty diverse;hopefully sounding like a 21stcentury colliery band at a rave.

At times we’re quite punkyand free, sometimes we go forthat tight hip-hop sound, butother times we try to have thewarmth and depth of muchmore traditional brass music.

While our main aim is to getpeople partying, we don’t justset off on one groove and siton that all night, we like to mixit up, blending some seriouslybooty-shaking originals withwhat I think are often quitesurprising cover choices.Do you feel you owe a lot totraditional British brass bands?

Increasingly so, actually. Someof us have backgrounds playingin that kind of band, and there’ssomething really visceral andtimeless about a lot of bits oftwisted plumbing making abeautiful racket.Is touring just like one big

party? Does the fun ever get outof hand?

Yes and no really. It’s certainlynot all glamorous; the bandroom is as often a broomcupboard or corridor as it is aplush room full of premiumbooze. But yeah, there are worseways of earning a living.

One highlight was gigging forthe opening of a great new clubin Hamburg. We were lookedafter almost too well, with anapparently self-refilling fridgeand an endless supply of fancydrinks from the bar. For somereason we spent about threehours singing happy birthdayto everyone who came into thegreen room. It was one of thosethings that started out as prettyfunny, then rapidly moved tobeing annoying (even for us),but then 1.5 hours in broke backthrough into being really funny.Oddly we’ve not yet been invitedback . . .What do you think DJ HueyMorgan (of BBC Radio 6/FunLovin’ Criminals) will add toyour Cambridge gig?

Huey’s been a great supporterof ours, to the extent that when

we’ve been on his show it’salmost awkward as he’s singingour praises perhaps too much!He’s got really good taste (well,we would say that), and he’ll bepumping out some great tracksand getting the crowd nicelyhyped for our set.What’s been your favouritecollaboration to date?

The moment Amy Winehousejoined us on stage was crazy. Itwas in the early days of the bandwhile we were still finding ourfeet, but she was into the bandand came down to check out agig at the Jazz Cafe. I don’t think itwas her, or our, best performanceever, but given what happened, itwas particularly special.In an ideal world, who wouldyou really love to collaboratewith?

Sufjan Stevens. His incrediblemagpie approach to musicalgenres and fusing catchy popmelodies with complex musicallanguage, never mind hismind-blowing and uplifting liveshows, are a true inspirationand it’d be a dream come true towork with him.Do you have a career highlight?

We’ve done some prettyinteresting shows over the yearsincluding, of course, playinga 45-minute set at the ClosingCeremony of the London 2012Olympics. But to be honest,although that was a prettyunique gig, our favourite gigsare always those where we reallyengage with the audience.

On that score, I think it wouldhave to be playing to a largepacked-out venue in Kosovo.They don’t get many bandstouring, and there was an

IF you fancy a rowdynight of heavy metalshot through withhilarity and 80sposturing, SteelPanther are definitelyfor you.The cultish LAmusicians quitepossibly have thebest names ever:there’s Michael Starron vocals, Satchel onguitar, bassist LexxiFoxx and drummerStix Zadinia, andtogether they parodythe loudest, brashesthair metal from theera that brought youCher in fishnets.Awesome, no?They are visitingCambridge CornExchange with theirSpreading TheDisease (S.T.D.) tour(lovely), promotingnew album All YouCan Eat, which is outon April 1.First forming on thesunset strip in theearly noughties, thefour-piece changedtheir name fromMetal Skool to Steel

Panther in 2008,and, while theymight look like a bitof a joke, their lastalbum, 2011’s BallsOut, was actuallycritically acclaimedand debuted at #1on the Billboard TopComedy Chart – so,there.Aerosmith’s haggardSteve Tyler haseven gotten up onstage with them, ashas Paul Stanley ofKiss, Corey Taylor ofSlipknot, Tom Morelloof Rage Against TheMachine, ChesterBennington of LinkinPark and Green Day.Their lyrics arepacked with non-family friendly swearsand silliness, toppedoff with leathertrousers and animalprint bandannas.Sadly the gig hasalready sold out, buthere’s hoping moretickets get released.On the night they’llbe joined byunderground indierockers, The Cringe.

