Aerosmith to ZZ Top – The A to Z of Hair Metal with Steve McLean

By Colin Flaherty

Steve McLean has the most apt venue for a show about Hair Metal, the backroom of a Record Store / Cafe. Well…this store doesn’t stock much in the way of metal (instead focusing on Indie Rock) but it certainly gives the show cred!

Despite the title this is not a listical styled show. If you’re expecting Steve to mention your favourite band, there’s a fair chance he won’t mention them. What we get is a collection of stories and jokes about a number of bands and a little about his experiences as a teen when the genre was at its peak.

There’s celebration of his favourites and slagging off those deemed not worthy (Metallica are his punching bag of choice). He provides interesting factoids about the excesses of the era and drools over the primped and preened man-flesh on display with album covers and printed images as visual aids.

This is a very rough and ready show with Steve regularly referring to notes and rummaging through a pile of props. A chatty crowd distracts him and an inaccurate time keeper forces him to edit on the fly. When he does focus it’s a confident and slightly adversarial performance with plenty of laughs to be found, more if you’re a disciple of Metal.

Given the subject matter the target audience is those aged above forty so there are plenty of British pop culture references to confuse the younger folk and foreigners (a comparison of ACDC to comedy duo The Krankies is an especially curious idea). A wonderful show for the old rockers out there.

Three stars!

Aerosmith to ZZ Top – The A to Z of Hair Metal with Steve McLean is on at Slow Progress Cafe and Records until August 25

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/aerosmith-to-zz-top-the-a-to-z-of-hair-metal-with-steve-mclean