2023-05-12 | The 900 | The Bodega, Nottingham

The 900 - a meaningful event for me in a number of ways.

Firstly, this is the first gig I’ve attended since publishing Gigregator, and therefore the first article I’m writing with raw perspective, as I arrive home, still sweaty and amped on the experience. Hopefully this can be the start of a good writing habit where I pen a few observations while I still remember some of the details.

Second of all, the band’s theme of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack covers appealed to the pre-teen in me quite uniquely - I genuinely can’t remember having the same level of anticipation for a gig in a long time. I discovered some of my absolute favourite songs and bands through the THPS games and I still see their soundtracks as foundational pieces of my musical taste.

Often, in preparation for a gig I’ll listen to the band beforehand, but things were different with The 900 - as a cover band, I couldn’t find any releases from them. Instead, I found a playlist enumerating one of their setlists, but I chose not to study it, hoping some tracks I’d completely forgotten would hit me out of the blue, sending me into an ecstatic frenzy.

There were a couple of cute coincidences I experienced in the hours leading up to the gig. While parking up in the Sneinton Market car park, I sat for an extra few minutes smiling as Radio 6 Music played Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise” (of THPS2 fame). I may have imagined it, but I think the requester was from Nottingham - perhaps someone gearing up for the same event as me!

Rounding the corner to Sneinton market square, the group of skaters you’ll typically find in the area was particularly well subscribed that evening. I saw a couple of kickflips and tailslides go down and considered announcing to the group that they should be heading to The Bodega to pay their respects - in hindsight, it’s a good job I didn’t, as the event was one of the few on the venue’s agenda that was completely sold out! After being turned away for being early I happened across even more skaters in Old Market Square. From these sightings and the popularity of The 900, I can only conclude that skating must be back in vogue.

As my second visit to The Bodega, I was pleased to be back in the intimate venue, which I maintain is one of my favourites in Nottingham, not exclusively due to the fact that my regular cordial and soda only set me back 20p!

This gig was a rarity in that there was no support band offered - I suppose it’s tough to find a common thread with other bands when you’re catering to such a niche. Among the mostly early 30-somethings in the audience there were a few older patrons who must have been racking up the hours on the PS1 at some point in their late 20s. Security was a token gesture, as the band and audience were crowd surfing at will - a nice touch for a change.

The 900 put on a great set, including most of the tracks I’d consider mandatory for such an event. The entrance sequence featured some voiceover from The Birdman, although references like this were fewer and further between than I expected. The band came out swinging, ticking off Millencolin’s “No Cigar”, Rage Against The Machine - “Guerilla Radio” and Bodyjar’s “Not The Same” in the first few songs. Other highlights were Goldfinger - “Spokesman”, plus Less Than Jake - “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads”, a track that rekindled memories of many past LTJ shows.

It was announced that this was the first outing for the band’s new frontman, who was clearly enjoying himself, commanding the stage and playfully interpreting the diverse vocal stylings from the games. He definitely enjoyed asserting that the band were neither 899 nor 901. Vocal cameos were made by the band’s drummer and bassist (Big Al, who required a chant to build the hype for “Bring The Noise”).

As it turns out, there were a fair few songs of which I had little-to-no recollection - almost certainly from THPS4, by far the least played of the games for me. I’d definitely have traded a few of these for Lagwagon’s May 16, which was one notable omission for me. However, every song had at least a few people in the audience “losing their shit” once they’d identified it. I was surprised and delighted in equal measure to hear chants of “CKY” in the encore request, which The 900 fulfilled with a tight rendition of 96 Quite Bitter Beings.