Bones on bass (Photo: Daniel Maurer)
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.”
Fingers on guitar (Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Finally, the metalheads — 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!
Stickboy on drums. (Photo: Daniel Maurer)
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.”)