The Idiot Bastard Band

After loving The Bad Shepherds and their awesome comical take on punk songs, Ad Edmondson's next project The Idiot Bastard Band had me intrigued. Add to that TV greats Phill Jupitus and Rowland Rivron, along with ex-Rutle and Monty Python composer Neil Innes and you have a very interesting mixture of comic and musical talent. And not just any old rubbish either (like some TV to music stars). These guys don't just play one instrument a piece, they are multi-instrumentalists. The band's website lists them as Ad - guitar, mandolin, trumpet, coconuts, Phill plays guitar, bass, triangle, stylophone, Neil - keyboards, guitar, ukulele, kazoo, and Rowland plays drums, congas, bongos, and provides rude shouting.



The audience is in the higher age bracket, with a few of us younger Bottom fans in. Jupitus is the first to swear, about 5 minutes into the set, and this language is then forefront in the rest of the show. It's not a shy show either, with for example a cover of a song about a woman called Isabella getting her end away at tourist attractions around the country, by Jake Thackray, 'Isabel Makes Love Upon National Monuments'.

The random covers continue, with a whole host of genres covered. There's blues, rock and roll, ballards, reggae, a waltz and many more. They've brought back skiffle but renamed it 'Pubstep'. Covers include Ian Drury and the Blockheads 'Clever Bastards', John Hegley's 'Eddie Don’t like Furniture', Bonzo Dog Band's 'Big Shot' and 'I'm The Urban Spaceman', Nervous Norvus' 'Transfusion', and Flight Of the Conchords' 'Carol Brown' ("ask the younger people in the crowd" Jupitus helpfully states). There's a Bob Flanigan number where they all don silly headgear - rabbit ears, fox ears, an arrow through the head and a rubber duck stuck to a cap. They sure look to be having fun.

There's also their own tunes like 'Flop Eared Mule', 'Man On A Train', 'Democracy', 'Come Dancing', a Mexican send up complete with accents and Mariachi sombreros. Innes plays a solo keyboard track with hilarious human vocals on the keys for 'Early In The Morning'. Rivron plays his own tune to his bit on the side Julie, with lyrics like "I need you like a cranny needs a hook" which gets exponentially funnier throughout.

There's a good dig at Coldplay too and their over the top overly long meaningless ballads, which IBB have warped and turned into their anthem. This involves getting your phones out during the 'lighter in the air' moment, which gets funnier as Jupitus shouts "Now just the Nokias!"



This is a very comical bunch, but they would be because of their high calibre. To find they can be funny with music as well is a huge bonus. These sell out shows prove this. So glad they made their way out of the Clerkenwell's Wilmington Arms and toured this show, as it's really, really funny.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.