No, it’s not a Rock-afire Explosion reunion.
Compressorhead, the “world’s heaviest metal band” (6 tons, to be exact) played an all-day gig in Union Square today, at the behest of GE.
Well, not quite all-day. When B+B stopped by around 1:30 p.m., Stickboy (drums), Bones (bass) and Fingers (guitar) were all hiding behind a drawn curtain as Dr. Feelgood injected them with oil humanoids checked them for mechanical malfunctions. That led a guy in a sock hat, who had been waiting in the bitter cold for at least a half an hour, to laugh about how robots were the wave of the future and could be expected to perform “all night long.”
Finally, the metalheads —Â created in Germany and sent to New York for the event, according to a GE spokeswoman — launched into their set, their thrashing (or jolly head bobbing, anyway) made possible by electro pneumatics and their music controlled via Midi, per a prepared statement. It was “Number 5 alive” meets Kiss Alive!
Below, check out our footage of ear-splitting/side-splitting versions of Heart’s “Barracuda,” Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll,” and Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” (Alas, no “Mr. Roboto” or “Iron Man.”)