The Apocalypse Dudes, Iggy Plop
Sunday, April 1 at Banditos
Man, these late Sunday shows at Banditos can’t be any more of a gift, can they? The last time I was here I saw Druglord and Gnawed–two powerful and super heavy metal bands from Richmond–ate free pot cookies, and drank $1 PBRs. The cover? $0.00. This past Sunday, on April Fool’s Day, Banditos hosted two bands that honestly could have fooled some of my friends. The Apocalypse Dudes, Richmond’s very own Turbonegro tribute band, and Iggy Plop and the Splooges.
The Apocalypse Dudes, Iggy Plop
Sunday, April 1 at Banditos
Man, these late Sunday shows at Banditos can’t be any more of a gift, can they? The last time I was here I saw Druglord and Gnawed–two powerful and super heavy metal bands from Richmond–ate free pot cookies, and drank $1 PBRs. The cover? $0.00. This past Sunday, on April Fool’s Day, Banditos hosted two bands that honestly could have fooled some of my friends. The Apocalypse Dudes, Richmond’s very own Turbonegro tribute band, and Iggy Plop and the Splooges.
I invited some friends to see Apocalypse Dudes in particular, because I am a huge Turbonegro fan and a part of Turbojugend Richmond, the local chapter of Turbo’s denim navy. Lets do a quick recap of what all this really means. Turbonegro is a “deathpunk” band from Norway, most recognized for former singer Hank Von Helvete’s signature facepaint, as seen on various MTV shows. They’ve performed the opening theme song for “Wild Boyz,” and had masochistic hits like “I Got Erection” and “All My Friends Are Dead.” Turbonegro has a fan club called the Turbojugend. As the denim leaders put it, “Kiss has their Army, we have our Navy.” Clad in jean jackets and denim pants, the Jugend represent themselves with vests called Kutte, with the Turbonegro logo over the heart and local chapter patch on the back. Jugend can also be seen wearing white sailor hats.
The Turbojugend is a worldwide phenomenon, with many claiming that if they had to choose between the Jugend and the actual band, they’d choose Turbojugend. There are thousands of chapters in thousands of cities worldwide. At the most recent USA reunion gig in New York I spotted jackets or “kutten” representing the Turbojugend from Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Philadelphia, New Mexico, D.C., and a ton of other places. It’s like a gang without the tough guy attitude or senseless violence. Still with me? OK. Hopefully you’ve YouTube’d some Turbo videos by now and you get a sense for how carefree, sexually frustrated, racially tolerant, and gender confused they can be. They rule, and they are for everyone.
Now, Richmond is fortunate enough to have a pretty damn good Turbonegro tribute band, The Apocalypse Dudes. They spare nothing in performance and dedication in replicating the best. Singer Randy Robinson pulls a near perfect Hank Von Helvete, former singer and Turbo icon, bassist Chuck Miner is pretty easily recognizable as Turbo mastermind Happy Tom, and Tab Tharrington pulls off all the licks, tricks, humps, dumps and guitar dives as Turbonegro’s lead guitarist Euroboy.
I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout. The show room at Banditos was packed this night and included plenty of drunk friends and only one asshole all evening. Everyone was in a great mood, fists in the air, singing along to “Good Head,” “Zillion Dollar Sadist,” and “The Age of Pamparius.” As a Turbonegro fan, I have a very big headache in my pants.
If this wasn’t enough, our denim recruits were followed by Iggy Plop and the Splooges, fronted by a most excellent Iggy Pop imposter, J. Dean Owen. The pictures tell most of the story. He ruled, his band ruled, and they had a great set full of Stooges and Pop tunes like “1969,” “Search & Destroy,” “Fun Time,” “Dog Food,” and a dozen more. The band was spot on, and Owen could be seen climbing on the drum rack, crawling on the floor, and shoving his ass in my camera. And it was all free. No April Fool’s jokes here.
You really want to see the pictures from this gig and you can do that right here: hardrockrva.blogspot.com
