King Kurt Newcastle Dingwalls mid 1980s
I only experienced the majestic madness and mayhem of King Kurt in concert once, at a gig at Newcastle Dingwalls, sometime in the mid 80s; it was probably 1983 or 1984. King Kurt were a totally crazy psychobilly band, who formed in 1981 and split up in 1988. The gig I attended was around the time of their best known single “Destination Zululand”, which was released in 1983. I went to the gig with my mate Dave, and a jolly good time was had by all, particularly the crazy followers of King Kurt. Seeing this band live was like nothing I’ve ever seen before or since. Singer Gary “The Smeg” led the band and the totally nuts crowd through a set of crazed rockabilly music, but it was the extra-muiscal antics which were the most fun. By this time King Kurt and their fans had become infamous for “food fights” at their gigs. The band and their fans came heavily armed with eggs and bags of flour, which were then thrown around, both on and off stage. The whole front area of the crowd was a big mess. We lurked at the back avoiding the deluge of debris. One lucky guy was invited on stage for a custom crewcut administered by Smeg and the boys. But the highlight was a stage prop known as “The Wheel of Misfortune”, a piece of torture equipment the like of which I have never seen since. It was a large wheel on which a lucky fan was strapped and fed snakebite through a tube. The lucky recipient must have drunk about 10 pints of the stuff before he vomited it all over the stage. For the music think The Cramps meets the Sex Pistols meets Carl Perkins meets Zulu rhythms. “Destination Zululand; hum diddle dee dum hoo wah he ho; Come on boys jump in the van; People came from foreign lands; on motor cycles and in vans; to see the latest Zulu band! Destination Zululand; hum diddle dee dum hoo wah he ho!!!” They just don’t make bands like this anymore (although I see that a reformed line-up of King Kurt has just played the Rebellion festival in Blackpool). Wahoo Wahoo 🙂
Archive for the ‘King Kurt’ Category
6 Aug
Vintagerock's Weblog. 