Two video game series are responsible for introducing swathes of impressionable young people to punk and metal: rhythm game series Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk skateboarding game franchise. The soundtracks were a who’s who of bands at the time; everyone from Rise Against, Bad Religion and Sum 41 to In Flames, System of a Down and High on Fire made an appearance at some point.
There are so many bands who appeared on those games that a cover band was bound to eventually pop up. That’s where The 900 come in. Their dedication to Tony Hawk lore is intense—they named the band after a famous Hawk trick and play music from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater through Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, the first seven games.
The 900 performed at London brewery Signature Brew—who have collaborated on beers with Mastodon and Enter Shikari—and were joined at one point by Hawk himself.
Hawk—who seems extremely happy to be here in general—gets up on stage and thanks fans for coming out and expresses his gratitude and amazement that a cover band for his series of games exists. Things get really good when Hawk tells the crowd that he “had to join the party” before singing Goldfinger’s ska hit “Superman” with The 900.
“Superman” is one of the first songs to appear on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and it was a hit with the crowd, who ate it up. Earlier this year, Hawk’s life and career were the subject of a new HBO documentary called Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off. The documentary about the influential skater received positive reviews from fans and critics alike.
Hawk broke his femur days before the documentary was released, so it’s nice to see him back on his feet and moving about. Maybe next time he’ll cover In Flames’ “Embody the Invisible” from Underground.