By Chris Snellgrove | Published
To this day, the biggest Star Trek icon is William Shatner. Like Captain Kirk, he taught us all the importance of boldly going where no man has gone before. In many ways, the actor has led his life with this philosophy: after dominating sci-fi, he killed it in other genres, including police dramas, legal procedures, documentaries, and much more. Heck, he even came up with Priceline's infectiously attractive marketing. After a while, it seemed like there might not be any new worlds for Shatner to conquer. However, he is about to bravely enter his final frontier with the project of a lifetime: leading his own heavy metal band!
I'll be the first to admit that this news sounds like a fever dream. But as William Shatner's co-star Avery Brooks once said so fondly Deep Space Nine“it's true!” Shatner has put together a heavy metal band called The *uckers, and they will debut on September 20 at Chicago's Riot Fest. This will be the band's first live performance, but ironically, their appearance took almost two decades to plan.
Captain Kirk Gains Weight
Although Riot Fest is mostly about established musical acts, they have an interesting habit of trying to get various celebrities to join in and perform. For example, after ten years of increasing invitations, the festival was finally convinced Full house star John Stamos singing alongside the Beach Boys. Likewise, Riot Fest loved Shatner one last time 17 years. He finally said yes, but instead of performing with a well-known group, the Star Trek legend decided to form his own group, which is the equivalent of a traveling band.
Apparently, both the actor and the festival know how silly it is to have William Shatner playing heavy metal, and they jointly decided to lean on the joke by publishing a funny rider made by the actor. The passenger includes demands that Chicago let Shatner participate in the local weather, name a local food after him, let him sing “Take Me Out of the Ball Game” at a baseball game, and name a boat after an actor he can then captain.
Let's Open This Pit!
Additionally, the rider requests a dressing room titled “Shatner's Shag Shack,” a bunch of puppies that can be found, an intro video from Gwar, and Faygo's crew. not to be shared with the Insane Clown Posse. Oh, and he wants his singer's golf cart replaced by a Delorean. Believe it or not, these are a a few of blinkered, annoying, and almost fake demands.
Obviously, a lot of this is tongue-in-cheek, and as a Star Trek fan, it's great to see Shatner in action. But he also expressed genuine sincerity in an official statement, writing, “I've always believed that music, like the universe, is about experimentation. Riot Fest is the kind of place where anything is possible.” Continuing, he wrote, We bring volume, intensity, and a few surprises. I can't wait to share this with the fans.”
In a way, Mr. Tambourine Man is back
Although Shatner is new to heavy metal, he is not new to music, having released several albums in the past. Instead of playing Riot Festival alone, the Star Trek actor put together a band, The *uckers, which includes several well-known musicians. This includes Marcus Nand on guitar, Phil Soussan on bass, Britt Lightning on guitar, and Fred Aching on drums. Together, they will play reimagined songs from Shatner's musical history as well as songs from their self-titled debut album, What IF Is Heavy Metal. As he said People“That's the name of the album because I don't know anything or I didn't know anything until I found out that I know little.”
Want to see William Shatner make his mysterious heavy metal debut? Be sure to save your latinum and snag tickets to Chicago's Riot Fest, which runs September 18-20. On Instagram, the actor says it will be an event fans will want to tell their grandchildren about. We tend to agree: in some ways, Shatner standing out in his metal age is something that no one else will do. always forget it!
