The 900 are a cover band.
So, what bands music do they cover?
Well, they don’t cover one band; they instead do covers to songs from the soundtrack to the Tony hawk pro Skater games.
The Tony Hawk games are well-known for having absolutely amazing soundtracks since the very first instalment back in 1999.
Plenty has been written over the years about just how important and impactful these soundtracks were.
Tens of thousands of kids grew up and the THPS games and their soundtracks influenced the music tastes of those kids forever
I was one of those kids, and so when I saw that the 900 were playing my town, I bought tickets instantly!
I had meant to see the band at Download Festival this year but we must have missed them. However we did see another band that I generally group together with The 900.
Punk Rock Factory
I had always assumed that these two bands were very similar because their general ideas are pretty close.
The 900 cover songs from the Tony Hawk games, while Punk Rock Factory do punk and metal versions of Disney songs, as well as other cultural touchstone tracks.
Like the Pokemon theme, for example.
Their shows are very fun and nostalgic and lighthearted.
I have seen Punk Rock Factory a few times now and it’s always a fun time hearing all the older songs, dancing to a metal cover of something like let It Go and laughing when the band introduces a new song in an unexpected style.
They play heavy songs, but always with a tongue-in-cheek style and always with a family-friendly vibe.
However, now I’ve seen them, I can say that The 900 are nothing like that band.
The 900
If there is one word I would use to sum up The 900, I would say: committed.
Every single song they played at this gig, they played as though it was their song and as if it was the best goddamn song in the world.
Every single track on the setlist was played with high energy and passion. They’re a cover band but they try to just recreate what these songs would sound like from the original bands.
Annoyingly we got to the gig late (we thought we were early as we showed up at half past 8, but the band had an early finish time due to Emo Karaoke at 10pm).
We got there just as the band were starting Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones. Already the crowd was chanting the intro with them, and the vibe of the place was already that of a cheap punk gig.
We started the gig at the very back of the room, due to the early start time.
This was my view for the first few songs.
However, slowly throughout the gig, we did manage to work our way forwards.
The space in Rescue Rooms isn’t huge, but almost the entire floor was taken up by a constant mosh pit.
You could tell that this wasn’t people there for a laugh and some nostalgia. This was a room full of middle-aged punk rock kids who were looking to relive their youth and jump about till their knees gave out.
The songs
Since this is a THPS cover band, the genres and bands they’re covering changed often: pop-punk, hardcore punk, hip-hop and heavy metal.
However, regardless of what song they were playing, the band played it expertly and the crowds energy never dimmed.
I watched the mosh pit for several songs and it (ironically) just looked so inviting, so I jumped in maybe 7 songs before the end, just as they started to play the NOFX banger The Separation of Church and Skate.
I am 32 years old and haven’t been in a mosh pit for a few years, so I was expecting to stay for the one song and then head out again, but it was just so much FUN!
The Mosh Pit & Finale
The moshpit was frantic: people were pushed about and slammed into (but thankfully none of that bullshit crowd killing nonsense).
But being in a mosh pit while some of the defining songs of my childhood are played expertly: I was in heaven!
The lead singer was no-nonsense and didn’t spend a lot of time between songs on banter and chat. He knew we went there for him, we were there for the music.
In fact, he seems to be so into the ‘this isn’t about me’ mindset that I still can’t actually find out what his name is! And I’m 99.9% sure he isn’t the same lead singer the band had when they had Tony hawk with them on stage.
Leading towards the end of the gig, the crowd was given a warning that was updated between songs:
There will be no encore, we have a strict end time. There are 4 songs left.
If you haven’t been in the pit yet, do it now, because again, there isn’t an encore.
Paraphrasing the lead singer of The 900
The final song was Ace of Spades by Motörhead, probably the second-most famous song from the THPS franchise.
The most famous song, Superman by Goldfinger, was played in the middle of their set, which started the short section of ska-punk songs.
I don’t want to say that Ace of Spades was any better or worse than any other of the songs, because they were all absolutely phenomenal.
Wrap up
The 900 are a cover band who take their jobs very seriously. They play the music from the heart and treat it like a full on punk gig. The music was fast and heavy, the mosh pit was huge and the sense of nostalgia was absolutely there.
If you are a child of the 90s and the Tony hawk’s Pro Skater soundtracks influenced your music tastes, then I absolutely, 100% suggest you go see The 900 as soon as possible, but make sure to check when the band will be on, because I am still so angry with myself that we were late!
