Sack Trick Live at the Underworld Camden
Review by Tom Draper 

Sack Trick are arguably the most lovable band of all time. Comprising of mastermind Chris Dale and a whole host of other people including Robin and David from Rachel Stamp and Alex Dickson from Robbie Williams’ band, Sack Trick are quite frankly silly.

They take to the stage with Alex Dickson decked out in a nun’s outfit, David Ryder-Prangley as Chuckie from Child’s Play’s long lost girl cousin, Robin in a Beetlejuice-esque back and white stripey thing, and Chris Dale with big hair. They immediately launch into the title track of their latest ‘concept album’, ’Penguins On The Moon’, with all the immediacy and vigour of a penguin on speed. Or possibly mushrooms. Or maybe roller-skates.

Allow me to explain. Sack Trick looked at the way people make concept albums (usually around a really ...woah, that’s deep...man... concept such as Floyd’s ‘The Wall’), and disregarded it. Concepts such as a bunch of penguins getting bored with life in Antarctica, building a rocket and going to start a new life on the moon, and returning home when they realise they cannot live happy lives without fish…well quite frankly they’re a hell of a lot more enjoyable. What Sack Trick have created may not be beautiful, but it’s frickin’ hilarious.

The music is somewhere between Heavy Metal, Hard Rock and sheer comedy. We are treated to several Kiss covers tonight (including ’Shout It Loud’ and ’Cold Gin’), which strangely do not seem to interrupt the flow of the gig at all. Most people would sneer at the idea of a band including so many covers in a set, never mind all Kiss covers. Sack Trick get away with it very very easily, simply by being not just a tight band, but one that’s great to look at and even better to laugh along with. For a few brief magical moments, we could almost have been headbanging in Detroit in the 70s...we are even treated to a minute or two of Ozzy’s classic ‘Bark at the Moon’. Is there anything Sack Trick cannot do?

The intellectuals in the crowd were all discussing how ironic Sack Trick are. We didn’t take much notice because we were too busy being entranced in the magical world of penguins, blue ice cream and Gene Simmons that Sack Trick invited us into.

In a perfect world, Sack Trick would get some corporate sponsorship and take the ‘Penguins on the Moon’ tour to Broadway with a full stage show...  pyrotechnics, rockets, dry ice, penguins...in real life we’ll have to make do with places like the Highbury Garage on January 18th 2001. Whether you’re into classic rock or not, Sack Trick are without doubt the most silly and fun band around at the moment. Catch them while they’re still hot!