BEST known for presentingFamily Fortunes, Les Dennis getsa touch more murderous in this

adaptation of crime novelist PeterJames’s story.

Former scriptwriter James hasmerrily sold more than 15 millionbooks (in 36 languages no less),including the Inspector Roy Graceseries. But this is the first time hischaracters have been hewn intotheatre-style shape.

Courtesy of award-winning writerShaun McKenna, and directed byOlivier winner Ian Talbot, The PerfectMurder sees Victor Smiley (Dennis)and his wife Joan (Claire Goose, heroff Waking the Dead and Casualty),wrangling their way through a

Forming in East London in 2008, the HackneyColliery Band is a nine-man team of brassplayers, with a knack for off-the-wall covers,ruffling the feathers of traditional jazz andstarting a full-on party wherever they go.ELLA WALKER found out more from trumpetand melodica player Steve Pretty.

� Steel Panther plus The Cringe, Cambridge CornExchange, Saturday, March 22, at 7.30pm. SOLD OUT.

Music

Theatre

The Perfect

Hackney Colliery& Huey Morgan

SteelPanther

Music

� Hackney Colliery Band &Huey Morgan, The Guildhall,Cambridge, Saturday, March22, at 7.30pm. Tickets £12.50from (01223) 357851 or cornex.co.uk.

� The Perfect Murder, CambridgeArts Theatre, Monday, March 24– Saturday, March 29 at 7.45pm.Tickets £15-£30 from (01223)

incredible sense of anticipation –we were really flattered so manypeople turned out to see us. Whenwe took it out on to the streetin the middle of the show theatmosphere was absolutely crazy!Which is your favourite track toplay live?

Some people know us bestfor our covers, but our originalmaterial from our currentalbum Common Decency is,we think, the best music we’veever produced. Our opener ABit of Common Decency really

sets out our stall, and seeingthe anticipation build throughthe first few bars and then getreleased as we rock out is prettyspecial.

Dead Dialogue is verychallenging to play but hugefun and it’s got some massiveensemble moments. And Smilefor the Webcam really getspeople moving; it feels like a realcarnival tune to round off theset with.Should we expect any surpriseswhen you visit Cambridge?

We like to keep things fresh,so no two gigs are ever quite thesame. We’ve all got backgroundsin jazz and improvised music,so we play around a lot live, andwe’re always looking for newways of playing the tunes andhaving fun with the crowd.

And our shows are absolutelydriven by the crowd response,so given that it’s our first time inCambridge we’re hoping for apretty special reception . . .n Find out more about HCB athackneycollieryband.co.uk.

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FIRST staged by the TheatreRoyal Stratford East in 1963, Oh!What a Lovely War only madeits way into the West End afterPrincess Margaret saw it andloved it.It’s always had a habit ofgarnering mixed reviews; evenMichael Gove has been chattingon recently about how it shouldbe a banned from schools.The ADC’s version is being puton by the Combined Actors ofCambridge to mark the 100thanniversary of the start of the First

World War.With strong anti-war themesfiltering through, the cast of livelycomic characters will contrastwith the dark, muddied horrorsof trench warfare going on in thebackground, while dressed intraditional pierrot (pantomime)costumes.There will be singing, dancing andjoking, packed with “the futility,tragedy and overriding hope ofthe period”.Prepare to feel drained yet upliftedby the end.

Musical theatre

Oh! What aLovely War

Murder

Band

� Oh! What a LovelyWar, The ADC Theatre,Tuesday, March 25 toSaturday, March 29,at 7.45pm. Tickets£8-£12 from (01223)300085 or adctheatre.com

marriage that has gone on for far toolong: Victor hates Joan and is busyplaying away, while Joan couldn’tbe more bored or irritated by him.Bumping her off seems like a goodplan. But then, as newbie DetectiveConstable Roy Grace finds out,nothing is quite as it seems . . .

James has said: “Ever since I wasa small boy when my parents firsttook me to the theatre, I dreamedof one day having something Iwrote appear on the stage, and thiswonderful, extremely funny and inparts very scary adaptation of ThePerfect Murder is truly a dream cometrue. And I do not think we couldhave a more perfect, murderouslywonderful cast.”