Live at the Hammersmith Apollo 18th Dec 2006

Whenever a movie star announces that they feel the need to express themselves through the media of music, the first reaction from press and the general public is mild amusement and a high expectance for failure.

Recent examples, mainly Keanu Reaves and Russell Crowe, come to mind and the elevated cringe factor is the only thing that is unforgettable about these movie stars when they embraced a guitar and tried a different kind of stage.

So, what makes Tenacious D, and especially Jack Black, different from the aforementioned actors? Well, for a start, he really can sing and, above all, he doesn’t take himself seriously. At all.

With a pedigree of friends that includes the former Nirvana’s drummer and actual singer and factotum of Foo Fighters, Mr. Dave Grohl, Jack Black has made his name known among the rock crowd and, for a change, people listen to his music not to laugh at him, but to laugh with him and that the secret of his success.

Tonight in London the queue outside the Hammersmith Apollo testifies that, not only Tenacious D qualifies as a proper rock band, but is also a rock band with a following that is not made only of movie older movie goers. There is a big variety of ages and styles winding their ways along the dirty pavement and everybody is excited to see how Jack Black and Kyle Glass will transport their peculiar brand of rock & roll on the stage.

And let not yourself be fooled by the Hollywood stardom and the (clear) use of these gigs to promote Tenacious D the movie, because this is rock & roll, a bit dirty, a bit funky and a lot of sexy, inspired fun.

The visual are important to our two heroes and through the show they display a variety of sets that help them telling the story of how Jack, Kyle and their damned crowd of musicians (including, the Anti Christ on Guitar, Colonel Sanders on drums and Charlie Chaplin of bass) are able to fool even the Devil in order to come back to earth and rock as hard as they can.

Armed with a silliness that reminds me of “Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure”, but with a much better soundtrack, our intrepid duo doesn’t pull punches and among easy gags and the ever changing, expressive face of Jack Black (something that makes you forget the fact that he screams. A lot) they deliver a series of songs that, albeit will never gain them an Ivor Novello for song writing, they still manage to be incredibly entertaining and simply excellent for rocking out.

Tenacious D is helped by an acolyte of musicians and fellow actors that make the show thoroughly enjoyable; there are psychedelic moments, there are metal moments and there are, above all, hilarious moments that show how you can write a great rock song and still be an entertainer without thinking you are Jimmy Hendrix or Kurt Cobain.

The highlights of the nights are Wonderboy, really a comic book narrated in music, Lee, for the sheer hilarity that the real Lee generates for being a total sport and play every character in the book of Tenacious D, from himself to Beelzebub and to a very camp dancing robot for another TD classic: The Metal.

The biggest cheers of the nights are generated by the two singles from the first album. F*ck her gently and Tribute, to which the entire audience joins in with a perfectly tuned sing-along that brings a real smile of the face of our two heroes.

Curtain falls on Kyle, Jack and their bands of Hell rejects showing once more how, real love for music and a talent for not taking themselves seriously, is really what makes TD great. And what makes them real musicians and not just a bunch of bored Hollywood actors trying to prove the world that they can do no wrong.  A tribute to The Who seems and sounds perfectly fitting and in a roar of applauses they leave the stage leaving the audience smiling and, even better, looking forward to more of the Mighty D.

Maybe it was not the pick of Destiny, but it sure was entertaining.

Rock on.

by Laila

photography literally from the Gods by Jay